My seatmates

My seatmates, the Timpson trio, turn out to be three generations: Bert from Spanish Fork, Utah, his son Corry from Henderson, Nev., and Corry's son Cameron.

Corry is a dentist. When he practiced in Santa Monica in the early 90s, one of his patients was Jim Murray. He said Murray was a nice guy who had lots of stories.

Corry and Cameron are USC football fans who brought along a DVD of the Notre Dame game of 2005 -- when Matt Leinart scored the last-second TD.

"Did you bring the Texas game?" I asked nastily.