Lane Kiffin denies knowing of alleged payment by ex-USC assistant

USC Coach Lane Kiffin said Tuesday he had no knowledge of a former assistant allegedly reimbursing a talent scout for airfare to pay for a prospect’s unofficial visit to Tennessee in 2009.

Yahoo! Sports reported Monday that former USC assistant Willie Mack Garza allegedly wired $1,500 to Texas-based Will Lyles for an unofficial visit Lache Seastrunk and his mother made to Knoxville, Tenn.

Garza resigned at USC a few days before the season opener because of "some personal issues unrelated to USC that I need to address, " Garza said in a statement.

“All I can say on that is that the alleged incident, I had no knowledge of, or knowledge of a relationship at all,” Kiffin said after practice. “I have always been committed, wherever we’ve been, to doing things the right way and cooperating with the NCAA so that’s all I’ve got on it.”

Kiffin was the subject of an NCAA investigation that delved into the Tennessee athletic program. Last summer, the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions ruled that although secondary violations had occurred in the football program, Kiffin would not be punished.

USC recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron, who held the same title at Tennessee, also said he had no knowledge of Garza's alleged payment.

Asked if it was common practice for assistant coaches to operate on their own without knowledge of the head coach or recruiting coordinator, Kiffin said, “I don’t know. I don’t know what people do.”

Asked if he would be surprised if the NCAA revisited his time at Tennessee, Kiffin said, “That’s not for me to judge.”

More later at latimes.com/sports.

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-- Gary Klein

Photo: Lane Kiffin. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Hamilton: "Button has done a better job all season"

An estimated 40,000 turned up to watch Lewis Hamilton drive the MP4-23 in Bangalore

Lewis Hamilton believes that Jenson Button has outperformed him this year, adding that even an improvement to his form over the final five races would "not mean a lot" to him.

After driving his MP4-23 – the car with which he won the 2008 drivers’ championship – on a demonstration run through the streets of Bangalore on Tuesday, Hamilton was asked how he felt to be 17 points behind his team mate.

"Jenson's done an incredible job. I feel he's done a better job all season, really,' Hamilton said. "So even if I did a better job in the next five races it doesn't mean a lot to me. I mean, it's through a whole year.

“I think for me now it's just to find my ground and improve on the results that we've had in the last four races.”

Hamilton was also asked about his collision with Felipe Massa in Singapore and their ensuing clash in the interview pen, which caused the 26 year-old to leave the circuit without giving any interviews. “I was able to just ignore it and move on,” he said.

An estimated 40,000 turned up to watch Hamilton in Bangalore and the McLaren driver said he was looking forward to returning for next month’s inaugural Indian GP on Oct 30.

Lewis Hamilton in Bangalore

“It's incredible,” said Hamilton. “I've visited India many times over the last couple of years and it's never been more exciting to be here than now.

“The race is only weeks away and you can really feel the growing passion of the people, and the excitement levels continuing to build.”

Sean Avery allegedly called a homophobic slur by Wayne Simmonds

Sean Avery apparently confirmed to reporters what everyone thought they saw during the a preseason NHL game -- that Philadelphia's Wayne Simmonds called the New York Rangers winger a homophobic slur.

TV cameras captured Simmonds appearing to utter the slur while the two players were arguing during the first period of the Flyers' 5-3 victory Monday. After the game, Avery was asked if Simmonds called him “what we think he called you.”

Avery replied, "Yeah, yeah."

He added that he had "no idea" why Simmonds would say something like that.

Simmonds did not confirm or deny making the remark.

“Honestly, we were going back and forth for a while there,” he said, without providing details. “I don't recall everything that I did say to him, but he said to me some things I didn't like. And maybe I said some things that he didn't like.

“I can't recall every single word I said.”

When asked what Avery had said to him, Simmonds answered, “I'm not going to rat him out."

Flyers Coach Peter Laviolette said nothing about the alleged slur, addressing only the heated nature of the match-up between the players. “It was a couple of guys battling out there,” he said.

Rangers Coach John Tortorella backed his player. “I didn't hear it. I don't think Sean Avery is lying,” he said. “I'll let the league handle it. I did not hear it, but I'm sure Sean Avery isn't going to lie about it.”

The incident was part of an ugly game that resulted in 77 combined penalty minutes for the Atlantic Division rivals.

