Unbuckling the mailbag:
Question: If UCLA beats USC, will The Times let them be in the Sunday sports page headline?
Phillip Para
Answer: That's a tough call but we can probably make a one-time exception to get UCLA out on the cover, especially if the Bruins beat the Trojans, 50-0.
I'm constantly amused that some UCLA fans can't make the logical connection between program success and how that relates to newspaper coverage.
The reason USC has received more "attention" in the last decade might have to do with the Trojans' winning 12 of the last 13 games in the rivalry.
It's the same reason Napoleon got more coverage for winning battles and a presidential election gets more ink than a race for the Altoona City Council.
It could be noted that in basketball, UCLA's 11 NCAA titles have earned the Bruins disproportionate coverage over USC basketball.
Editorial policy in sports tends to be tied to winning, losing, newsworthiness, interest, readership and web hits.
In the 1990s, USC fans complained about our UCLA coverage when the Bruins were winning eight straight games in the rivalry.
Just look at the numbers: USC has been to seven BCS bowls since UCLA last appeared in the Rose Bowl.
UCLA can dictate more prominent coverage by getting better in football, which it appears to be doing.
The only cheerleading we do at company headquarters is over kickoff times, and I can tell you there were cartwheels performed after learning this year's UCLA-USC game was a noon start.
The worst move in the history of the rivalry was starting this game at 10 p.m. on the East Coast.
It was also a killer on our deadlines and almost prevented us from getting a headline on either team on the front page in early editions.
Q: Please tell me you will poke fun at the Southeastern Conference for their opponents this weekend . . . if you haven't already. Wofford? Samford? Western Carolina? I know there's a couple more . . . oh yes . . . Sam Houston State. Good thing these are home games.
Matt Kovach
A: It sounds like pitchers and catchers are reporting for the start of the SEC's Grapefruit League — except the conference is playing this exhibition slate right in the middle of the pennant drive.
You also missed a couple of key SEC matchups this weekend: Jacksonville State is playing at Florida, Georgia is hosting Georgia Southern and Alabama A&M travels to Auburn.
That's seven games against lower-division opponents on one day. Notre Dame, USC and UCLA have never played a 1-AA (now FCS) team.
