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New York Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
College football recruiting thoughts: Clemson's surge, QB dominoes, New York's elite prospect
It may be the heart of the offseason for college football, but recruiting never stops. And starting Friday, things are about to get fun. Welcome to June official visits. Outside of December, June is the most chaotic, exciting month of the year for recruiting as prospects across the country head off to official visits and start to narrow down their lists. Commitments are coming. Dominoes are falling. And the drama is just getting started. Advertisement With that in mind, some recruiting thoughts as we head into Friday and kick off the summer. Note: All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite. 1. It's a big year for USC coach Lincoln Riley as the Trojans look to bounce back from a 7-6 record in 2024 and prove that they can still be relevant on the national stage. Riley has been recruiting like someone who knows what's at stake. The Trojans currently have the nation's No. 1 class, with 16 four-stars among their 26 commitments. They have their quarterback in place after flipping four-star Jonas Williams from Oregon in February and have found some early success with top prospects on defense — by far their biggest need. Of USC's six top-100 commits, four play defense — corners Elbert Hill and Brandon Lockhart and defensive linemen Jaimeon Winfield and Simote Katoanga. Now it's Riley's job to hang onto them. Hill and Winfield are from Ohio and Texas, respectively. 2. The dominoes have started to fall at quarterback, with seven of the nation's top 10 QBs already committed. Five-star California native Ryder Lyons and four-star Alabama native Landon Duckworth are the highest uncommitted prospects at the position. Lyons has kept a low profile but is expected to officially visit USC, Oregon and BYU this month. Duckworth has a top five consisting of Auburn, Florida State, Ole Miss, South Carolina and North Carolina. 3. Speaking of North Carolina, it was fascinating to see Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick go on his inaugural tour of high schools across the state at the beginning of the year as he got acclimated to recruiting for the first time. But since then, UNC has had almost no traction with in-state prospects. Of the Tar Heels' 15 commits, only two are from North Carolina. Three are from California. One high-level in-state coach said Belichick and UNC came through his high school in the spring, but otherwise, it has been 'radio silent on their end, honestly.' Maybe it's too early to question arguably the greatest football coach of all time. And if UNC wins games, Belichick can recruit however he wants. But the Tar Heel state has a decent amount of talent this year, and UNC does not appear to be in position to take advantage of it. Advertisement 4. One team that has resonated with talent in North Carolina? Notre Dame. Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish have landed commitments from three of the top 11 prospects in North Carolina, more than any other program. 'It definitely is a trend that I've noticed,' said four-star linebacker Thomas Davis Jr., a Matthews, N.C., native and the son of former Carolina Panthers legend Thomas Davis. 'It really just goes to show what kind of program (Notre Dame) is and when you can just truly show a kid what you want to bring to the table and why you think they're a fit for your school and they get the opportunity to choose that on their own, Notre Dame is a special place. So a lot of these kids, I think, see that and want to be a part of it.' 5. Davis, who committed to Notre Dame in November, recently landed an offer from Georgia — where his father starred in the early 2000s. The younger Davis is heading to Athens on Friday for an official visit with the Bulldogs — the only other school he plans to visit outside of Notre Dame — and knows how much that will mean to his dad. 'I know (Georgia) has been coming after me,' he said. 'But I still feel pretty locked in with Notre Dame.' Blessed to receive a scholarship to Georgia.🐶 Thank you @CoachSchuUGA !