Lubbock lunacy

This is why the Heisman Trophy , its various "watch lists" and even the award itself shouldn't matter so much.

How to pick whether Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who stayed poised in the pocket and out while the Longhorns fought from way behind to almost beat Texas Tech in Lubbock, or Tech quarterback Graham Harrell, who operates well in a certain system and who was unflabbable in a final, desperate, game-winning, upset-inducing, USC-popular beating of top-ranked Texas, or Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, who put up big numbers for the Sooners against a Nebraska team that might be able to compete in the state of Washington but not many other places, is now in the lead for college football's most coveted individual award?

Because it doesn't matter.

All that mattered was watching Texas Tech overcome its own "prevent defense" caution in the fourth quarter to score a game-winning touchdown with one second left. Whichever team you were rooting for, or even if you weren't rooting, it was hard not to scream when Tech's Michael Crabtree made a leaping catch of Harrell's last pass, tiptoed along the sideline and scored just after Texas had taken its first lead of the game. Texas Tech fans rushed the field three times and started tearing down the goalposts even before Texas tried to return the ensuing kickoff.

Brent Musberger finished as the second-most disliked sports play-by-play broadcaster in our Fabulous Forum poll last week, but Brent and Kirk Herbstreit were pleasantly compatible and properly calm in the final, frantic seconds. It was a well-called game by both men.

The only bad part of the college football day? Alabama probably gets to be ranked No. 1 after beating Arkansas State. Just for playing Arkansas State, the Crimson Tide should fall behind Penn State. And Texas and Oklahoma and Texas Tech and, yes, USC.

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell unleashes a pass against Texas during the Red Raiders' 39-33 victory on Saturday. Credit: L.M. Otero / Getty Images

Flower power

One of Canada's finest traditions -- along with drinking Tim Horton's coffee and saying "eh" at the end of every sentence -- was on display Saturday at Staples Center when the Kings faced the Calgary Flames.

Coaches on both teams wore a red poppy on the left lapel of their jacket, a symbol of the Nov. 11 Remembrance Day holiday. The day honors the sacrifices of veterans and civilians during wartime and is pegged to the day the armistice was signed to end World War I.

The poppy commemorates the poppies described in the poem "In Flanders Fields," written by a Canadian physician, John MacRae, during World War I.

Canadians start wearing the poppies about two weeks before the holiday, and it's remarkable how many you'll see when walking down the street of any Canadian city.

-- Helene Elliott

Photo: "Poppy Man" sits on the Serpentine Bridge in London's Hyde Park in preparation for the 90th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. Credit: Matt Cardy / Getty Images

Still waiting for Czisny to put it together

You keep waiting for the Paul Wylie moment from Alissa Czisny.

(For those who need a quick refresher: Wylie had a stunning elegance on the ice, but that made little difference until the 1992 Olympics because of his technical inconsistency. At the 1991 world championships, he barely qualified for the free skate before finishing 11th overall.  He never would finish higher than ninth at worlds. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he produced two terrific programs to win a silver medal at the 1992 Winter Games -- and many thought Wylie should have won gold.)

Czisny, a 21-year-old senior at Bowling Green, has the same striking elegance, but she usually can't stay upright.

One time she did, at the 2007 U.S. Championships, and Czisny won the free skate.

But her title chances were gone then after the short program, when she did a single lutz instead of a planned triple.

So here she was at Skate Canada, against an eminently beatable field after Italy's Carolina Kostner (a more decorated version of Czisny) imploded in the short program and slopped through the free skate.

But Czisny fell in the short program.  Then her flawed but very attractive free skate Saturday night was good enough to beat the usually over-scored Kostner and move her from sixth to third in the overall standings.  Czisny was second in the free skate.

Last year's other U.S. phenom, Caroline Zhang, struggled even more than 15-year-old compatriot Mirai Nagasu had at Skate America.

Zhang fell in the free skate (as she had in the short program), popped another jump and wound up a non-contending fifth.

