Usc Ucla

I believe that exercise is incredibly bad for you. I believe the moon is made of cheese. What everyone else believes . . . well, I believe the opposite. That's just my stubborn nature. My soul seems so cold and stormy, particularly around the holidays. I should've been a Yankee farmer from Vermont. Or a senator from anywhere. See, when everyone else goes left, I go straight up the middle. When everyone else screams "Go, Lakers!" I'm inclined to root for the other guys (unless it's Denver, of course)

Third-seeded USC took a major step forward with a 12-10 victory over second-seeded UCLA in the NCAA women's water polo semifinals Saturday at San Diego. The victory marks the Trojans' first win over the Bruins in an NCAA tournament. In the final Sunday, USC (23-5) will take on top-seeded Stanford (25-2) at 5:15 p.m. at the Aztec Aquaplex. The Cardinal advanced Saturday with a 12-3 victory over fourth-seeded UC Irvine (25-7). USC's victory against UCLA (22-4) was led by four goals each from Monica Vavic and Patricia Jancso.

Now that the Pac-12 Conference has made its long-term deal with the devil, also known as television, expect more indignities ahead for the ticket-buying spectator. Case in point: The 7 p.m. Saturday start for the USC-UCLA football game. If you think for one moment that the athletic directors at the schools actually have a say in how their fans are accommodated for something like the marquee sports event of the year for each school, think again. Pat Haden, USC's athletic director: "I would like to play every game at 12:30 p.m. " Dan Guerrero, UCLA's athletic director: "If somebody gave me a wish list, I'd start every game at 12:30 or 1 p.m. " Good luck with that, Pat and Dan. The game Saturday at the Coliseum starts at dinner time because television said so. It is the puppeteer.

As USC's basketball practice finished Friday, an unfamiliar face joined the players in a huddle. Trojans Coach Kevin O'Neill introduced the man as the greatest player in the program's history. "I want you all to meet Harold Miner," he said. Miner's No. 23 jersey will be retired at Sunday's USC-UCLA game at the Galen Center. A large photo of him already hangs in the corner of the practice arena. "I really miss being around the game," Miner said later. "I've been away for a long time.

USC leads the series, 35-27-7 (* Double overtime) 1929 USC, 76-0 1930 USC, 52-0 1936 Tied, 7-7 1937 USC, 19-13 1938 USC, 42-7 1939 Tied, 0-0 1940 USC, 28-12 1941 Tied, 7-7 1942 UCLA, 14-7 1943 USC, 20-0 1943 USC, 26-13 1944 Tied, 13-13 1944 USC, 40-13 1945 USC, 13-6 1945 USC, 26-15 1946 UCLA, 13-6 1947 USC, 6-0 1948 USC, 20-13 1949 USC, 21-7 1950 UCLA, 39-0 1951 UCLA, 21-7 1952 USC, 14-12 1953 UCLA, 13-0 1954 UCLA, 34-0 1955 UCLA, 17-7 1956 USC, 10-7 1957 UCLA, 20-9 1958 Tied, 15-15 1959 UCLA,

The UCLA-USC football rivalry has really changed . . . channels. You used to be able to find it during the day, with a simple antenna tweak on a single-digit station that ended programming with the national anthem and a picture of an American Indian. Once, you could mow the lawn after USC-UCLA was over. This year's drive-in movie kicks off at 10 p.m. for viewers in Martha's Vineyard and is accessible with a remote-control click to an area code -- 694, 654, 636, 666 -- or some corresponding and/or demonic satellite transponder.

Most basketball coaches pray for one, just one, grade-A big man . But if a coach has two, as UCLA's Ben Howland has in Joshua Smith and Reeves Nelson and USC's Kevin O'Neill has in Alex Stepheson and Nikola Vucevic, then consider that coach lucky because good big men are hard to find, harder to keep and even harder to stop. Just ask Washington State Coach Ken Bone, whose Cougars recently visited Los Angeles and were feasted on by the L.A. schools' down-low duos. The foursome scored 55 points, grabbed 38 rebounds and threw Bone two losses, which left him gushing, "They're very efficient, very good.

Richard Brehaut opened the season on the bench. Mitch Mustain has spent nearly four seasons there. But the backup quarterbacks could be at center stage Saturday night when UCLA plays USC at the Rose Bowl in the 80th meeting between the crosstown rivals. Brehaut, a sophomore, will start for the Bruins. Mustain, a fifth-year senior, will either start for the Trojans or be at the ready if Matt Barkley's injured left ankle pushes him to the sideline. Heroics by Brehaut or Mustain would not be unprecedented.

Not to be overly dramatic or anything, but when UCLA plays USC in the 81st football game between the rivals, something pretty huge will be at stake. How about the future of both programs? For UCLA, it's the short term. It's survival for Coach Rick Neuheisel. And, astonishingly, with Colorado's upset win against Utah on Friday, a chance to possibly conclude the season in the Rose Bowl — or no bowl game at all. For No. 10 USC, it's a chance to build on a signature victory, for Coach Lane Kiffin to keep momentum going into a recruiting season that will be unlike any other in Trojans history and to possibly set his team up for a national title run two years after being hammered by the NCAA.

