STARTING FIVE

1. O Revoir

It was always nothing more than fanciful to suggest that Ed Orgeron, who inherited a moribund Trojan program at the end of September, would be given the keys to the house for good. After all, USC is a Top 6 program, the type of school that can rule if recruiting in its own backyard and yet still draw five-stars from as far away as New Jersey or Florida. USC, Notre Dame, Alabama, Texas, Ohio State/Michigan. Those are top brands in college football.

Was Orgeron a Top 6 coach? Perhaps not. I did love, though, how he embraced the position. How every time he did an on-camera interview he closed by saying, “Fight on!” Loved that. Loyal soldier.

The reason that most USC fans woke up this morning with that feeling you have of staring long and hard into the fridge and deciding whether or not to grab the tuna salad is because, if athletic director Pat Haden was going to scrap the good karma that Orgeron had molded in the previous two months, they’d think he might’ve done better than Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian.

 

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Is Sarkisian, who had been Pete Carroll’s offensive coordinator in Troy’s most recent golden era, solid? Yes. Is he spectacular? That remains to be seen. U-Dub finished 8-4 this season and 5-4 in the Pac-12. It’s best for Haden that the Trojans and Huskies never played, making this decision easier.

And how are the USC players reacting? Oh, they’re fine. Only three tweeted that it felt as if they’d just lost a father.

When you get down to it, a head coach is less an X-and-O guy than he is an ambassador and a CEO, especially if he has great coordinators. Would most USC fans and alums agree that Haden could improve upon Orgeron? Yes. Do they think Sarkisian represents that improvement? No.

Here’s hoping for a Mike Kekich-Fritz Peterson swap between the Pac-12 cohorts. Orgeron to U-Dub. And if UCLA’s Jim Mora, Jr., a Washington alum, leaves Westwood to replace Sark, then Pac-12 commish Larry Scott needs to host a conference coaching key party.

2. Mauled in Maui

A 57 year-old man fishing from a kayak, his legging dangling over the side in the ocean, suffered a fatal shark attack bite yesterday. The fisherman, Patrick Briney, died before a friend fishing in another kayak was able to get him to shore. And this, sadly, is why I always check Outside magazine’s on-line edition.

3. Hater Item

You have to salute UConn’s Shabazz Napier for hitting this buzzer-beating, game-winning shot to defeat Florida, 65-64, last night in Storrs. However, being both white and middle-aged, it is incumbent upon me to point out to you that Napier definitely is guilty of a carry and also, unless a Gator defender deflected his “pass”, a double dribble. Oh well, it’s the first week of December. College basketball season does not begin for another three months.

4. Real or Fictional School?

 

The following are one of three entities: Actual school that played a Division I opponent within the past week, fictional school from a film, or actor who I found on IMDB. Can you correctly identify each?

Campbellsville, Regina, Brevard, Florida Memorial, Graceland, Cincinnati Christian, Mount Ida, La Sierra, Edward Waters, Valley City State, Spring Hill, Black Hills State, Nova Southeastern, Cameron, Waldorf, Vanguard, Young Harris, Brewton Parker, Huston-Tillotson.

Answers after No. 5

5. Forecast Like a Champion Today (but not for “Today”)

Sam Champion, the fair-haired meteorologist at “Good Morning, America”, and a staple of my Upper West Side ‘hood for the past quarter-century, is leaving ABC for The Weather Channel. Champion, 52, will become the managing editor of TWC and will also host a morning show for the cable network. He will be based out of Atlanta. Allow us to take this time to note that the forecast for Champion’s disposition has always been bright sunshine, that ABC would do well to look at Hartford-based meteorologist Scott Haney (he’s no Ginger Zee, but she’s no Scott Haney, either), and that we have met a person or two named Champion, but we have never met anyone named Loser or Runner-Up.

Answer to question on No. 4: I apologize, it was a trick; every school there actually exists. Which is kind of my point.

Reserves

— An NFL Mock Draft from Sports Illustrated has two Notre Dame defensive linemen in its Top 20. Things you never thought you’d see.

— Is it just me or is How I Met Your Mother not even trying any more? It’s like when Happy Days just decided it didn’t care if people thought it was a ’50s nostalgia show any more and started to allow its stars to wear contemporary hair styles. Meanwhile, if you stay tuned long enough to CBS to catch Two Broke Girls, there’s no way a woman in New York City who looks like Beth Behrs is working in a greasy spoon longer than five minutes. It’s not a sitcom, it’s SciFi.

–In Humblebrag penalty news, Vernon Davis got tackled how?

–NIU quarterback Jordan Lynch is now No. 2 in The Heisman Pundit’s straw poll. Love watching Lynch play, but he looked pretty banged up after last week’s 316-yard rushing effort. Meanwhile, Thursday’s MAC Championship Game foe, Bowling Green, has beaten its last four opponents by an average of 40 points per game and lost the two previous games by a total of four points. I like the Falcons in MACtion finale.

–Stock in Tesla (TSLA) is up 15% today. That’s what happens when you give away a free fire extinguisher with every purchase. And no, Paul Walker was not riding in a Tesla. Too soon? Of course.

Remote Patrol

 No. 22 Michigan at No. 10 Duke

ESPN 9:15 p.m.

Freshman Jabari Parker and the Blue Devils versus Nik Stauskas, a Canadian, and last year’s national runners-up.