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-- Chuck Schilken

Photo: Sean Avery of the New York Rangers is hit by Wayne Simmonds  of the Philadelphia Flyers during an NHL preseason game at Wells Fargo Center on Monday. Credit: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images

Six N.F.L. Contenders, and the Way They Have Disappointed

Six of the presumptive favorites to win the Super Bowl had flaws on full display on Sunday.

For now, Green Bay looks to be the class of the league, and fans of unbeaten Buffalo and Detroit are surely proud of their teams. But four others teams — the two franchises with the best records in 2010, the only team to make the conference championship game in each of the past two seasons, and the so-called dream team — experienced varying degrees of distress. The defenses of  Rex Ryan and Bill Belichick were punctured like never before.

No Hiding the Patriots’ Defensive Woes

The Bills have now staged improbable comebacks in consecutive weeks, following up a rout of Kansas City on opening day. But the big story out of Buffalo wasn’t necessarily about the Bills.  It might have been about New England, whose defense may torpedo its chances.

Buffalo defeated New England despite falling into a 21-0 hole, a sentence that Bostonians probably never thought they would read. Under Belichick, the Pats had been 53-0 when leading by 21 or more points. In the Belichick era, the Patriots were 91-4 when jumping out to a 14-point lead at any point in the game. Belichick made his reputation on the defensive side of the ball, but he’s never coached a team as one-sided as the 2011 Patriots appear to be.

Chad Henne threw for over 400 yards in the opener against the Patriots. In New England’s game against San Diego, six of the Chargers’ nine drives went for at least 50 yards, and two of the other three might have done the same if they hadn’t ended in fumbles. Patriots victories allowed the team to minimize the reality of those defensive struggles, but the defense can’t avoid the scrutiny now.

New England has allowed 1,406 yards in the team’s first three games, the fifth-worst mark since 1970. But yardage totals aside, there’s a reason this loss feels different: Tom Brady and the Patriots  don’t lose shootouts to anyone but the Colts. During the Brady/Belichick era, the Pats had been 61-2 when scoring at least 30 points, with both losses coming to Peyton Manning and Indianapolis. Make that 61-3. The Patriots’ video-game offensive numbers had everything thinking it was 2007 all over again; the better comparison may end up being the 2000 Rams. That St. Louis squad passed for more yards than any team in league history, but the defense (ranked last in points allowed) prevented a Super Bowl repeat.

Jets Flunk First Leg of Road Trip

Rex Ryan is known for having elite defensive units. With Ryan, that  starts by stopping the run. Against the Raiders, the Jets’ defense looked anything but elite. In his first 34 games with the Jets, Rex Ryan’s defense never allowed more than 153 rushing yards (a mark hit by the Saints in 2009). The worst the Jets had been outrushed came in Week 3 of the 2009 season, when Tennessee gained 44 more rushing yards than the Jets. The Raiders rushed for 234 yards and outrushed New York by 134 yards, margins incomprehensible before Sunday.

During Ryan’s 10 seasons as an assistant in Baltimore, the high-water mark was 207 rushing yards gained by the 2008 Giants. Sunday was as unusual for New England as it was for Ryan, who has never had a worse performance against the run. An ugly interception by Mark Sanchez and an abysmal day by Antonio Cromartie were part of the problem, but inconsistent play from those two is something the Jets have endured before.  The run defense had almost never been the culprit.

Unlike the Patriots, the Jets appear to have the horses on defense to earn the benefit of the doubt. The only other game under Ryan when the run defense was primarily responsible for a loss came against Miami and the Wildcat in 2009. The Jets responded in the rematch by holding Miami to 52 rushing yards. Unfortunately for the Jets, there seems to be little margin for error in the next two weeks, with games in Baltimore and New England. The Ravens gained 553 yards of offense against the Rams, the second-highest yardage total by any team this season. Numbers one, two, and four on that list came at the hands Tom Brady and the Patriots. If the Jets still have questions about their defense two weeks from now, they may be staring at a 2-3 record.

Is That a Doughnut or the Eagles’ Defense?