Meanwhile, Canada's Joannie Rochette skated two very solid programs to win in a runaway -- 25 points ahead of runnerup Fumie Suguri of Japan, 31 ahead of Czisny and 37 ahead of Zhang.

Which makes it two weeks in a row that U.S. women have been hopelessly outclassed.

-- Philip Hersh

Photo: Joannie Rochette performs her free skate Saturday during Skate Canada, which she won in a runaway. Credit: Adrian Wyld / Canadian Press / Associated Press

Bring the Noise: Clippers at Salt Lake

SALT LAKE CITY -- This was almost a (bad) flashback to the days of covering high school sports, futilely trying to listen to a coach or a player talk with the soundtrack of loud band music in the background.

There will be no editorial comment about the quality of that music so many years ago. Let's just say I felt a rush of nerves for a long, long time at my local tennis courts when band music would waft over from the nearby high school.

All of this came back tonight when I wandered over to talk to Mike Dunleavy before the Clippers' game against the Jazz at the EnergySolutions Arena to find out about Baron Davis' injury. Unfortunately, the players weren't the only ones getting in their pregame practice.

There was a band set up in the middle of the court. The drummer appeared to be getting in most of the practice. Bang the Drum Slowly. And Loudly.

(Note to self: Eric Sondheimer, our wonderfully knowledgeable columnist who covers high schools, can borrow my Bose headphones any time he wants.)

Oh, and Baron Davis?  Dunleavy said that Davis, who is not here because of a sore left hip,  could be out about three or four days and then will be re-evaluated. At least that's what I thought he said in the midst of the noise.

Thank goodness for the safety net, the digital tape recorder.

-- Lisa Dillman

Fun night, great cause

Former Cincinnati Reds closer and television/radio personality Rob Dibble will be master of ceremonies for the sixth annual "In the Spirit of the Game" dinner and auction, Jan. 17 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

The event, which raises money for baseball scouts facing financial difficulties, is organized by Chicago White Sox executive and former agent Dennis Gilbert.

Among the honorees will be Hall of Famers George Brett and Goose Gossage, the Alou family, Whitey Herzog and former Boston Red Sox CEO John Harrington. Co-hosting the event will be Brendan Fraser, Don Johnson and Larry King.

Last year's event included a huge auction featuring everything from autographed baseball jerseys to a Picasso sketch and was attended by Commissioner Bud Selig, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, Chicago White Sox and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Braves Manager Bobby Cox, Angels General Manager Tony Reagins, Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti, former Dodgers Manager Tom Lasorda, Dodgers Assistant General Manager Kim Ng and Times sports writer Kevin Baxter.

For more information, call Leslie Tarlov at (310) 966-1188.

-- Dylan Hernandez

Some questions

How is it possible that California and Oregon are playing and the Ducks don't have the ugliest uniforms on the field?

It's possible. Whatever color it was the Bears were wearing, head to toe (banana yellow, crayon yellow, Mountain Dew yellow?), it was awful. Whoever becomes new Pacific 10 Conference commissioner might need to start thinking about a dress code for the teams. Interesting that USC and UCLA don't seem to have the burning need to outfit themselves top to bottom in some eye-hurting variant of their team colors.

And, what the heck? Is Dave Wannstedt a better football coach than Charlie Weis?  The Panthers played with more confidence and some swagger at South Bend, Ind., to win in four overtimes, 36-33.

Even Notre Dame's iconic mural, Touchdown Jesus, might have lost confidence in the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame stadium sprinklers went off when the game went to overtime. Was Touchdown Jesus crying, knowing what was soon to happen?

Now that USC is safely ahead of Washington, 42-0, with still a few minutes left in the second quarter, it's time to take our dog, Dillon, to the park so he's ready to watch the 5 p.m. Texas-Texas Tech and Oklahoma-Nebraska games without interruption. Three Heisman Trophy candidates on display at the same time.

-- Diane Pucin

Knock, knock ... it's your former coach!

