A little over 20 years ago, Loyola Marymount University's Gersten Pavilion was the scene of one of Southern California's most tragic events in sports. LMU star forward Hank Gathers, playing against Portland in his team's first game of the West Coast Conference Tournament, collapsed and died of heart failure as a result of hypertropic cardiomyopathy.

Conference officials canceled the tournament and sent the Lions to the NCAA Tournament. There, led by Gathers' friend and high school teammate from Philadelphia, Bo Kimble, LMU improbably advanced all the way to the West Regional Final, losing to eventual champion UNLV, knocking off defending champion Michigan along the way.

LMU, under the guidance of former Lakers coach Paul Westhead, played a somewhat revolutionary run and gun style of basketball, throwing up three-point shots combined with a full court press. The Lions would outscore most NBA teams, although they would also give up their fare share. On January 31, 1989, LMU and U.S. International University set a Division I record for scoring in a 181-150 win for the Lions. (My brother Tom, who was covering the game for the Daily News at the time, has told me that the final score may have been different as the official scorers seemed to fall behind the action in the second half.)

After Gathers death, Gathers' family filed suit against LMU and Gathers' doctors. Westhead left LMU after the season to return to the NBA. Loyola Marymount retreated into basketball obscurity.

It's officially spring on March 20th, date of the vernal equinox, and people are eager to celebrate the season's rampant fertility. Thus, it's no surprise to see so many scheduled events devoted to the welfare of children, animals and the planet. Today's also St. Patrick Day so everyone's going Green in some capacity. On Friday, Dionne Warwick will perform before a heavy-hitting Industry crowd at "A Stellar Night 2010" gala presented by the Starlight Children's Foundation. The Humane Society honors Tippi Hedren at its Genesis Awards ceremony on Saturday. And don't miss Dr. Paul Apodaca lecture on Archaeoastronomy at the Museum of the American Indian on Saturday afternoon.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

• What on G-d's Green Earth could be more important than celebrating Saint Patrick's Day? Just step out on the sidewalk and a party will find you.
• The American Jewish Committee honors Wayne Barsky at its 30th Annual "Learned Hand Award Dinner"at the Beverly Hills Hotel. 6:30 PM. Green tie optional attire.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

• Alzheimer's Association hosts the 2010 "A Night at Sardi's" with dinner and a performance at the Beverly Hilton Hotel at 6:30 PM.
• Puente Learning Center honors Sister Jennie Lectenberg at its 25th Anniversary Gala Fundraiser at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles. 6:30 PM.

If one word had to be picked to sum up the 2009-10 season in Pac-10 men's basketball, it might not be a word. It would likely be more of a groan or a sigh. It might be the sound you make when your lunch options are an egg salad sandwich out of a vending machine or an old container of Cup Noodles. The conference, which has won the championship 15 times (11 of them by UCLA), has not had a year to remember.

No team is nationally ranked. College basketball prognosticators think that the conference may get only one or two teams into the NCAA tournament. The regular season champ, Cal, matched the record low for wins by the conference champ (since the Pac-10 expanded to its current size) with 13. Washington State had the most wins in conference history for a last place team with 6.

Whenever a Pac-10 team made an appearance on national TV against a nonconference opponent, a loss was the usual result. UCLA lost brutal games on national TV to the likes of Cal State Fullerton, Portland, and Mississippi State.

The conference has been holding its annual postseason tournament at Staples Center since 2002. And judging by the number of phone calls I got at home begging me to buy tickets, the Pac-10 was worried about people not showing up to watch the games this year.

L.A. socialites should prepare themselves for both laughter and tears at upcoming events around the Southland. Comedian Kathy Griffin will be feted at the Human Rights Campaign Gala and she will have a few choice words to share, no doubt. Senator Barbara Boxer is also scheduled to speak. There's the tears portion of the evening. Speaking of politics, the Los Angeles City Historical Society focuses on the our city's history of corruption during this year's Marie Northrop Lecture Series. James Ingram will discuss the administration of George E. Cryer, L.A.'s mayor during the twenties. Still seeking a mood enhancer? Drew Carey MC's "The Right to Laugh" fundraiser for the Alliance for Children's Rights on Monday, March 15th.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

