Text messages from press row . . .

If Karl Dorrell is hired at Duke, the former UCLA coach would move his home base from one Rose Bowl stadium to the other. . . .

In 1942, amid West Coast blackouts in the weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Rose Bowl game was played at Duke Stadium in Durham, N.C., the only time the game has been played outside Pasadena. . . .

Bleachers were borrowed from the nearby campuses of North Carolina and North Carolina State, and Oregon State made the long cross-country trek to record its only Rose Bowl victory, upsetting second-ranked and previously unbeaten Duke, 20-16, in front of about 56,000 on a cold, rainy day. . . .

Duke’s quarterback was J. Thompson Prothro Jr., later known as Tommy when he coached Oregon State, UCLA, the Los Angeles Rams and the San Diego Chargers. . . .

Dorrell, by the way, would be treated not as a failure but as a folk hero if he produced a 6-6 record and took the Blue Devils to a bowl game. . . .

Any bowl game. . . .

Since Steve Spurrier left for Florida after Duke won the Atlantic Coast Conference title in 1989, the Blue Devils have had one winning season. . . .

Remember in 1998 when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were hitting all those home runs and fans and media wondered whether the baseballs were juiced? . . .

Kings center Michael Cammalleri, featured Thursday night on television’s “Extra� as one of America’s most eligible bachelors, made the startling revelation that he is attracted to women who are “pretty, gorgeous, beautiful.� . . .

Also calling himself “a brunette guy,� Cammalleri further noted that, in his mind, “it’s a big turnoff when a woman talks and talks and talks and talks.� . . .

Incredible insight. . . .

It’s laughable that Chris Kaman, carrying the injury-ravaged Clippers in Elton Brand’s absence and averaging 18.4 points and 13.7 rebounds, ranks no higher than seventh among Western Conference centers in All-Star voting. . . .

Third in the voting behind Yao Ming and Amare Stoudemire is Erick Dampier of the Dallas Mavericks, averaging a whopping 4.5 points and 6.4 rebounds. . . .

Clippers assistant Kim Hughes, Kaman’s mentor, deserves much of the credit for Kaman’s development, if not his 77.8% free-throw shooting. . . .

Hughes, a 6-foot-11 center who made fewer than 40% of his attempts in six pro seasons, ranks among the worst free-throw shooters in NBA history. . . .

Before this season, the last time the Celtics started 18-2 was in 1984-85, when they reached the NBA Finals before losing to Magic Johnson and the Lakers in the six-game series that ended the Celtics’ longtime hex over the Lakers. . . .

With nine sacks in his last five games, defensive end Mario Williams is making Houston Texans fans forget that the team passed on Reggie Bush and Vince Young to make the former North Carolina State star the No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft. . . .

Reader Jim Jacobs of Sherman Oaks e-mails to remind that the New England Patriots, who last April sent their 2007 first-round draft pick to the San Francisco 49ers for the 110th pick in last year’s draft and the 49ers’ top pick in 2008, dealt the 110th pick to the Oakland Raiders for Randy Moss. . . .

In other words, after giving up the 28th pick in last year’s draft, the Patriots wound up with Moss and probably a top-five pick in 2008. . . .

That’s a steal. . . .

As part of USC’s “Good Neighbors Campaign,� the Marshall School of Business and Coach Pete Carroll’s Rose Bowl-bound football team will host a series of events, including a meet-and-greet with players, starting Sunday at 11:30 a.m. . . .

UCLA, ranked eighth going into Saturday’s basketball game against Idaho State at Pauley Pavilion, was ranked second when it played the Bengals on March 17, 1977. . . .

But, in what turned out to be the last of Gene Bartow’s 61 games as UCLA’s coach, Idaho State center Steve Hayes scored a game-high 27 points and the Bengals upset the Marques Johnson- and David Greenwood-led Bruins, 76-75, in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Provo, Utah.. . .

It’s disappointing to note that the Pete Newell Challenge, which is to Northern California college basketball fans what the John R. Wooden Classic is to Southern California fans, is on hiatus this season. . . .

Here’s hoping that the event returns next season to honor the widely revered former California coach and early 1970s Lakers general manager.

--

[email protected]