The Kings' game against the Calgary Flames is the second half of today's scheduled Hockey Night in Canada doubleheader, and the CBC decided to promote it before the first telecast, which features the New York Rangers at the Toronto Maple Leafs.

So our friends at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation sent two announcers over to Staples Center early in the afternoon to preview the game, but the duo ran into a wee bit of trouble.

Announcer Scott Oake said he and his broadcast partner had wanted to broadcast from outdoors but were hit by a rain shower, which forced them indoors. Then he said they tried for half an hour to get in, but no one would admit them into the building.

The other announcer was Marc Crawford (pictured at right), the former Kings coach who was dismissed last summer. He said there were times last season when he had trouble getting into the building, too.

At least he had a sense of humor about it. . . .

-- Helene Elliott

Photo credit: Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times

Lysacek takes a turn (out) for the worse

Evan Lysacek is a quadruple threat no longer.

And, at least in the eyes of the judges at Skate Canada, not much of a threat at all.

The two-time U.S. champion and two-time bronze medalist at the world championships finished fourth in the free skate (and third overall) Saturday afternoon with a program that no longer has a quadruple jump and, to be frank, looked like a junior-level free skate -- especially compared to the technical difficulty of the program that brought the Naperville, Ill., skater his first U.S. title in 2007.

Lysacek (shown at left during his short program)dumped the quad after falling on it last week at Skate America.

That left him with a program that has no triple axel-triple toe loop combination.

Less than a year ago, Lysacek said he had added the quad to his short program because "I'm trying to improve the technical difficulty of my skating.''

Now he feels the jump apparently is not worth the risk.

But what he was left with could not beat a free skate with three major errors that Canada's Patrick Chan produced, so mediocre overall even Chan was surprised it was good enough to win the competition (largely on the strength of his short program score, as Chan was third in the free skate, which included a fall).

"I'll deserve it next time,'' Chan shouted after the scores went up.

At the 2007 nationals, Lysacek did quad toe-triple toe and triple axel-triple toe combinations.

Saturday, his only triple-triple was a yawner: triple flip-triple toe.

So now Lysacek has finished third in consecutive Grand Prix events, meaning his chances of qualifying for the Grand Prix final are minimal.

He has made the final the last two seasons.

Not getting there is a step backward.

So is taking the quad from his program.

The best thing that can be said about Lysacek's skating Saturday is he stood on his feet.

Now, even though two of the world's best men (world champions Jeffrey Buttle and Stephane Lambiel) retired before this season, Lysacek is rapidly losing his standing in the sport.

-- Philip Hersh

Photo credit: Fred Chartrand / Canadian Press / Associated Press

Scouting the Rose Bowl

Northwestern was playing today at trendy Rose Bowl darkhorse Minnesota and, sure enough, with a Dome full of brunch-laden Gopher fans (are mimosas still in season?) Minnesota had a pass intercepted in the final 20 seconds and the Wildcats returned it for a touchdown and a 24-17 victory. It was Minnesota's second conference loss so the mighty Gophers won't make a turnaround from 1-11 to the Granddaddy of them all. Good thing for the Rose Bowl.

A few minutes later over on ESPN, Michigan State kicked a late-game field goal at Wisconsin to win, 25-24. The Spartans, who never led in the game, are 5-1 in the conference and their come-from-behind win might be good news for USC.

Michigan State is notable for its horrible late-season fades but with something to play for now (a Big 10 title and possible Rose Bowl berth) maybe the Spartans will be enthusiastic when they play at Penn State on Nov. 22. That would be a best-case scenario for the Trojans because a one-loss Nittany Lions team would most likely be out of the national title game spot but would still be an attractive Rose Bowl opponent both for USC (please, not Ohio State again) and the Pasadena folks.

And here's a good reason why announcers really need to pay attention to all the little details, such as what down it is. As a Michigan State player was stopped short of a first down with the final 30 seconds ticking away, ESPN play-by-play announcer Pam Ward was yelling her dismay that Spartans Coach Mark Dantonio didn't have his team spike the ball to stop the clock.