• League of Women Voters of Los Angeles honor AT&T, Carla Christofferson, Kathy Goodman, Andy Lipkis, Joy Picus at its 90th Anniversary "Celebrating Leadership" Awards Dinner at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

• Left Coast Crime opens its "Booked in L.A." mystery book convention with an event honoring Jan Burke, Lee Child, Janet Rudolph at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza.
• Leonard Mlodinow discusses his book The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives with science writer K.C. Cole at ALOUD at the Central Library at 7 PM.
• At 11:30 AM, Eric Garcetti is scheduled to attend the Los Angeles Conservation Corps' 2010 Luncheon Celebration on the grounds of the Los Angeles State Historic Park on Spring Street. This year the event honors Edison International and Ralphs Grocery Company.
• A fundraiser in Brentwood for the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act "AETA" Defense Fund starts at 6 PM.

Mike Dunleavy has been fired as Clippers GM just a few weeks after he "voluntarily" stepped down as coach. The Clippers issued an unusually pointed press release, writing:

"The team has simply not made sufficient progress during Dunleavy's seven-year tenure," the statement said. "The Clippers want to win now. This transition, in conjunction with a full commitment to dedicate unlimited resources, is designed to accomplish that objective."

The timing of this is interesting, as it seems the Clippers just wanted Dunleavy to get the team through the trade deadline, when they made several cap clearing trades. But regardless, it was fairly obvious that Dunleavy wouldn't last in this position for long. Kim Hughes wasn't a miracle worker as a head coach, and Dunleavy would have been in an awkward position as a GM making $5.5 million and needing to hire a coach while at odds with his owner. Dunleavy's strained relationship with Donald Sterling has been well-publicized.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: Mike Dunleavy is a good basketball coach. He's had some success in the past, and the Clippers played well at times in his tenure. But aside from an annual slew of injuries, Dunleavy's message seemed to wear thin on his players and his style of play didn't suit his personnel.

I would argue that Dunleavy has left the Clippers in much better shape than when he inherited the team seven years ago. They have an excellent nucleus with Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, Baron Davis, and Chris Kaman, and they have a ton of cap space to add to it next season.

So what's next for the Clippers? I'll get the fun rumors out of the way first. According to several reports, Charlotte Bobcats head coach Larry Brown contacted Donald Sterling about becoming the team's head coach and GM. Brown owns a home in Malibu, his wife reportedly would love to return to LA, and he gave the Clippers their best two-year run in franchise history back in 1992-93. Brown's LA ties also include a short stint at UCLA, when he coached the Bruins to the NCAA National Title Game back in 1980. He's famous for frequently changing jobs, and if he suddenly left Charlotte, then no one would really be surprised.

To add more fun to the rumor, Lebron James has said in the past that he would love to play for Larry Brown. The Clippers have enough cap space to sign Lebron, but really they could entice any elite free agent by giving him the opportunity to recommend a coach.

Still, all of this is a bit far-fetched. Brown's overtures were reportedly made when it was believed that George Postolos would buy the Bobcats and hire a new coach. Instead, Michael Jordan wound up taking complete control of the team, and he had initially brought in Brown based on their University of North Carolina connection. Jordan has been famous for being an absentee executive in Charlotte, and Brown can't be too happy with "His Airness'" management style. But Brown has also said that he came to Charlotte for Jordan, and seems unlikely to abandon him. Although, you never really know with Larry Brown.

Personally, if I was running the Clippers, then I would go for a different type of executive altogether. There are several NBA GMs who have had success by incorporating statistical and computer analysis into their player evaluations. Daryl Morey of Houston and Sam Presti of Oklahoma City are just two of these "Money-basketball" GMs. Making a PR statement with a big name is nice, but hiring a smart, savvy, and innovative general manager might be what the Clippers need to differentiate themselves from the Lakers and other teams in the NBA. I'd recommend the Clippers bring in such an executive... someone who looks at the game differently from most NBA executives and can quietly build a deep roster of talented and efficient players. It's fun to think about the Clippers getting Lebron James or Dwayne Wade, but it's also excessively hopeful. They just can't count on it, and they really need a thorough alternate plan.

The Clippers should then let their new smart GM hire a head coach whom he can work with. It's easy to hire a retread head coach who has bounced around to a few different teams. But there's nothing wrong with an unknown like Scott Brooks who is a Coach of the Year candidate in Oklahoma City.