A loss to the Giants doesn’t spell doom for Philadelphia: in both 2000 and 2003, Andy Reid’s Eagles made the playoffs after a 1-2 start. Philadelphia started 2-2 in 2010, and 2-2 is likely  for this edition, with San Francisco on tap this weekend (after edging the Bengals, the 49ers are now 2-21 in road games against non-N.F.C. West competition since 2007). Philadelphia can still realize all of its hopes and dreams, but there is no way to hide the warts anymore. In both losses, the three biggest worries for the Birds took center stage:

The Eagles can give any team in the league a serious challenge. But Philadelphia doesn’t have the look of a dominant 13-3 team that’s going to take the N.F.L. by storm. The dream is still attainable — Philadelphia could get hot at the right moment, Vick could be healthy in December and January, and the right set of playoff opponents could find their way on the Eagles’ schedule. But this is a flawed team, and its struggles in short-yardage situations against the Giants looked more like frustrating Andy Reid teams from the Donovan McNabb era than any sort of dream team.

Falcons Regress to Mean

After an opening day loss in Pittsburgh, the 2010 Falcons went on a 12-1 run in which they effectively clinched the top seed. Nine times in that 13-game stretch, the Falcons entered the fourth quarter leading or trailing by less than a touchdown; Atlanta went 9-0 in those games.

Had the team gone a more reasonable 5-4, the Falcons would have been a 9-7 team on the outside looking in. Instead, good fortune brought them the conference’s best record. Through three games this season, Atlanta has been trailing by 24, 10 and 13 points entering the third quarter. If not for a Michael Vick injury in Week 2, the Falcons could be staring at an 0-3 record. Atlanta wasn’t nearly as good as its record last year, but the Falcons aren’t going to be trailing by double digits every weekend this year either. Expect something more in the middle, but hopes of a Super season in Atlanta have seemed too rosy from the start. Atlanta’s pass defense is still the team’s Achilles’ heel, while the pass offense isn’t nearly as good as many seem to think it is. Since the start of last season, the Falcons rank just 24th in net yards per pass attempt.

Dishonorable Mention

The Chargers at home against the Chiefs was supposed to be a blowout; instead, San Diego was holding its breath until the game’s final minute. A slow September start is cliche for San Diego: the last five Septembers, the Chargers have been favored in 14 of 17 games, but have a record of  8-9 while going 5-11-1 against the spread. San Diego is 2-1 but has been underwhelming in both wins.

The big worry here isn’t that “it’s happening again” but rather that the malaise has spread to the passing offense. Even during ghosts of September past, Philip Rivers was fantastic. This year, Rivers has thrown a pair of interceptions each week while his big play and efficiency numbers have dropped.

Perhaps all the team needs is a healthy Antonio Gates, but the Chargers have looked more conservative on offense this season. According to Footballguys.com, San Diego has thrown 38 percent of its passes toward running backs, compared with 28 percent in 2008 to 2010. Mike Tolbert leads the team in receptions while Ryan Mathews is second in receiving yards. This may be a reflection of a small sample size rather than a shift in philosophy, but it’s worth keeping an eye on how the Chargers stretch the field over the next few weeks. San Diego led the league in yards per pass completion in both 2009 and 2010, but rank in the bottom half of the league in that metric three weeks into the season.

Pittsburgh defeated the Colts, but only by kicking  a field goal in the final seconds. A close victory over the lowly Colts (Pittsburgh was a 10.5 point favorite) doesn’t hide the scary issues in Pittsburgh:

Four Super Bowl hopefuls — the Patriots, Jets, Eagles and Falcons — had the spotlight shine on their weaknesses this past Sunday. Two other teams escaped with wins thanks to the scheduling gods. For all six teams, this Sunday represents a chance to right the ship. New England (Oakland), the Jets (Baltimore) and Pittsburgh (Houston) will need to to fix their flaws to avoid a two-game losing streak; all go on the road against tough A.F.C. teams. The Chargers (Miami), the Eagles (San Francisco) and the Falcons (@Seattle) have a chance to show they won’t play down to their level of competition. The odds say that at least a couple of the teams scratching their heads today will be pulling out their hair a week from now.

Chase Stuart contributes to the Pro-Football-Reference.com blog and to Footballguys.com.

USC football: Former assistant committed apparent violation at Tennessee, report says

USC Coach Lane Kiffin escaped penalties last summer after the NCAA found that secondary recruiting violations were committed by his staff during his 14-month tenure at Tennessee.

But Kiffin's controversial time in Knoxville continues to trail him at USC.

On Monday night, Yahoo! Sports reported that former USC assistant Willie Mack Garza allegedly wired $1,500 to a former talent scout to reimburse him for airfare for a prospect’s unofficial recruiting trip to Tennessee when Garza was an assistant on Kiffin’s staff.

