It�s always interesting to hear what media on the East Coast think about West Coast teams, but I was completely taken aback by New York Daily News sports columnist Mike Lupica�s implicit criticism of USC�s Pete Carroll during Sunday�s weekly edition of �The Sports Reporters� on ESPN.

Would you believe Lupica thinks the Trojans actually have �underachieved� under Carroll? That was his word.
After Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe supported Carroll�s decision to start freshman Matt Barkley (�We�re talking about a guy who has given us great quarterback after great quarterback after great quarterback. I think he knows something about quarterbacks.�), Lupica changed the subject and launched into this off-the-wall diatribe.
�Every year, every year, I think SC is going to win (it all),� Lupica said, his voice rising and his hands waving to accentuate his point. �As good as Florida looks � and, by the way, I think Urban Meyer is the best football coach in the world � Carroll is in his ninth year there. His record is 89-15, and I swear they have underachieved.
�I really believe SC should have won more national championships than it�s won on Pete Carroll�s watch.�
There was no follow-up discussion, as ESPN moderator John Saunders quickly switched topics. So I guess Lupica isn�t impressed by Carroll�s .856 winning percentage (tops among active Division I coaches), USC�s seven consecutive top-four Associated Press finishes, seven consecutive Pac-10 titles, seven consecutive BCS bowls and two national titles in that span.
Maybe Lupica believes the Trojans should have tackled Texas quarterback Vince Young on 4th-and-5 in the closing seconds of the 2006 Rose Bowl, which would have given USC its third consecutive national title.
But now it�s easy to understand why so many people on the Left Coast wonder if there is an �East Coast bias.