I know Clippers fans are tired of losing, and they probably want to see an overt commitment to winning by having the team go out and hire the biggest name possible. But the problem with that strategy is that the Clippers have such a horrible history that they will seldom be anyone's first choice. They'd be well-advised to try a different approach and look to innovative statistical methods to find the right mix of players who can take them to the next level.

Oh, and for an added boost, I'd consider hiring Bill Simmons as an Assistant GM, both for the publicity and to see if he's good as he says he is. He does have a great basketball aptitude, but he could probably use some management experience. I also think the Clippers should change their logo, colors, and uniforms, but that's a topic for another day.

Yes, it is finally Oscar Week. But there's plenty of other promising events around town. Many of these events feature strange bedfellows. Christopher Hitchens shares views on the "varieties of anti-semitism" at the Daniel Pearl Memorial lecture at UCLA while the US-Ireland Alliance honors J.J. Abrams at its Ireland on Film event later in the week. Meanwhile, the free spirits of Film Independent have moved from their usual seaside location in Santa Monica to hold the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards downtown at L.A. Live.

Wednesday, March 3, 3010

• Christopher Hitchens presents the 2010 Annual Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture at UCLA Anderson School of Management's Korn Convocation Hall at 5:00 PM (standby seating will be available at 4:45 PM).

"Advice for Greenies in a Complicated World"

Dear JJ:

I've been trying in vain to locate guns and ammunition with less toxic materials, to use at work. Can you help me? I can't tell you what I do exactly (or I might have to kill you), but I can say that I work alone, that I use guns in a lethal manner on a regular basis, and that despite my commitment to "reduce, reuse, and recycle," I often have to discard a gun after I've used it.

J.N.
No home address

Dear J.N.:

Wow. Seriously, wow. A hit man?

OK, what a dilemma. On one hand, what you do for a living is reprehensible. OK, beyond reprehensible--It makes what's reprehensible seem mildly objectionable.

And yet, guns don't kill people, right? People do--as the NRA says--and in the U.S. alone, people are using guns to kill at least 12,000 people a year. That number isn't budging. The bullets often end up in the soils, and some of the guns end up in our rivers. So especially if people in the U.S. are going to keep killing so many people, shouldn't we at least act responsibly to green up all these guns and bullets?

For the earth. And, you know, for the people who aren't killed by the people who use guns that don't kill people to kill people.

The lead in the bullets, after all, doesn't poison the environment. People do.

And yes, J.N., the gun industry does seem to be quite far behind on the green curve. Which is pretty baffling, since the gun manufacturers introduce innovative new features every year, in their continuous quest to make their products both safer for people who shoot them and more lethal for anyone who gets shot. Why not greener, safer, and more lethal?

Glock did introduce green versions of seven of its popular handgun models in 2004--which seemed really exciting, until it turned out that the guns were actually just green instead of black.

And while there's been a big push to develop lead-free hunting ammo--and likewise to make the bullets at firing ranges more eco-friendly--the vast quantities of bullets used to shoot people continue to pump lead into the soil.

The good news is that the U.S. military, which uses guns to shoot a lot of people (and of course in many cases needs to), is showing a real and growing commitment to all kinds of sustainable practices, with major recycling programs and with water and energy conservation initiatives--which include solar-powered tents and the development of biofuels for fighter jets. The bad news is that it's moving slowly on technologies to green up firearms.

And the worse news is that we seem to be inexplicably losing the green arms race to the British. Yes, that's right. The British. Since 2006, the Ministry of Defence has contracted with the arms-manufacture titan BAE to develop green ammunition--explaining that the lead in bullets "can harm the environment and pose a risk to people."

They're moving, too, to develop greener, reduced-smoke grenades. Also greener, quieter bombs to reduce noise pollution. And also greener, compostable explosives that can break down into manure--apparently in a cutting-edge effort to enrich enemy soil.

Seriously, the British--whom the American army first defeated 235 years ago, in the very war that inspired the 2nd Amendment right to own guns because "a well regulated Militia [is] necessary."

Which is exactly what now guarantees the right to conceal a 9mm semiautomatic handgun with a 10-shot clip in your pocket so you can kill someone when they nab your parking space.

