By Bud Withers
Seattle Times colleges reporter
LOS ANGELES — It might have been the unlikeliest collision of humanity since John Candy and Steve Martin locked horns in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." Assembled at a hotel near the Los Angeles airport Thursday were the assorted scribes who cover Pac-10 football, gathered for the league's annual media day. Adjacent to them in several conference rooms was a convention of the National Evangelism Movement. The population in the bar appeared to be one-sided.
The writers relied on a time-tested formula: Praise the Lord and pick SC. They've gotten good at this lately, both the scriveners and Trojans. While there's considerable history of who-knew selections upsetting the media forecast for the conference football championship, lately it's been pretty chalky. You choose the Trojans, you do well. But even before that — Washington in 2000, Oregon in 2001, Washington State in 2002 — the writers nailed it. (And to think, those e-mails we get.)
Not to bet into a streak, as they say in Las Vegas, but just a thought: Might here be a new sheriff in town? "Maybe it's a nice thing to be ranked high, preseason," said Jeff Tedford, the California coach. Of his Bears, he added, "They still understand, it means nothing." Methodically, Tedford has been constructing a monster in Berkeley the past four seasons. Selected to finish second behind the Trojans this year, but getting a respectable seven first-place votes, Cal has been doing it the way Tedford knows best. When in doubt, he raids Oregon.
At every level, Cal has pilfered people from Tedford's previous coaching stop in Eugene. He's got Oregon graduates on his staff, he's got three ex-Oregon assistants working for him. The Cal strength coach, John Krasinski, came with him from Eugene. It goes to crazy levels. Tedford came up with enough money to hire away Ed Garland, an assistant equipment manager at Oregon. Even Cal's sideline radio reporter, Todd McKim, was a longtime TV guy in Eugene.
Why does all this matter? Because much of Cal's football future could be tied up in the latest plunder from the Oregon program. Over the summer, the Bears hired as their new senior associate athletic director for development — an unwieldy title for Get-That-Freakin'-Stadium-Renovation-Project rolling — a fellow named Jim Bartko.
One of Bartko's chief duties at Oregon was to talk Phil Knight through various spats with the Ducks and keep the cash flowing from the Nike czar's accounts for things like the 463 uniforms Oregon wears (including new ones for 2006). "I know a lot about him," Tedford said. "He's a good friend of mine. I think he's going to bring a lot of knowledge and expertise to our program and university. He's a true professional. I look for him to really help our program meet some of the needs we have."
While Bartko is out searching for another shoe guru, Tedford seems to have the Bears equipped to make a serious run at the Trojans, and the writers, this year. He's got players like tailback Marshawn Lynch, as good as there is in the nation, and truculent nose tackle Brandon Mebane.
To the south, USC has been stockpiling prep All-Americans that you haven't heard of because of people like Reggie Bush. Coach Pete Carroll calls it "the culmination of three really big-time recruiting years." "Oh yeah," Tedford said, almost breezily. "I feel we've been able to create a little bit of depth as well."
Depth like this: In the injury absence of Cal's top receivers last season, a sophomore named LaReylle Cunningham caught 112 yards in passes to beat Washington State. Cunningham isn't even on the two-deep roster now. Into the mix, Tedford will introduce some of the shotgun-based, spread-option offense, and his track record wins him the benefit of the doubt. "Who's to question him?" said Mike Stoops, the Arizona coach.
Funny thing, though. In all the discussion of USC, Cal and the third-place media pick, Oregon, there's nary a quarterback you can take to the bank. Between them, the three No. 1 guys on those depth charts — USC's John David Booty, Cal's Nate Longshore and Oregon's Dennis Dixon — have a total of five career starts.
Referring to Cal, Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter said, "They were a good football team, and they have a lot of guys back. [But] in this league, you've got to have a quarterback; and right now they don't have a proven quarterback. They have some candidates, but they don't have a proven quarterback."
It's assumed Tedford will find one. Ditto the Trojans, whose Carroll, referring to the departure of people like Matt Leinart, Bush and LenDale White, said almost whimsically, "I hope we're able to surprise some people."
Not the writers, who, Cal or no Cal, are spreading the gospel of USC.
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