Garza resigned his position at USC in September, a few days before the Trojans' season opener against Minnesota. In a statement released through the school, he said he was leaving because of “some personal issues unrelated to USC that I need to address.”

The Yahoo! Sports report said that Garza reimbursed Will Lyles for airfare that was part of a trip taken by Lache Seastrunk, a running back from Texas, and the player’s mother. The report said that Seastrunk traveled to Tennessee’s Knoxville campus for the unofficial visit in 2009. He eventually signed with Oregon but has since transferred to Baylor.

The NCAA is investigating Lyles’ ties to Oregon and Louisiana State.

NCAA rules allow schools to pay airfare for official visits during a prospect's senior year in high school. However, the report said Seastrunk's trip was taken before his senior year began, making it an apparent violation.

The report said that Lyles spoke with the NCAA on Aug. 30 in Los Angeles. Garza resigned two days later.

USC officials have declined to comment about Garza's departure. On Monday night, a USC athletic department spokesman declined to comment about the Yahoo! Sports report.

USC did not practice on Monday. The Trojans resume workouts Tuesday.

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--Gary Klein

Photo: Willie Mack Garza watches USC players warm up before a game against California last season at the Coliseum. Credit: Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times

Hunter can only watch from on-deck circle as Angels season ends

Torii Hunter makes $18 million a season, but the Angels right fielder felt more like a pauper as he stood in the on-deck circle in the bottom of the ninth inning Monday night.

Howie Kendrick was up against hard-throwing Texas closer Neftali Feliz with two outs and the potential tying run at first base, and the Angels battling to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

"Just get me up, get me up," Hunter said, when asked what he was thinking in the on-deck circle. "I was begging, please, get me up. I was talking to Howie, trying to pump him up."

Hunter has been to the playoffs six times, but he's never played in a World Series. He's been the Angels' best pressure performer in the final two months of the season, batting .324 with 10 homers and 31 RBIs since Aug. 1 and delivering numerous clutch hits to keep the Angels in playoff contention.

But he didn't get another chance. Kendrick struck out, and the Rangers held on for a 4-3 victory that officially eliminated the Angels from the American League wild-card race. They are three games behind the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays with two games to play.

"Feliz is pretty good, and when Howie struck out it was deflating," Hunter said. "I really wanted to be up there in that spot. You get the adrenaline going. I like that. I live for that. I wanted to be there in that situation. It just didn't work out."

--Mike DiGiovanna

More from Tim Leiweke on stalemate with Drew Doughty

Emptying out the digital notebook . . .

I have a few more tidbits from my interview today with Tim Leiweke, the Kings’ biggest fan and the chief executive officer of parent company AEG. I had requested the interview a few days ago and these were Leiweke’s first public comments on the stalled contract negotiations with defenseman Drew Doughty.

I referred to one of Leiweke’s comments in a tweet earlier today but didn’t get the full explanation into my earlier blog report or into the story that will appear in print. Here’s a complete recap, in more than 140 characters.

I asked Leiweke why the Kings don’t just raise their offer and end this dispute if the difference between their proposed $6.8 million average annual salary and Doughty’s demands is $200,000 or $300,000. He repeated that this is an allocation issue, meaning the Kings are willing to spend up to the salary-cap limit but want to leave room to add players at the trade deadline and budget for the future to retain key players. He also said General Manager Dean Lombardi has “the right to budge here,” and that he would support Lombardi’s decision on that.

“But here’s the funny thing that I don’t get in all of this,” Leiweke said. “I look at it and say, boy, there’s a complete miscommunication here. Drew Doughty can step in here tomorrow and from an endorsement standpoint, being a cornerstone and a nucleus of this franchise long term, he can make more money on endorsements than we’re fighting over for whatever he’s asking for and whatever we’ve offered. And the way you protect that is goodwill, being a guy that’s a team player.

“If he burns the bridges with everybody, then he loses that revenue. So what I’m mystified by is, his value to this marketplace is not just his salary, it’s what he’s going to earn being part of a team that has the potential of competing for the Stanley Cup every year now for long term. Instead of fighting over a little bit here and a little bit there, let us save that money to go after the final pieces. He’ll make more on endorsements than he ever would on what we’re fighting over. It makes no sense at all.”

Leiweke repeatedly said the Kings see Doughty as a long-term franchise player and they will not trade him.  Doughty has not signed an offer sheet with another team, probably because those teams are aware the Kings have deep pockets financially.