How long will Sigfried stick?
We will start this fine Tuesday with a tough question.
Will Chris Siegfried leave the Shock? Jim Meehan examines that question in today's paper. An interesting fact I didn't know, but I should have surmised: Coaches in arenafootball2 also have a salary scale, just like the players. But, unlike the players, they don't seem to earn more if they win.
The Shock's travel to Puerto Rico was pushed back a day, so yesterday's post about the team being on its way to the island was premature. Maybe they had to stay in Spokane to wait for the National Conference championship trophy to show up.
Don't forget, the ArenaCup game will be on KAYU, Fox 28 starting at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Given the track record, I wonder if the real Arena Cup, the trophy for the winning team, will be there?
I grew up in a UCLA household. Both my older sisters were Bruins and I don't think there was a more dedicated teenage UCLA basketball fan in the late '60s than myself. Of course, when it came time to enter college, I had no desire to live in Westwood, so I went south – all the way to Orange County and UC Irvine.
But one thing I kept was my healthy respect of the UCLA-USC rivalry. And what a rivalry it was – and is. You would think people who drive Beamers and Jags wouldn't waste their time obsessing about college sports but you'd be, like, way off base, dude.
After moving to Spokane more than 20 years ago, I entered the arena of the Cougar vs. Dawg fight (for some history on the rivalry, check this site and scroll down to the rivalry section). It didn't take me long to realize that, as intense as it is, it still isn't as mean-spirited as the L.A. rivalry. People here are just nicer. And drive pickups instead of Audis.
So it comes very easily to me to use USC as the butt of jokes. And I know, if any Trojans have my story in today's paper read to them, I'll get calls. But I also know that, after spending four or more years attending L.A.'s best football university, they develop a sense of humor. After all, they had to put up with years of Ted Tollner and Larry Smith.