On the cool side, the U.S. Army did just deploy the Quantum Aggressor diesel-electric hybrid off-road reconnaissance vehicle, which has an all-battery silent mode that can be very useful in hostile territory.

Still, we'll need to see the U.S. government, which not only deploys more bombs and firearms than any European country but also controls 68% of the global arms trade, move a lot faster on green munitions.

Even more urgently, we need to see BAE and other companies move as fast as they can to develop low-toxic guns and ammo for the retail markets--since we all know that what will ultimately, really make the difference is if each and every individual gun consumer can green up his or her own gun cabinet, at home and at work.

And we need to see this happen especially for the 68 million gun consumers in the United States--since people just don't kill such huge numbers of people in Britain, Australia, and other countries with gun-control laws that do more than require people without criminal records to wait up to three days before they can shoot someone.

Imagine if every single consumer who owns one or more of the 283 million guns that Americans use to kill 12,000 and injure 78,000 people each year--or who will use one of the roughly 50 million new guns since President Obama was elected--could buy lead-free bullets.

And yes, J.N., imagine if every hit man and woman worldwide could at least do their part to save the environment each and every time they buy another firearm--with Glocks made from plastics that are recyclable and AK47s made from metals that are sustainably mined.

Of course, I do have to encourage you at the same time--and seriously, please don't be angry now--to put as much consideration into reducing your impact not just on the environment but on people. Since the gun consumers in your profession also do, as you clearly must know, have a rather gigantic footprint in this regard.

Have you considered, for example, that for every person you shoot, you might make a substantial donation to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence? Or to the Violence Policy Center, which hasn't tried so hard to assure would-be homicidal maniacs that it's not trying to prevent them from buying a gun as long as they've committed no previous crimes, have never truly scared a psychiatrist, and have the patience to wait, you know, up to three days.

Or to the Gun Control Network in Britain--since they did have 51 gun homicides in the U.K. last year in England, Scotland, and Wales combined.

Or to Save Darfur. Or to the international Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. Or to Amer-I-Can, Homeboy Industries, or one of the other excellent groups in Los Angeles, my hometown, that's working to reduce gang violence. Or to Amnesty International's programs to save political prisoners from execution and regulate the global arms trade.

In other words, when one family grieves anywhere, it's enormously important that another should be spared anywhere else. Your personal actions in one place should in no way increase the total number of homicides across the globe. And more, if you donate enough to prevent more than one homicide for each one you commit, then you can actually even save lives every time you carry out a contract.

And best of all, once green guns become widely available, you'll be able to save the environment and people at the same time.

In the meantime, you'll want to focus on all the things you can do to reduce your environmental footprint. You'll need to dispose of your guns properly--which means to avoid dumping them in rivers or lakes (as opposed to dumping the bodies, which will in fact biodegrade far more effectively than in a formal burial)--or in dumpsters either, where they'll end up in landfills. You might find someone you trust who can melt the sniper rifles down for you and recycle them as scrap metal. Which also ensures they won't end up in an evidence room (since TV detectives, at least, always find the guns in the dumpsters).

If you travel often internationally, then purchase carbon offsets when you fly. Rent the fastest hybrids when you drive. Take public transportation, when speed really isn't of the essence. Shred and recycle your files after you're done with them. Just all the obvious stuff. You know what it is. Wow.

Green Me Up, JJ is an occasional advice column. You can e-mail JJ with your burning questions about how to act and think environmentally smart in our complicated 21st-century world.

For previous entries, click here.

E-mail JJ to be on the e-mail list for future columns.

The Hollywood award ceremony death march continues on its merry way this weekend with stops at celebrations hosted by the Costume Designers Guild, Cinema Audio Society, American Society of Cinematographers and the Visual Effects Society. But other industries shine this week, too. Avant-garde art and design professionals can strut their stuff tonight at the Wallpaper magazine launch party in West Hollywood. Meanwhile, sports fans can listen to Joe Torre grill Sandy Koufax at a gala benefiting the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation at the Nokia Theater on February 27th.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

• Wallpaper* Launch Party starts at 6:30 PM at Mogul.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

• Costume Designers Guild will hold its 12th Annual Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.