@andycapone_whs @BigDubFootball @RivalsFriedman @Rivals @samspiegs @ChadSimmons_ @On3Recruits @247Sports @247recruiting @AnnaH247 — Thomas Davis Jr (@ThomasDavisJr14) May 8, 2025 6. Clemson is hot again, both on the field — the Tigers are viewed as a likely College Football Playoff team — and on the recruiting trail. Dabo Swinney currently has 15 commits in the Class of 2026, including 10 blue-chippers, for an average player rating of 90.65. The Tigers have five top-200 prospects and two quarterbacks already committed in four-star Tait Reynolds and three-star Brock Bradley. Don't be surprised if there are more fireworks in the coming days. Clemson's only official visit weekend of the summer begins today. Advertisement 7. Looking for an interesting prospect to follow? How about four-star wide receiver Messiah Hampton? Hampton is the nation's No. 100 recruit, No. 11 receiver and the highest-rated prospect out of New York since 2019. He is committing on June 13 and is down to seven schools: Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon, Michigan, Miami, Syracuse and Georgia. Fran Brown and the in-state Orange may be fighting an uphill battle considering the rest of Hampton's contenders, but kudos to Brown for making the final cut for a rare top-100 in-state prospect. 8. What's going on with LSU and Alabama? The two SEC powers lead the nation in average player rating at 95.18 and 94.28, respectively, but LSU has just nine commits in its class and Alabama has just five. Neither has a quarterback, either. Expect Brian Kelly and Kalen DeBoer to change that, but the pressure is especially on for Kelly, who lost out on five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood at the last minute a year ago and didn't sign a quarterback in the 2025 recruiting cycle. The Tigers are in good shape this year with Garrett Nussmeier, but Kelly knows he'll need to start looking ahead soon. 9. Ohio State, the reigning national champ, also doesn't yet have a quarterback in its 2026 class. The Buckeyes are in good shape for the foreseeable future with former five-stars Julian Sayin and Tavien St. Clair both on the roster, but most programs like to take a quarterback every year. The Buckeyes have the nation's No. 3 class with 13 commits, 11 of whom are blue-chippers. 10. It has long been presumed that Billy Napier's recruiting has helped the Florida coach keep his job, especially after he signed five-star quarterback DJ Lagway in the Class of 2024 and finished the 2025 cycle with five top-100 prospects. Coaches can always sell hope. But the Gators have been largely nonexistent in this 2026 cycle so far. Florida has more decommits (three) than it does commits (two). The class right now consists of four-star quarterback Will Griffin from Tampa, Fla., and three-star defensive lineman Jamir Perez from Cleveland. 11. Only two of the top 20 players in Florida are currently committed to an in-state program: four-star linebacker Jordan Campbell and four-star cornerback Jaelen Waters have both given Miami a verbal pledge. Florida State has three of the state's top 50 players, but only one in the top 30, four-star athlete Efrem White. 12. Arizona State appears to be receiving a nice little bump from its College Football Playoff appearance a season ago. Coach Kenny Dillingham's 2026 class has an average player rating of 87.75, which is on pace to be the program's highest since the Class of 2021. Four-star quarterback Jake Fette, the No. 107 prospect overall and No. 10 quarterback, threw for nearly 2,500 yards and 32 touchdowns against just one interception as a high school junior in El Paso, Texas. He also rushed for 589 yards and 11 touchdowns on a 7.6-yard average. 13. Typically, the earlier a recruit issues a commitment, the harder it is for a school to hang onto him. But that doesn't seem to be the case with Texas and five-star quarterback Dia Bell, who has taken on the role of helping recruit talent to Austin around him. Bell, from South Florida, is likely the heir apparent to Arch Manning and committed to the Longhorns almost a year ago. He hasn't wavered in that commitment and is expected to take just one official visit, to Austin in three weeks. Advertisement 14. Five-star offensive lineman Immanuel Iheanacho, at No. 6 overall, is the nation's highest-rated uncommitted prospect. Iheanacho plays high school football at Georgetown Preparatory School in Baltimore and is down to seven schools: Maryland, Oregon, Penn State, LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M and Auburn. He has most recently teased Oregon and LSU on social media, but he isn't announcing a decision until August. Just how good is he? The 6-foot-6 1/2, 345-pounder casually squatted 600 pounds a month ago. 600lb Squat PR @EOLiddy — Immanuel Iheanacho ✭ (@immanueli24) April 30, 2025 15. For those of us who love to follow recruiting, welcome to one of the most fun months on the recruiting calendar. But good luck to all the recruiting, personnel and coaching staffers who, starting Friday, will be consumed by visit itineraries, photo shoots and campus tours. They probably won't sleep until July. As one staffer put it after the chaos of last June: 'I was a tired dude.' (Photo of Dabo Swinney: Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
