The Rome report

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

A funny thing happened as the top-ranked USC Trojans marched toward Miami, the site of the BCS National Championship game. The Trojans had to make a pit stop in Corvallis, Oregon to play the Oregon State Beavers. The Beavers season record was 1-2. They had been blown out by Penn State and lost to Stanford. They were three-touchdown underdogs. There was absolutely no way they could win the game, right? As Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friend.” The Beavers ran out to a 21-0 halftime lead and held on in the second half to win 27-21. The loss dealt a major blow to USC’s chances of playing in the title game.

USC’s remaining schedule is weak. They play in the Pac-10 Conference, which is down this year. Their only remaining non-conference game is against Notre Dame, which is in the middle of a rebuilding stage. None of the teams left on its schedule are in the AP Top 25. This means that even if they run the table, they probably will be left out of the title game because their best win would be against an Ohio State team that was missing its best offensive weapon. Right now, teams like Alabama, LSU, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri have the inside track to the title game. This is because they will be rewarded for playing in conferences that are tougher than the Pac-10. If USC wants to make it into the title game, they have to run the table and hope these teams lose a couple of games.

NFL

As an Oakland Raiders fan, I have to constantly listen to fans of other teams and talking heads on television call my team the most dysfunctional team in the NFL. Well, I am happy to report that there is another team that is giving my Raiders a run for their money for that title.

This past Tuesday, St. Louis Rams head coach Scott Linehan announced that he would bench starting quarterback Marc Bulger for backup Trent Green. The Rams offense has been pitiful this year, and Linehan’s job is on the line. This switch has not gone over well with the team. A couple days later after the benching was announced, Rams running back Stephen Jackson went on the radio and said that Linehan was making the wrong decision and that other players on the team did not agree with the decision. Then on Friday, it was being reported that Bulger said he didn’t want to play for Linehan anymore. It just makes you wonder what is going on in the Rams locker room. Does it get anymore soap opera than that? It is almost as if the Rams are trying to be the Raiders of the midwest. So the next time I am talking to someone about the NFL and they talk smack about my Raiders, I will just say, “Hey, we could be the Rams.”