BRADLEY, ARTEST ARE BOTH TROUBLE.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

Pretty soon it'll be all USC-Texas all the time. But first things first:

--If you cheered when the Dodgers traded Milton Bradley to Oakland because he's a disruptive force, you're locked in now. You'd be a hypocrite to cheer when the Lakers trade for Ron Artest, as was rumored Wednesday.

Or is it not all about character if the Lakers get a bad guy who'll win them a playoff series or two?

--I'm still waiting for somebody to show where exactly Bradley called Jeff Kent ``a racist,'' which writers keep saying he did.

Bradley said of Kent last summer that ``he doesn't know how to deal with African-American people.'' When he was asked if he was calling his teammate a racist, he said, ``I'm not calling him anything.''

You can write that Bradley ``implied'' Kent is racist, or that he ``stopped just short of calling'' Kent racist, but saying he called Kent racist is unfair to both men. It makes Kent fans think Bradley is a reckless character assassin, and it makes Bradley fans think Kent is, you know, a racist.

--Interesting that Jim Tracy, who managed Bradley in Los Angeles, said he wanted to bring him to Pittsburgh.

--I can't help wondering how this Angels' offseason would be going if Bill Stoneman were still alive.

I know he's still alive. I just don't know what the GM has been doing since Oct. 16.

Last really good Angels trade: Jim Abbott to the Yankees for J.T. Snow, Russ Springer and Jerry Nielsen, Dec. 6, 1992. Abbott's best seasons were past, Snow's were ahead.

--Bill Mueller is a solid, economical free-agent signing for third base with the Dodgers. Only, as a 10-to-15-homers hitter going on 35 years old, he doesn't answer the Dodgers' need for power at one of the infield corners.

--Soccer would be bigger than it is in America if every play-by-play man here wasn't trying to sound British. All those expressions like ``nil'' for zero and ``pitch'' for field, those aren't soccerisms, they're Britishisms. I could give you more examples of this problem, but at the end of the day, I don't want to make a meal of it.

--Bad news for readers who wish columnists would get off the subject of Shaq and Kobe. It's the L.A. sports topic that will never die.

Of those who responded to a recent column on Shaq and Kobe with e-mail saying they don't care, most went on for 500 words telling me all the reasons they don't care. So I think they care.

--There will be a lot of hiccups on the way to the World Baseball Classic in March, such as the new controversy over the federal government's bid to bar the Cuban team. It'll be worth the trouble.

--Low standards: Shaq went to the free-throw line with a second left the other night, missed the first shot and made the second to send a game to overtime, and the wire-service story said he ``came through in the clutch.''

--High standards: If you're disappointed that the Clippers are not quite good enough to beat Detroit and San Antonio, you've raised your expectations way too fast.

--It's not a sports event of consequence if FSN West 2 can show it on two weeks' delay with no loss of drama.

--Football game of the year around here, any level, was Loyola of Los Angeles' 49-42 victory over Esperanza of Anaheim for the Southern Section Div. I championship Saturday at Home Depot Center.

--Best way for a baseball fan to waste a winter afternoon online is wandering through the ``similarity scores'' for major-league players at baseball- reference.com.

Here's one that'll make Dodgers fans think: Based on career stats, the three pitchers in all of major-league history who are most similar to Kevin Brown are 1. Bob Welch; 2. Orel Hershiser; and 3. Don Drysdale.

Here's one that'll make you see the limits of statistical comparisons: Based on career stats, the active player most similar to Reggie Jackson is Rafael Palmeiro.

--We all got carried away when the UCLA football team started 8-0. Take nothing away from those comeback wins, but the Bruins were a Cinderella team.

--Ex-Dodgers pitcher Scott Radinsky (Simi Valley High) - the rock musician and skateboard park entrepreneur - was just named pitching coach for Akron of the Eastern League. Sometimes you're surprised at the guys who stay in the game.

--The NHL lockout may have saved Andy Murray's job, and the Kings are better for it. Players were starting to tune out the coach in the spring of 2004, but this is a new group and they're listening.

--Anybody else out there hold it against the Clippers that their play-by-play man can't pronounce Los Angeles? Unless it really is Los Aingeles, and Ralph Lawler has it right, and the rest of the population has it wrong.

--Based on the race's history, one of the 2-year-olds in Saturday's Hollywood Futurity at Hollywood Park will be a major player in the Triple Crown.

--On ESPN's ``Pardon the Interruption,'' they said the pivotal moment of the White Sox's playoff run was El Duque's relief work in Game 3 of the Division Series against the Red Sox. Maybe it's because I'm from Los Angeles of Anaheim, but I have a different pivotal moment in mind.

--So the Rose Bowl is Jan. 4 this time. When's Christmas?