L.A. Galaxy coach and former UCLA men’s soccer coach Sigi
Schmid was fired on Monday, despite having his team in first place
and having won the 2002 MLS Cup. “A lot of things came
together that suggested to us that it was time to make a
change,” Doug Hamilton, Galaxy president and general manager
told the Los Angeles Times. “We’re sitting at the top
of the table and I’m telling the team that’s not good
enough.” Before leaving for the Galaxy, Schmid coached at
UCLA from 1980-1999, compiling a 322-63-33 record. The Galaxy hired
former U.S. National Team coach Steve Sampson to replace Schmid.
Sampson was reportedly one of the main candidates for the
then-vacant UCLA coaching job in 2002, which eventually went to Tom
Fitzgerald.
USC PLAYER SUSPENDED: USC coach Pete Carroll
has suspended running back Hershel Dennis indefinitely for
“disciplinary reasons.” The suspension stems from an
after-curfew party on Aug. 15 that has become the focus of a sexual
assault investigation in which no charges have been filed. It is
unclear whether Dennis will miss USC’s first game on Aug. 28
against Virginia Tech.
MEN’S SOCCER: The UCLA men’s soccer
team was picked to finish first in the Pac-10 in the Pac-10
coaches’ preseason poll released on Tuesday. UCLA received
three of the five first-place votes and has won the conference the
past two seasons. The Bruins play an exhibition game on Saturday
against San Diego State at Irvine Valley College. UCLA’s
first regular season game is on Sept. 3 against Oakland at Cal
State Fullerton. The Bruins’ first home game is Sept. 5
against UC Riverside. California and Washington received the other
two first place votes in the preseason poll and were picked to
finish second and third, respectively. Stanford was picked to
finish fourth and Oregon State was picked to finish fifth.
BURT RETURNS: Washington women’s
basketball player Kayla Burt, whose basketball career ended
prematurely when she suffered cardiac arrest on Dec. 31, 2002, will
rejoin the Washington women’s basketball team this season.
Burt had a defibrillator implanted in her chest on Jan. 6, 2003 and
has not played in a game since Dec. 28, 2002. She spent the 2003-04
as an undergraduate assistant coach for Washington. “I want
to thank the University (of Washington) for its amazing support
through this entire process,” Burt said in a statement.
Compiled with Bruin reports and the Associated
Press.