USC looks in the mirror and sees UCLA. UCLA looks in the mirror and sees USC: --Dropping passes. --Giving up big plays on defense. --Having special team breakdowns. --Losing to Stanford rallies. "Our opponents are like us--up and down, a Jekyll-Hyde kind of season," USC Coach John Robinson said. His UCLA counterpart, Bob Toledo, agreed: "Up and down. About the time you think you've got it, you don't." The difference is in expectations.

USC could see a familiar face on the opposite sideline when the Trojans open the 2012 football season against Hawaii on Sept. 1 at the Coliseum. Norm Chow, the Trojans' offensive coordinator for two national championship teams, is expected to be named head coach at Hawaii, according to multiple published reports. Chow, 65, is offensive coordinator for Utah, which is preparing for the Dec. 31 Sun Bowl against Georgia Tech. "I don't know what the reports are saying but there's nothing been finalized," Chow said after practice Tuesday.

It has been 30 years since USC and UCLA met with a national championship in women's volleyball on the line, but it could happen Saturday in the Alamodome at San Antonio. UCLA (28-6) plays Florida State (28-6) at 4 p.m. PST and USC (29-4) meets Illinois (31-4) at 6 p.m. in semifinal matches Thursday that will be televised on ESPN2. The winners advance to the final Saturday at 5:30 p.m. PST, also on ESPN2. UCLA, led by junior outside hitter Rachael Kidder, could be peaking at the right time.

This is a college football anomaly. USC is 9-2 and not going anywhere. UCLA is 6-5 and is going to the Pac-12 Conference title game. Statistics and common-opponent comparisons indicate USC is a heavy favorite Saturday night at the Coliseum, but do numbers really matter? Read on as staff writer Chris Foster examines the game's key issues and matchups: Barkley has bite As the cliche goes, this is a rivalry game so throw out the numbers. But it's hard to toss out what USC quarterback Matt Barkley has tossed about — 3,105 yards passing and 33 touchdowns.

Not to be overly dramatic or anything, but when UCLA plays USC in the 81st football game between the rivals, something pretty huge will be at stake. How about the future of both programs? For UCLA, it's the short term. It's survival for Coach Rick Neuheisel. And, astonishingly, with Colorado's upset win against Utah on Friday, a chance to possibly conclude the season in the Rose Bowl — or no bowl game at all. For No. 10 USC, it's a chance to build on a signature victory, for Coach Lane Kiffin to keep momentum going into a recruiting season that will be unlike any other in Trojans history and to possibly set his team up for a national title run two years after being hammered by the NCAA.

Now that the Pac-12 Conference has made its long-term deal with the devil, also known as television, expect more indignities ahead for the ticket-buying spectator. Case in point: The 7 p.m. Saturday start for the USC-UCLA football game. If you think for one moment that the athletic directors at the schools actually have a say in how their fans are accommodated for something like the marquee sports event of the year for each school, think again. Pat Haden, USC's athletic director: "I would like to play every game at 12:30 p.m. " Dan Guerrero, UCLA's athletic director: "If somebody gave me a wish list, I'd start every game at 12:30 or 1 p.m. " Good luck with that, Pat and Dan. The game Saturday at the Coliseum starts at dinner time because television said so. It is the puppeteer.

One of the most highly recruited athletes in Ventura County doesn't even play high school sports. Bridget Leire, a 5-foot-10 senior at La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks, is one of the top female rowing prospects on the West Coast. She gave up swimming as a sophomore, joined a club rowing program at Lake Casitas and faster than you can say, "Blades down," she found a sport to become passionate about. "There's an energy you feel when you're in a boat with other people," Leire said.

Time: 12:30 p.m. * Site: Rose Bowl * Records: USC 7-3, 5-2; UCLA 9-0, 7-0. * Television: Channel 7 * Radio: AM 690, AM 1150 * The offenses: It's UCLA senior quarterback Cade McNown against USC freshman Carson Palmer, making his third start. But a freshman won this game three years ago: McNown, in a 24-20 upset. The offenses are a clash of opposites. UCLA averages almost 41 points a game.

The retro UCLA jersey was endangered the moment it entered Shabazz Muhammad's house. The basketball prodigy's mother had purchased the replica of the jersey that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wore when he was with the Bruins as a gift for her middle-school son, only to later find it hanging in his closet with a large hole cut in the middle. Muhammad's father couldn't resist the urge to snip on. He played basketball for USC. "My wife was hot with me," said Ron Holmes, a wing player for the Trojans from 1981 to 1985.

The retro UCLA jersey was endangered the moment it entered Shabazz Muhammad's house. The basketball prodigy's mother had purchased the replica of the jersey that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wore when he was with the Bruins as a gift for her middle-school son, only to later find it hanging in his closet with a large hole cut in the middle. Muhammad's father couldn't resist the urge to snip on. He played basketball for USC. "My wife was hot with me," said Ron Holmes, a wing player for the Trojans from 1981 to 1985.

The soon-to-be Pacific 12 Conference has the richest television deal in college history. And that's no accident. Rights fees for televised sports keep climbing, even in a challenging economy. Proof came Wednesday as Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott confirmed a new 12-year deal with Fox and ESPN that is estimated to be worth $3 billion. Randy Freer, Fox Sports Networks president, said televised sports is getting to be the equal of entertainment programming. "I think we're all making a bet on the future where we believe college sports and sports in general is one of the leading lights of generating large audiences," he said.