Sigi Schmidt

The Galaxy signed new Coach Sigi Schmid to a three-year contract amid lingering questions about the firing of his predecessor, Octavio Zambrano, five games into the season. Schmid accepted the Galaxy's offer for an undisclosed amount after having spurned other Major League Soccer clubs in recent years. As coach of the UCLA men's team for almost two decades, Schmid led the Bruins to three NCAA championships and sent 19 players to the U.S.

The Galaxy signed new Coach Sigi Schmid to a three-year contract amid lingering questions about the firing of his predecessor, Octavio Zambrano, five games into the season. Schmid accepted the Galaxy's offer for an undisclosed amount after having spurned other Major League Soccer clubs in recent years. As coach of the UCLA men's team for almost two decades, Schmid led the Bruins to three NCAA championships and sent 19 players to the U.S.

It's too bad that Bob Gansler, coach of the United States soccer team didn't get to see Friday night's match between Guatemala and Chile at the Coliseum. Why? Gansler could have learned from watching Chile win, 1-0, because Guatemala is one of the teams that the United States will face in World Cup qualifying. Sigi Schmidt, UCLA soccer coach, scouted the match for the U.S. and will brief Gansler, who'll be here for Sunday's match between Guatemala and Paraguay. In the second game Friday night, Paraguay defeated El Salvador, 2-1. How did the Chileans neutralize Guatemala?

The contract linebacker Greg Lloyd signed Friday with the Pittsburgh Steelers is worth $11.2 million, Lloyd's agent Dick Bell said. The three-year contract, which goes into effect next season, will make Lloyd the Steelers' highest-paid player. Lloyd, 31, will get a reported $3.7 million annually, making him the second highest-paid linebacker in the NFL. Junior Seau of the San Diego Chargers currently makes $4 million a year.

Virginia has four players trying to make history. Indiana has one player trying to make it for his father. Then there are UCLA and Rutgers. They're just trying to make it to Sunday. Just what else the Bruins are trying to accomplish in soccer's final four is not readily apparent. Sure, UCLA wants to add another NCAA championship to the titles it won under Coach Sigi Schmid in 1985 and 1990. But where's the angle? Where's the hook? What would make people outside Westwood care whether they win?

The Pepperdine men's water polo team may have been looking toward this weekend's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference tournament a week early. Although the Waves, 22-1 overall and 10-0 in the conference, defeated last-place Long Beach State, 7-6, Saturday in their final game of the regular season, they didn't play like a team that has been No. 1 in the nation most of the season.