New York Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Should the Notre Dame-USC rivalry continue? Marcus Freeman makes his stance clear
Marcus Freeman wants the Notre Dame-USC rivalry extended. With the future of one of college football's most glamorous rivalries in doubt, Notre Dame's head coach weighed in on a series that began with Knute Rockne but might end with Lincoln Riley. This season's meeting in South Bend — the 93rd game in a series the Irish lead 50-37-5 — could be the final one in the series unless both schools agree on an extension. Advertisement 'Where I feel about USC is very clear, would love to play 'em every single year,' Freeman said Thursday. 'Don't matter when we play 'em, I would love to continue the rivalry as long as I'm the head coach here. I think rivalries are great for college football. I think they're great for sports.' Sports Illustrated reported earlier this month that the schools see the future of the series differently, with Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua pushing for an extension to the annual series between programs that have combined for 22 national championships, 15 Heisman Trophy winners and the most NFL Draft picks. USC reportedly doesn't want to enter into a long-term agreement with Notre Dame after its difficult debut season in the Big Ten amid uncertainty about the future of the College Football Playoff model. The Trojans finished 4-5 in the conference, tied for ninth in the league with Rutgers and Washington. Freeman looked back at the rivalries he has played in, including the Michigan-Ohio State series that rates among the sport's most-watched games annually. Before he was a starting linebacker for the Buckeyes, Freeman was an All-American at Wayne High school in Huber Heights, Ohio. 'I think back to high school when we played this team called the Centerville Elks where we were trying to go after this guy named A.J. Hawk because it was a rivalry,' Freeman said. 'Kirk Herbstreit went there. It was a huge rival. 'You got the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry — those contests are extremely important I think for all sports. And USC-Notre Dame is one that fits right into that category. I think it's great for college football and it's important for us. I'm very clear on wanting to continue that.' The Notre Dame-USC series has been played annually since it began in 1926, with exceptions for the COVID-19 pandemic (Notre Dame's 2020 trip to Los Angeles was canceled) and World War II (the teams didn't play for three seasons from 1943-45). Beyond that, the series has endured conference realignment and program upheaval, producing iconic moments because of it. Advertisement While it's less clear who needs the rivalry more in the expanding College Football Playoff era, it's obvious to Freeman that Notre Dame is reliant on the USC series for schedule-building purposes. As the sport moves more toward seasons being defined by making the CFP or missing it, Notre Dame's schedule becomes even more paramount, especially as the SEC ponders a move to a nine-game schedule and perhaps even a scheduling agreement with the Big Ten. If that agreement happens — several SEC coaches, including Brian Kelly, talked it up this week — it could put the Notre Dame-USC series in more peril while also leaving Notre Dame with some difficulty in scheduling other SEC or Big Ten schools due to a lack of availability. 'As far as scheduling, we know that we have to continue to have a challenging schedule to stay independent, and I know Pete Bevacqua and (deputy athletic director) Ron Powlus do a great job of making sure that we stay competitive enough but also not making decisions that are detrimental to our football program, too,' Freeman said. 'So we have to continue to have a competitive schedule that we're not going into the season and say, 'Hey, if you lose one game, you're out of the Playoff.' That's not the same as the SEC and the Big Ten and really any of the other conferences. 'We've got to continuously have a challenging schedule that is truly coast-to-coast.'
USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Former USC players lament potential loss of Notre Dame rivalry
Former USC players lament potential loss of Notre Dame rivalry Many former Trojans are paying close attention to the developments surrounding the USC-Notre Dame football series Right now, the storied USC-Notre Dame rivalry appears it could be in serious jeopardy. The two schools do not have an extension to the series scheduled beyond 2026, and according to reports, they appear to be far apart on terms. Naturally, the news has not been positively received within the USC community. In the days following the news, several former Trojan players have lamented the possibility of the rivalry ending. "Losing the SC vs Notre Dame will be the dumbest thing I've ever witnessed," former USC offensive lineman Zach Banner tweeted. "My love and passion for that rivalry is 1 of the biggest reasons I moved my life to SoCal…" In addition, former USC running back Petros Papadakis, now an LA sports radio host and Fox Sports college football analyst, ripped Trojan head coach Lincoln Riley for allegedly trying to get out of the series. "College football has been taken over by the television companies, one of which I work for as you know," Papadakis said in an interview with John Canzano on sports radio 750 The Game in Portland, Oregon. "But honestly none of that in my opinion has anything to do with USC-Notre Dame, and should not have anything to do with USC-Notre Dame. And that's the beauty of USC-Notre Dame is that it transcends conference realignment, it transcends the NIL, and it transcends all of these different twists and turns in the sport. If it can survive World Wars it should be able to survive the selfishness and the absolute myopic nature of the era we live in. "It's ridiculous to think that it wouldn't. Because Lincoln Riley doesn't like it? Who the hell is Lincoln Riley in the grand scheme of things when it comes to USC and Notre Dame? "Lincoln Riley trying to wriggle out of Notre Dame. I've got news for you, if you can't beat Maryland or Minnesota, what the hell are you worried about playing Notre Dame or not. Collect the revenue. USC is not even close to competing. And if they were fourth in the Big Ten, trust me having Notre Dame on their resume, win or lose, is a lot better than beating someone 60-0 that is Missouri State. It's just very sad to me . . . any argument being made, the Big Ten, travel, all of this stuff. It all goes by the wayside. It's USC-Notre Dame. There's billions of dollars involved and the players are getting paid. Are you kidding? We're not going to play this? It's the dumbest thing I've heard in my life." Papadakis is certainly known for being a bit of a contrarian, and he has a noted history of negativity on air towards his alma mater. But he does make some valid points. Riley has been at USC for less than four years, and the expanded college football playoff has existed for less than one. For those two things to cause the end of one of college football's greatest rivalries that has been around for nearly a century would truly be a shame.
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
The Times of Troy: Lincoln Riley shouldn't take all the blame if the USC-Notre Dame rivalry ends
Surprise! The Times of Troy is back by popular demand in your inbox, here to help ease you back into your week after what we hope was a relaxing holiday weekend. I was honored and humbled to hear your thoughts — most of them very kind — about the newsletter's debut season. So much so that we've decided to bring it back before our scheduled return in July. We've got some new ideas in the works for Season 2. But between now and July, when we turn our full attention to previewing the upcoming Trojans football season, we'll land in your inbox periodically as the moment calls for it. Now feels like one of those moments. One of college football's most storied rivalries is at a crossroads. A century after it was played for the first time, the historic series between USC and Notre Dame is at serious risk of ending. A lot of fans, former players and college football purists are upset about it. Most of them are pointing fingers at USC — and at Lincoln Riley especially. I think there's a little more to the situation than that. But the reason USC's coach finds himself at the center of that frustration stems from comments he first made last summer during Big Ten media day, comments that explain quite transparently where USC stands right now, almost a year later. USC and Mississippi had just canceled a home-and-home series, and rumors were swirling that Riley had pushed administrators to pull out of last September's matchup with Louisiana State too. When he was asked what led to those changes, Riley didn't hide his feelings about how scheduling should be handled. Why would any power conference school schedule marquee nonconference games in the future, he wondered aloud, unless there were 'more guaranteed [College Football Playoff] spots in some of these conferences.' Otherwise, he predicted, those games would happen 'less and less.' 'Our schedules are already going to be so good,' Riley said. 