Pete for President

At Pac-10 media day, Pete Carroll had an obvious plant in the audience. One of his former players-turned-broadcaster asked him to talk about an upcoming charity event. "Yeah!" exclaimed USC's coach, "thanks for asking!"

After a very pregnant pause (and a few chuckles from the crowd), Carroll launched into his spiel.

As you might have noticed on this blog, we have a soft spot for good causes (we even have a "do gooding" category) -- and we'll happily give a pass on the plant. Carroll and Co. used the media spotlight to bring attention to LA Live Peace, a rally organized through his A Better LA charity. Several members of the media were handed glossy fliers advertising the event at the Coliseum on Aug. 2 (10 a.m.).

After describing the march and rally, Carroll upped the ante. "It happens to be the gathering of all the people that do the work in the streets -- the intervention workers, all the community-based organizations and the churches that do such great stuff. I realized what an extraordinary opportunity it would be for our presidential candidates to join hands with our kids that are our future. We tell you that we're having this event -- shoot! We're inviting them too! Maybe they want to come in and connect with their future and make a statement that they do understand the work that's done on our city streets and with our communities is so critical. We need all the help we can get. It's an enormous job and we ain't got much time. Maybe they might want to join in."

L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke was next in line. "You're inviting the President ... so you going to invite Neuheisel and Chow as well?"

"I'm sure they're busy," joked Carroll. "Actually, everybody's invited ... one big happy family."

Sure, maybe it was a little goofy -- but it's nice to see somebody in Carroll's position use his spotlight for a good cause.

-- Adam Rose