Well, Pam, it was fourth down. Spiked ball? Game over for the Spartans. But while Michigan State was in a mad scramble to get its field-goal unit onto the field, Wisconsin Coach Bret Bielema called time out. About the time Ward realized Michigan State would have been poorly served by spiking the ball, she did switch gears and wonder what Bielema was doing.

-- Diane Pucin

Totally Random

First came the curse of the Billy Goat, then the curse of the black cat, then Steve Bartman. Newest entry into the Chicago Cubs’ Hall of Hexes is the tattoo that Cubs fan Jimmy Burroughs received in a Tennessee tattoo parlor in July.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cubs’ postseason demise was "preordained" when a mischievous tattoo artist added the words "Go Cards" to an etching of a Cubs logo on Burroughs' right shoulder blade. "I pretty much blame the tattoo for the Cubs losing," said Burroughs, 26, a child therapist from Bloomington, Ind. “It kills me to have a tattoo that says 'Go Cards.' "

The artist, Derek Rivers, told the Post-Dispatch that he is not a St. Louis Cardinals fan but added the words in red inside an outline of the Cubs' "C" as a joke. Burroughs and Rivers laughed, then Burroughs told Rivers to "color it in now." Rivers did, but the fill-in mysteriously faded and "Go Cards" re-emerged.

Rivers refunded Burroughs his $190 but Burroughs did not elect to have the tattoo fixed elsewhere. And we know what then happened to the Cubs: Swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Dodgers.

Trivia time

Who is the only Clipper to lead the NBA in rebounding for a season?

Pushy journalists?

A charity soccer match between members of Scottish Parliament and sports journalists last weekend had to be abandoned 10 minutes into the second half when a fight erupted.

The game was called off with the politicians leading, 6-2, after heated play resulted in players from both sides squaring up and pushing each other in the chest.

In the first half, television soccer commentator Chick Young had to be carried off the field after being on the receiving end of a hard tackle.

"This wasn’t any joke on Sunday, these people were an absolute disgrace," Young told Radio Scotland’s Sportsound. "The attitude toward the referee, the language that was used by the politicians on the occasion, was totally out of order.

"I honestly thought my ankle was broken. It’s not, but it’s pretty bad, and I had to abandon a day’s charity golf ... which broke my heart as well."

Not the first time charity and politics failed to mix.

Rocking the vote

A demonstration of political football in Houston last weekend was canceled, for better or worse, when the Cincinnati Bengals managed only two field goals in a 35-6 loss to the Houston Texans. Chad Johnson was planning to unfurl a Barack Obama banner if he scored a touchdown against the Texans.

"It was talked about," Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh told Dan Patrick last week. "We talked about it. I don’t know if he was able to get the banners. ... I think that’s what he wanted to do."

With the surprise element scuttled, will Johnson dare to try again today when the Bengals host the Jacksonville Jaguars? The 0-8 Bengals face the same dilemma as they did last Sunday in Houston: Can they score a touchdown?

20-year yechhh

The Orlando Magic almost celebrated its 1988-89 expansion season to the hilt on Wednesday.

Almost.

"The Magic lost their season opener, 99-85, to the Atlanta Hawks and looked horrible doing it," wrote Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel.

"This was like the husband coming home early from work with flowers and candy for a 20th wedding-anniversary celebration and finding his wife making out with the pool guy. It tends to ruin the moment."

Trivia answer

Michael Cage, who averaged 13 rebounds during the 1987-88 season.

Cowboy talk

As the Dallas Cowboys prepare to play the New York Giants today with Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger as their quarterbacks, Richard Oliver of the San Antonio Express-News is already looking ahead to the Cowboys' upcoming bye week. Oliver writes, "Let’s hope Romo can be rebuilt in a week."

-- Mike Penner

Photo: No doubt Cubs fans will mope again when they hear the tattoo story. In this shot, fans show their dismay during Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers. The Dodgers went on to sweep the series. Credit: Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune