What do Pete Carroll and the late John McKay have in common? Besides both being highly successful coaches at USC, there is another bond between them now that Carroll is back in the NFL. When McKay left USC in 1976 to become coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he drafted several of his USC players, including Mike Rae, Richard Wood and John McKay Jr.
In the NFL draft that concluded on Saturday, Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks selected USC defensive backs Will Harris and Josh Pinkhard, and also acquired LenDale White from the Tennessee Titans. In White's case, it was surprising that Titans Coach Jeff Fisher would let him leave Nashville because the former USC running back had been one of Tennessee's more productive players.
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The Dodgers are still struggling against the Washington Nationals, who beat L.A. in two out of three games over the weekend. The Dodgers finally got a good outing from Chad Billingsley who pitched six strong innings without allowing a run. The problem was the Dodgers, without Manny Ramirez, who is batting over .400 but is on the disabled list, couldn't score any runs when they had men on base, and were blanked, 1-0.
In their NL West stretch drive with the Colorado Rockies late last season , the Dodgers were swept by the Nationals and the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates, two National League doormats.
In the immortal words of the late Mal Florence, "you've got to beat the burgers" if you're going to win championships. So far, the Dodgers are having trouble against inferior teams.
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There was a lot of hand-wringing and worry about the Lakers chances of defending their NBA championship after they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. With the series tied, 2-2, the outlook, at least in the media's eyes, for their chances in Game 5 Tuesday night at Staples Center is somewhat bleak.
One thing to remember: Last season, the Lakers had a hard time in the first round against the Houston Rockets who, without their superstar Yao Ming at center, took the Lakers to seven games. After that, Los Angeles rolled through Utah, Denver and finally Orlando to win the title.
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