The above video, from the 1993 ESPN Awards, features an unforgettable speech from Jim Valvano, the former North Carolina State basketball coach. "Don’t Give Up...Don’t Ever Give Up!” Shortly after, cancer took his life. (Full speech transcript.) more ›

LA has a diverse cast of characters. Whether it's the characters with stirring stories or interesting occupations or the people who are just simply characters, this town has them all. In an effort to get to know some of those characters a little better, we've created "Seven Questions with..." If you have a suggestion for a future Seven Questions subject send us an email. more ›

I found myself reading Scott Wolf’s tweets yesterday. That’s how strange the USC head coaching job search had become. I realized I was actually interested in his nonsensical flip-flopping and reporting of false leads. I spent the day instant messaging my friends with ties to Heritage Hall along with LAist Sports Editor Jimmy Bramlett, seeing who had heard what. more ›

The Daily News' "Inside USC" writer Scott Wolf is reporting that USC head football coach Pete Carroll has turned in his resignation to USC. Carroll is expected to accept the job as Seattle Seahawks head coach tomorrow. more ›

LA Times' Gary Klein and Sam Farmer are reporting that USC football head coach Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks are close to a deal worth $7 million a year for five years that would also make Carroll president. Daily News' Scott Wolf is reporting the only question remaining is how much power Carroll will have in the Seahawks organization. more ›

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported on Twitter that USC football head coach Pete Carroll could be filling the recently vacated head coaching position at the Seattle Seahawks saying that it is expected to happen. more ›

It was an ugly game. To call it a defensive battle would be claiming that the offenses were actually threatening to break the contest open. In truth, both offenses were anemic. For the defenses, it must have felt like swatting flies. It would seem USC won because their defense had a slightly bigger flyswatter. more ›

Just hours after saying goodbye to his quaterback, Mark Sanchez, USC football head coach Pete Carroll walked the red carpet at the grand opening of ESPN Zone at LA Live. ESPN Zone was already open, in fact, that night the place was packed with Kings and Red Wings fans grabbing a bite prior to the game, but that's what they call a "soft opening." Thursday night was the grand opening with the red carpet, bright lights and celebrities. more ›

USC Trojans defeat #15(Coach)/#16(AP) Arizona State Sun Devils 61-49. Defense wins games, and that was more than evident in this game. USC's Daniel Hackett held ASU standout James Harden to only four points scored on free throws, much lower than his 23.1 points per game average. Harden missed all eight field goal attempts. USC started slow scoring only 19 points in the first half, but they made up for it in the second half with 42 points. more ›

This is just so "out there" on so many levels. A city subcontracted anti-gang worker nicknamed "Bow Wow" was arrested Friday after a January 5th incident where a Bone Thugs-n-Harmony member was robbed and beaten in Universal City. more ›

Okay Trojan fans, can you imagine your team taking the field (or court, etc.) in anything but the cardinal red and gold (and some white) colors that are quintessentially USC? Well, don't worry, you won't have to! Fears that the school would adapt an alternate uniform to align with the black and gold jerseys the athletic department has been selling are unfounded. USC coach Pete Carroll said "There's no way I would allow it." There you go, Trojans. Your red and gold will hold. more ›

by Joe King, from Pyle of List. more ›

Article by Adam Rose and Ryan Jesena. more ›

UCLA hires Rick Neuheisel to become their football coach. more ›

One of the things that sports fans in Southern California should be grateful for as they warm up last night's left overs is the fact that ESPN.com's Eric Neel moved to LA this year from Northern Cal because now his excellent writing is being more focused on our teams. Yesterday he posted a glowing feature on the USC football head coach who appears every bit the Golden Boy that he looks in photos. In... more ›

Morning rush hour is from 5 a.m. to noon. Evening rush hour is from noon to 7 p.m. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning. That and more unwritten LA rules of the road as told by Sue Doyle at the Daily News. Locally based and world-renown Architect Frank Gehry receives some moldy and cracked press today on NPR. Who doesn't like cartoons? "Most animated shows are covered by a different union from the Writers... more ›

If you heard the hysterical sounds of laughter coming from the Los Feliz, Little Armenia, Thai Town and East Hollywood section of Los Angeles Saturday night, it was me. First of all the UCLA Bruins lost to Notre Dame? The fact that Ben Olson got injured in the first quarter and they brought out walk-on quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson to replace him shows something fundamentally wrong with this Bruin program. When Patrick Cowan went down... more ›

Yesterday was one of the toughest days in Los Angeles sports: - USC loses to Stanford 24-23. Yes, Stanford. The school with a tree mascot. The same school who went 1-11 last year, and lost their starting quarterback earlier in the week. Their coach, Jim Harbaugh, proclaimed that USC was the best team in college football history, getting some snickers from Pete Carroll throughout the week. The question before the game was whether Carroll... more ›

