George Farmer, a receiver from Serra High, could be USC's next big star. (Robert Casillas, Staff Photographer)
Some awkward moments in 2011 will be unavoidable.
Like, Frank and Jamie McCourt, standing in the same soft-serve yogurt line at Dodger Stadium, trying to act inconspicuous but both noticing there's only one limited edition white helmet bowl left with the blue "LA" logo.
The ever-so-slow concessionaire, noticing that the yogurt has started to melt, finally sticks out her tongue, licks off the top curl, sets it on the counter, and waits to see which of the reputed team owners is desperate enough to take it.
Kobe Bryant will be on Rodeo Drive getting sized for his sixth NBA title ring - his third in three years - and somehow run into LeBron James, blowing dry a new tattoo he just had inked.
But not noticing the mistake made.
Instead of Chinese characters that are supposed to read "All Love King James," it says "I Love Kevin James."
"What should I do?" LeBron asks.
Phil Anschutz and Ed Roski will be standing at the Century Plaza valet kiosk, shuffling their feet, waiting for their respective Jaguars to be fetched from the underground lot. Each just finished a separate meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who gave them both the green light to start construction of their stadium proposals. Without the other knowing it.
Other moments in 2011 will come completely unforeseen. Those, we tend to enjoy more.
So, accept these enlivened 11 people, places and things as something that will make the coming year interesting, but also embrace those things you couldn't
see coming:
His start to the 2010-11 season has been All-Star caliber, the afterglow of playing for Mike Krzyzewski's Team USA squad last summer Turkey. But what will become of L.O. between March and June? Will he revert to form and seem to give up interest when he's back on the bench night after night? Will he agree to do a new reality show spinoff with wife Khloe and mess up the Lakers' mojo? And if Phil Jackson retires this summer as it seems, will Odom spell
doom for new coach Brian Shaw at the start of the '11-'12 season?
On Tuesday, the Baseball Hall of Fame will announce whether the former Angels right-hander finally has enough juice to join their club in the annual summer ceremony. Blyleven, who finished his 22-season career pitching for the Angels from 1989-92, was five votes short year ago, much closer than the 67 votes shy in '08. As a kid raised in Garden Grove, watching Sandy Koufax pitch for the Dodgers, Blyleven grew up to post 287 career wins, a 3.31 ERA and 3,701 strikeouts, fifth all-time. The sabermetics of today's pollsters who just gave Seattle's Felix Hernandez the Cy Young Award will also take into account Blyleven's 242 complete games, 60
shutouts and 15 1-0 victories.
Slick Rick, just 15-22 in his three years running the show in Westwood, and 0-3 against USC, is off to the ugliest start by a UCLA head football coach in that same time window since Harry Trotter ended his three-year run in 1922 at 2-13-1. Heading into Year Four of a five-year deal given to him by athletic director Dan Guerrero, Neuheisel could be a misfired Pistol away from meeting the fate of predecessors Karl Dorrell and Bob Toledo. And he can't afford any more video of him seemingly yelling at his quarterbacks on the sidelines.
The Auto Club 500 in Fontana, pushed back from early February to March 27 to avoid the rain, will
be the only Sprint Car race in Southern California for the year. There has been two races here since 2004, one in the spring and fall, but attendance has been lacking. As the fifth event of the season instead of the second behind Daytona, it is also awkwardly sandwiched between races in Bristol, Tenn., and Martinsville, Va. (even though the races preceding it are in Phoenix and Las Vegas). El Cajon's Jimmie Johnson, who won at Fontana last year en route to his record fifth straight championship, says that "as a California native ... I hate to see us lose a weekend here."
What kind of vibe will Donnie Baseball bring to the Dodgers franchise that might have been missing from Joe Torre the past three seasons?
Mattingly might not be as smooth with the media as his predecessor, but every move he makes will be magnified by the fact he lacks any big-league managerial experience. "We got sideways last year, and it happened fast," Mattingly said recently during a benefit in his hometown of Evansville, Ind., describing how the Dodgers' sub-.500 season came about. "Now we have to go out and prove ourselves again." Him, especially.
Breaking new ground with the addition of Colorado and Utah to the mix, the Pac-10-plus-two will stage its first conference championship Dec. 3 on the home field of the highest-ranked division winner. Will the fans support it? Both USC and UCLA have the new kids on the block added to their conference schedules, but it means the Trojans leave off Oregon State and Washington State, and the Bruins avoid Oregon and Washington. While it tries to fall in line with other major BCS conferences, will it poison its own well? If the system was in place this season, it's conceivable Stanford could have knocked Oregon out of the BCS title game, thus costing the conference more money to share. It's a slippery slope that might pay off, but greed could supersede.
He's got something in common with Vin Scully - they both live in L.A. after starting their careers at Fordham University. This junior guard transfer from New Jersey might be the one to push the USC basketball team up the court, past UCLA and highly regarded freshman center Josh Smith, and into the NCAA Tournament. Three games into his Trojans career, he was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week. They're still talking about the shot he made in the conference- opening loss to Washington: Fontan drove the lane, drew a foul, turned horizontal in midair, flung the ball up off the backboard and made the basket. Then made the free throw.
The Kings' complement to Jonathan Quick in the nets made a surprise appearance in the Sporting News' "Best of What's Next for 2011" because, as the magazine notes, "he's too talented to remain in Quick's shadow much longer." The 22-year-old has been tabbed the team's goalie of the future ever since they made him the 11th overall pick in 2006. He's shown flashes of brilliance, both late last season when the Kings (and Quick) struggled down the stretch, and this season. "You have to accept your role," he says, "but at the same time not be satisfied." If the Kings are also to meet the Ducks for the first time in the NHL playoffs, deciding between Quick and Bernier will be key.
On the PGATour.com 's fantasy site, writer Rob Bolton cautiously ranks the Studio City native as No. 31 in his top 100. "I want to be a believer just like you do, but he's a loose cannon in our world." In golf's real world as well, Kim had people scratching their heads. Ranked 12th in the world ranking in 2008, but then slipping to 25th and 24th the past two years, Kim spent most of last year recovering from thumb surgery that turned out to be worse than expected. He missed making the Ryder Cup team, and made more headlines when he withdrew from an event in Las Vegas and got a little rowdy in a local casino. Is AK done spraying to all fields?
The former L.A. Baptist High and USC track star said recently she expects 2011 to be "an intense year, kind of a dress rehearsal" for the Summer Olympics in London next year. The three-time world outdoor 200-meter champion and a silver medalist at the '04 and '08 Games at that distance, Felix also says she'll be shooting for a 200/400 double at the world championships. The 25-year-old is coming off a season where she was the first to win two IAAF Diamond League trophies in the same year, and won 21 of her 22 races.
With the recent addition of this 6-foot-2, 210-pound recruit - and the son of the former L.A. Rams receiver - USC head coach Lane Kiffin might be tempted to alter his scheme behind quarterback Matt Barkley to be more of a modified spread offense. Farmer, who ran the 100 meters in 10.4, joins former Serra High of Gardena teammate Robert Woods, the Pac-10's freshman offensive player of the year. "He looks like a college football player right now," Serra coach Scott Altenberg said.
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