'At some point, you're like, alright, is the juice worth the squeeze in terms of playing these games?' Before we address how that logic applies to Notre Dame — and before you start screaming 'COWARD!' at your phone/computer screen — let's acknowledge the fact that Riley has a point. (Ducks.) He is paid — more than all but a few coaches in the sport — to get USC to the College Football Playoff. Period. And as the playoff is currently constructed, there is no real incentive, on paper, for a coach such as Riley to want an extra marquee nonconference game on the schedule. Remove 95 years of context with the Irish and, to his point, the juice probably isn't worth the squeeze. This issue runs far deeper than just Notre Dame and USC, but let's address the golden-domed elephant in the room, since Notre Dame's athletic director has the college football world worked into a lather. This is what Riley said about the rivalry last summer: 'If you get in a position where you've got to make a decision on what's best for SC to help us win a national championship versus keeping that, shoot, then you gotta look at it. I mean, listen, we're not the first example of that. Look all across the country — there's been a lot of other teams [that] sacrifice rivalry games. I'm not saying that's what's going to happen, but you know, as we get into this playoff structure, and if it changes or not, we're in this new conference, we're going to learn something about this as we go.' And boy did USC learn something on the road in its Big Ten debut. The Trojans unraveled on all four of their conference road trips. They realized how hard it would be to mix in an October trip to South Bend during that annual gantlet. No other Big Ten teams have that challenge on the Trojans' particular timeline. Not to mention there's a possible Southeastern Conference-Big Ten crossover matchup to consider in the future. Automatic qualifiers to the College Football Playoff are the quickest way to solve this problem, as far as USC is concerned. It would give teams such as USC comfort that a loss to a nonconference opponent in September wouldn't keep them out of the playoff. However, it would also mean rendering games such as USC-Notre Dame mostly meaningless as far as playoff resumes go. USC is choosing to take the cold, calculated route when it comes to this quandary. And I understand why. Why should the Trojans be expected to carry the water for the soul of college football at the cost of their own playoff odds, while the rest of the sport's leaders, USC's own included, have made clear just how much tradition actually means to them? Don't get me wrong. USC isn't being brave with its stance. It's openly acknowledging that it is choosing the route of least resistance, no matter how its fans may feel about it. That's not exactly valiant. And by calling them out for holding up negotiations, Notre Dame's athletic director has already won the PR battle. If the rivalry ends after this season, the narrative will forever be that USC killed it with cowardice. I do think that narrative would ignore some key points. Notably that USC hasn't said it wants to end the game. Only that it doesn't want a long-term contract before it understands the parameters of the playoff. Nor was Notre Dame interested at all in having a conversation about any concessions to USC's situation, such as an early season date for the game, to help get a deal over the finish line. If these negotiations were simply about maintaining the rivalry, Notre Dame would have agreed to play next season already. This isn't a one-sided stalemate. I know that USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen would prefer to continue the rivalry with Notre Dame. I know she understands how much equity she could lose if it doesn't continue. I also have no doubt that she will take the heat, if necessary, for its demise, if it means putting USC on a better path to the College Football Playoff. Is that hope of a playoff worth losing a storied rivalry? I'd understand if you said no. But USC leaders have made abundantly clear how they feel about that question. Let's hope they never have to answer it. Let's hear from you. Could a smoother path to the College Football Playoff be worth losing the Notre Dame-USC rivalry? Vote here and let us know. Results announced in the next Times of Troy. —USC basketball still has two roster spots available for the 2025-26 season. One is currently being held for Saint Thomas. But it's not clear how much longer Eric Musselman and his staff are willing to wait on Thomas' appeal to the NCAA. The sentiment within the program was that Thomas had a compelling case for a mental health waiver, but the gears of justice grind slowly with the NCAA, and Thomas is running out of time. Summer practice kicks off on June 9. If he isn't granted an extra year, expect USC to fill that spot with a low-major, all-conference-type point guard who could initiate the offense when called upon. —Six-foot-10 sophomore forward Jacob Cofie is one to watch this summer. USC's staff is very bullish on the young big man. One person with close knowledge of the program told The Times that they expect Cofie to be on draft boards by the start of Big Ten season. Along with Utah transfer Ezra Ausar — who stands 6-8, 242 pounds — Cofie should give USC much more of a physical presence in the paint, something it sorely lacked last season. —Leaders from the Power Four conferences are floating a binding document that would force schools to fall in line with the new NIL enforcement entity … or else. It won't work. I, for one, would love to see the Big Ten try to kick USC or Michigan or Ohio State out of the conference for not bending the knee to the new College Sports Commission. But more critically here, there's no way that such an agreement would pass legal muster. College sports can't supersede state law, no matter what some galaxy-brained commissioners might think. —The College Football Playoff field will no longer give the four highest-rated conference champions an automatic first-round bye. That change to 'straight seeding' was unanimously approved last week by CFP leaders, after the initial