SOUND OFF.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Time for changes

I have been a Blazer fan my whole life. As a Trail Blazer fan, I have seen a lot of good basketball since the franchise was established in the early 1970s: a championship in 1977 and now 21 straight years in the NBA playoffs.

In the past few years, Portland has had many off-court problems. Now, a third-year player from Michigan State, Zach Randolph, has been charged with DUI. Police say they smelled pot in his car and he was driving without a license or car insurance.

It's time for a change.

Portland is a great franchise with many talented players, but it is hard to have success with the players acting like they do.

Maurice Cheeks is in a hard situation, and I think he will do the right thing.

I will continue to root for the Blazers on the court, but I hope the players grow up. They are by no means my role models

JOE McCALL, age 14

Eugene

Easy schedules

I believe that most football scribes and coaches know that conferences and teams that schedule sure wins in nonconference games have an edge in the BCS ratings.

LSU's nonconference games were wins over Louisiana Tech, Louisiana Monroe, Western Illinois (a Division II team) and Arizona.

USC's were wins over BYU, Notre Dame, Auburn and Hawaii. Auburn and Hawaii are bowl-bound, and even the Eastern computer nerds should realize that USC had a much tougher nonconference schedule.

Is the Southeastern Conference better than the Pac-10? TV pundits and certain media sources say that the Pac-10 is a weaker conference. The data say no.

My calculations indicate that the Pac-10 win-loss record against the six BCS conference opponents is 8-7, with eight of those teams bowl-bound.

The Big 12 (Oklahoma's conference) had a win-loss against BCS opponents of 7-8, with eight opponents bowl-bound, and LSU's Southeastern Conference is 7-7, with seven bowl-bound. It's obvious that the Pac-10 is equal or better than the Big 12 and Southeastern conferences.

Now to get that edge, teams in your conference have to schedule stiffs like Louisiana Monroe and Western Illinois. It's obvious to me and I believe to many other fans that the reason the Oregon Ducks got shafted three years ago and the USC Trojans this year is the edge provided by playing the stiffs game.

The writers and coaches voted USC No. 1 in both polls, and for the first time in BCS history the poll's No. 1 team is not playing for the national championship.

Congratulations to the Pac-10 for being a class conference and not resorting to playing the stiffs game and scheduling a bum of the week.

ANDREW POLETTE

Marcola

The right choice?

In all of the controversy over the BCS football ratings, has anyone considered that the computer may have been correct?

USC undoubtedly had one of the best teams in the country. But, although I've been a Trojan fan since the days of the great Howard Jones, I doubt whether a team with one of the worst pass defenses in the nation should be considered No. 1.

Many of the Trojans' opponents put enough points on the board, via the air, to ordinarily win but they were simply outscored.

USC's woeful lack of an air defense was never more evident than in the Oregon State game when Derek Anderson threw for 485 yards - and a school record - in a losing effort.

CAL RAGLAND

Roseburg

Juggling numbers

Let me see: Number 2 will play number 3 to see who is number 1. Do I have that right? And number 1 will play number 4 to see who is number 3. Do I have this right?

The BCS should be blown up and destroyed immediately. What happened this year to USC is even more insane then what happened to the Ducks two years ago. The Pac-10 has been "dissed" two years out of the last three.

The only saving thing in this year's mess is we get a traditional Rose Bowl between the Pac-10 and the Big Ten. If USC beats Michigan, I will recognize the Trojans as the national champions no matter what happens in the Sugar Bowl.

The whole West Coast from Seattle to San Diego should refuse to watch the Sugar Bowl. That game will mean nothing to me unless Michigan should happen to win.

Let's see - the Sugar Bowl is on Jan. 4. I believe I have tickets for the Eugene Opera that day.

I have never been a big Trojan fan, but on Jan. 1 I will be.

DANIEL WOLFE

Springfield

Ridiculous solution

In Ron Bellamy's Dec. 9 column, he said "one computer ranking, that of power-rating guru Jeff Sagarin, has the (USC) Trojans ranked behind Miami of Ohio."

A quick fix to the current BCS snafu would be to remove the Sagarin factor from the calculations. I also suggest a new phrase be added to the lexicon: The Sagarin Factor - a complex calculation resulting in a ridiculous solution.

DELLA LEE

Springfield

It's big business

Too many bowl games? Yes, I agree there are too many bowl games today that seem to lessen the importance of our "big" bowl games: the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta.

But, hey, this is big business. No longer are we in the day of pride, honor and tradition.

No, today it is money: shoes, soft drinks and corn chips.

No longer is it just the Rose, Orange or Sugar bowl, but the FedEx, UPS, Poulan Weedeater, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Chick-fil-A, Outback Steakhouse bowl.

I think we are all saddened by this reckless disregard for our time-honored traditions and the sickening display of merchandise on our hallowed fields of play. But what the heck ... pass me the Tostitos and let's watch some football!

KEN JONES

Eugene

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