Letters to Sports: Times are tough for Lincoln Riley and his Trojans

It's very obvious to this USC diehard fan, Lincoln Riley is not delivering on his commitment to restore Trojans football to national prominence as head coach.

Stop promising better results, hiring new assistant coaches, and commenting on the difficulty of the schedule.

Coach Riley, Do Your Job!

J.R. Flores
Cypress

After USC lost to unranked Texas Christian in the Alamo Bowl to finish a 9-4 season, coach Lincoln Riley said, "The arrow is pointing straight up." He apparently didn't receive a compass for Christmas.

Rob Nelson
Dana Point

If USC plays again in the Alamo Bowl, the Trojans should bring their own officials. ’Nuf said.

Lillian Marshall
Santa Monica

After losing to TCU in overtime, the Trojans will always "Remember the Alamo (Bowl)." With that, the Men of Troy seem to break my heart every football season. Not playing Notre Dame anymore is sacrilegious. Last but not least, Lincoln Riley is an overrated head football coach. Fight On!

Chris Sorce
Fountain Valley

Bowling them over

The Ohio State University loses the big playoff game and Ole Miss advances without former coach Lane Kiffin. I imagine millions, like me, hope Ole Miss will win the whole thing without Kiffin.

Jack Wishard
Los Angeles

Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke appropriately describes how unique and beautiful the Rose Bowl is as a football venue. However, he’s completely off base to advocate for the CFP national championship game to be hosted there. Unmentioned in his column is the fact that Rose Bowl's primary tenant, UCLA, is currently trying to hightail it for the sleek confines of SoFi Stadium. Does Bill really believe that the CFP management committee won’t notice?

Rob Fleishman
Placentia

One can add "lack of class" to Oregon's ridiculous collection of ugly uniforms based on their performance in the Orange Bowl. Leading 16-0 with less than two minutes in the game while at the Texas Tech two-yard line, the Ducks pushed across an unnecessary touchdown instead of going into the victory formation. Let's hope they get washed out in the semifinals next week.

Ken Blake
Brea

Departing shot

Sorry to see Jerry Neuheisel leave UCLA to join traitor and coaching has-been Chip Kelly at Northwestern. Perhaps young Jerry will skip out after a year — just like his boss does so often.

Jim Fredrick
Manhattan Beach

Fourth-down follies

Having recently played Detroit, the Rams must have caught a case of "Dan Campbell-ism" that is now infecting both the NFL and college games. Definition: Going for it on fourth down while eschewing a 95% likelihood of a made field goal early in the game, all while demonstrating no confidence in your defense. Think those three points would have come in handy at the end of the Rams' loss vs. Atlanta?

Robert Gary
Westlake Village

The Rams' consecutive losses recently turned the McVay Rams to the Oy Vay Rams.

Ron Wolotzky
Los Angeles

Low point

The only positive words for the Lakers that I read in "Pistons dominate the paint" by Thuc Nhi Nguyen were, "The Lakers have eight of their next nine games against teams with losing records." That's sad!

Vaughn Hardenberg
Westwood

The Lakers coughed the ball up 21 times against the Pistons the other night. I haven't seen that many turnovers since I was at a pastry shop in Solvang.

Joe Kevany
Mount Washington

Luka Doncic is an incredible offensive player. Maybe best in the NBA. But when you’re giving up 20-plus points in layups on the other end, your value drops significantly. “The Trade” was not nearly as lopsided as everyone is saying.

George Metalsky
Redondo Beach

Sports fandom

Bill Plaschke's New Year's Day column on Los Angeles sports as a saving grace in very difficult times was a home run, touchdown and three-point shot all at one time. Bill had an incredibly difficult 2025, but it was inspirational to read how he was able to get through it with a love of sports getting a huge assist. To carry that theme a bit further, the world can seem so crazy, but following sports can help live and deal with it.

Bill Francis
Pasadena

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.