format last season was received poorly pretty much everywhere outside of Tempe, Ariz. In the new format, the committee's top-four rated teams will be ranked one through four and get that coveted bye, no matter if they won their conference or not. That might sound like a tedious change. But this is better for everybody. —Former USC point guard Kayleigh Heckel finally has a transfer destination. Heckel is joining Connecticut months after losing to the Huskies in the Elite Eight in her last game at USC. No one would've anticipated that turn in the immediate aftermath of that loss in Spokane. But hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, I guess. Rancho Cucamonga cornerback RJ Sermons to join USC a year early College Football Playoff shifts to straight seeding for upcoming season USC baseball program looks to continue breakthrough season USC pushes for one-year renewal of Notre Dame series until CFP bids are clarified Lincoln Riley made more than twice what USC's president did in 2023 When I was a kid, still just dreaming up the possibility of writing about sports, I would flip on ESPN every afternoon after school to try and catch Bill Plaschke or Woody Paige or Jackie MacMullan on 'Around the Horn.' It was the show that taught me, in my ways, how to talk about sports. That feels more and more like a lost art these days. And maybe that's why ESPN unfortunately saw it fit to end 'Around the Horn's' run after nearly 5,000 shows. But I will always hold the show near and dear and forever respect its host, Tony Reali, for reminding the world all these years that sports talk can still have a soul. That concludes today's newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you'd like to see, email me at and follow me on Twitter at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Los Angeles Times
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to Sports: Dodgers should honor Austin Barnes and Chris Taylor
It would be nice if the Dodgers could schedule a special day to honor Austin Barnes and Chris Taylor, giving fans and teammates a chance to provide a proper farewell for this pair of beloved, true-blue Dodgers. Anthony MorettiLomita I'm sure Taylor and Barnes are nice guys, but they've been making millions of dollars and haven't performed for years. I don't think anyone has to feel sorry for them. Mike SchallerTemple City Fans of '70s-era sci-fi movies can see clear parallels between the classic 'Logan's Run' and the Dodgers' front office behavior. Like the movie's plot, the Dodgers have concluded that former impact players now over age 30 are expendable and must be immediately eliminated. The struggling Max Muncy, Kiké Hernández must be taking note. Rob FleishmanPlacentia Spell check can be so maddening. Recently a friend sent me a text with a spell check that I thought could catch on. He was spelling Ohtani and spell check changed it to OTrain. I like it. Dave SnyderGrand Terrace With Clayton Kershaw returning to the mound for the first time since last summer, why on earth would the Dodgers put rookie catcher Dalton Rushing, who knows nothing about Clayton, behind the plate when Will Smith, who's been catching him for years and knows everything, was available? Will someone please explain the logic behind that for me. Jack WishardLos Angeles Times Sports stories on USC ('Riley one of top-paid coaches at $11.5 million') and UCLA ('UCLA athletics works to trim big deficit') shows how college athletics has changed since I graduated from college (1964) and entered college teaching (1973). Athletic programs used to be ways in which universities kept students entertained and alumni involved (as donors), a side hustle to their main activity of education. Now, with coaches with eight-figure salaries, athletes with seven-figure NIL incomes, and transfer portals, education at universities has become the side hustle to athletic programs. How time changes. Henry A. HespenheideHermosa Beach UCLA wouldn't need to resort to 'dynamic ticket pricing' to improve home attendance were it not for their inability to field an actual dynamic football team. Steve RossCarmel So Lincoln Riley is considering dropping Notre Dame from its long-term football schedule to enhance the Trojans' chances of winning a national title? Lincoln, maybe you should work on beating the Marylands and Minnesotas of the world before annoiting USC a title contender! Jack WolfWestwood Lincoln Riley says that USC has to 'make a decision about what's best for SC to win a national championship' when considering whether to continue playing Notre Dame every year. I have news for you, Lincoln: If losing to Notre Dame knocks you out of a 12-team playoff, you weren't going to win the national championship anyway. Brian GottaSan Diego So let's review this again. Overrated Clippers president Lawrence Frank says he does not regret trade of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and five first-round picks for Paul George. Mr. Ballmer: This one is up there with the Babe Ruth and Kareem trades. Billions don't guarantee anything if you have poor leaders. Weren't you CEO of Microsoft? David BialisSan Diego The only time The Times writes about the Angels is during the Freeway Series. I wish the Angels could play the Dodgers more often, not for the articles, for the wins. Peter ZovakTemple City Good thing the Dodgers are not in the AL West. William MorrisPasadena The Los Angeles Times welcomes expressions of all views. Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. They may be edited and republished in any format. Each must include a valid mailing address and telephone number. Pseudonyms will not be used. Email: sports@