Lately, being a UCLA football fan has required an extraordinary amount of patience and persistence. Every year, the Bruin faithful summon up the courage to believe that this year will be the breakthrough that we’ve been waiting for. And for most of the past ten years, we’ve been teased. Like a Michael Bay movie, we keep buying a ticket foolishly holding out hope that this time it will be good, even though deep down we... more ›

Dodgers 5, Rockies 4 - Los Angeles must feel like they dodged a bullet after Thursday night -- not because of Colorado's attempted comeback, but because of all the pitching injuries. Brad Penny earned his 13th win, but was pulled out of the game in the seventh after an all-out sprint to earn a single. Turns out he only had a bad cramp. Takashi Saito returned after missing seven games with shoulder trouble, taking the... more ›

On a balmy 4th of July at the beach this week, LAist spotted USC football coach Pete Carroll playing catch in his front yard with his family. He looked relaxed and seemed to be having a good time. If it weren't so sandy, it could have been right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. We're not sure if Les Miles is bitter that his front yard is next to a swamp, but something big is... more ›

Dodgers 5, Cardinals 4 - Much as LAist would like to praise the Dodgers and Wilson Betemit's pinch hit three run homer, we're a little skeptical of any win that comes against Kip Wells. Who? Since the 1995 season this journeyman pitcher has earned one win for each of three different teams. That's not overwhelming. What is? His league leading eight losses and 39 earned runs this season. He lasted five innings against Los Angeles,... more ›

LAist would have more draft coverage, but all it does is take good players away from LA. After three Trojans went in the second round (two are still on the board) and no Bruins got picked in the first three, we wondered what they're doing in Troy to get that edge. Looks like a little coaching from Will Ferrell Chuck Berry is Ryan Kalil's secret weapon. And we thought Ferrell's previous videos with Carroll... more ›

Clippers 103, Suns 99 - The sun hasn't set on the Clipper's playoff hopes yet. Los Angeles surprised Phoenix, who played their regular starters despite a lock on the #2 seed in the West. The Clippers need to beat New Orleans (a/k/a Oklahoma City) on Wednesday and root for Portland to beat Golden State. That scenario would tie them with the Warriors at .500. The teams split their season series, but the Clippers would advance... more ›

Clippers 118, Lakers 110 - Go big or go home, but what if both teams are already home? Then both teams go big. Kobe had another 50 point night and nine rebounds, but was upstaged by Corey Maggette's career high 39 to go with eight rebounds and nine assists and Elton Brand's 32 with 12 rebounds and seven assists. The Lakers were up by 10 in the fourth quarter, but were outscored 26-8 down the... more ›

Clippers 104, Bucks 103 - The roller coaster continues for Los Angeles. They watched a 22 point third quarter lead crumble away in the fourth. With less than a minute to play, Milwaukee held a three point edge. Then the Clippers got a basket from Corey Maggette with 45 seconds and another by Jason Hart with only three ticks left. The win pushed LA back into sole possession of the eighth seed in the Western... more ›

Knicks 107, Lakers 106 - With time running out, the Lakers employed a brand new strategy against New York. Unofficially dubbed the "Let's not pass it to Kobe" play, Lamar Odom fired up an air ball as the clock ran out. So much for that idea. 7.1 seconds earlier, Eddy Curry slammed home the go-ahead dunk and propelled the Knicks to their 23rd win of the year -- matching last year's total with 30 games... more ›

Pistons 92, Clippers 74 - The Clippers just want to go home. They wrapped a 7 game road trip with their fifth loss, this one at the hands of a rejuvinated Detroit squad. The Pistons are 11-2 since signing local college star Chris Webber, who had a game-high 19 points and nine rebounds in the game. Los Angeles shot just .324 from the field and was led by Cuttino Mobley with 17. The Clippers haven't... more ›

For as long as Pete Carroll's been head coach, the USC Trojans have consistently attracted the top high school football recruits. But Leinart and Jarrett shared a castle, Bush got his God-knows-what, and now this:Southern California is looking into whether it may have violated NCAA recruiting rules while pursuing highly rated recruit Joe McKnight, a university official said. McKnight signed a national letter of intent with USC on Wednesday and made comments during a... more ›

Rockets 102, Lakers 77 - The young, but always entertaining Lakers are still struggling for an identity. After beating the NBA's best and loosing to the worst in the past few nights, they were defensively dominated by a team missing their star center. With Yao Ming on the bench, Dikembe Mutombo grabbed 19 rebounds and swatted down five shots, moving him into second on the all-time block list. The Lakers scored just 31 points in... more ›