 |
|
 |
||||||
|
||||||||
So what did Rick Neuheisel do after his UCLA Bruins were throttled at home by Stanford 35-0 last Saturday night?
(”We can’t get any wor … [whoops]”)
He did what any self-respecting coach who doesn’t have Bill McCartney, Jim Lambright and Don James to recruit for him anymore would do, give a speech to the Rose Bowl crowd.
Read more…
Sad retraction today from the LOS ANGELES TIMES correcting the obituary of John Wooden that the newspaper published on June 5.
John Wooden obituary: The obituary on John Wooden that ran in Section A on June 5 and in a commemorative section June 13 included information attributed to former UCLA basketball player Andy Hill regarding controversial booster Sam Gilbert.
The article reported that Hill had told The Times that former team trainer Elvin “Ducky” Drake was something of a watchdog for the team, and that Drake had apparently missed what was going on with Gilbert.
Hill says that he did not discuss that with the reporter and that Drake would not have been in a position to do anything to detect Gilbert’s involvement or stop Gilbert from any inappropriate action.
Here’s the passage attributed to Hill in the Wooden obituary:
Sam Gilbert was a former UCLA student and wealthy contractor who opened his Los Angeles home to players beginning in the late 1960s and liked to think of himself as their surrogate father.
In 1967, when Alcindor and guard Lucius Allen were dissatisfied with life in Westwood and thinking seriously of transferring, Gilbert counseled them and was instrumental in persuading Allen to stay.
In a 1981-82 Los Angeles Times investigative series, several UCLA players said that Gilbert had helped athletes in ways that violated NCAA rules.
The improper benefits allegedly ranged from buying players’ game tickets at inflated prices to helping them buy cars and arrange for loans at steep discounts. On occasion, Gilbert also reportedly helped arrange abortions for their girlfriends.
Former Notre Dame Coach Digger Phelps called Gilbert the “Sugar Daddy” of the UCLA program. After the Times series ran, the NCAA placed the team on probation.
None of the violations were tied to Wooden, but the retired coach acknowledged harboring suspicions about Gilbert during the 1960s and ’70s, and former players spoke of Wooden’s see-no-evil relationship with the booster.
Andy Hill, a former guard who later became a television producer and motivational speaker, told The Times that he believed that Wooden relied on longtime trainer Elvin “Ducky” Drake to be something of a watchdog for the team, and that Drake had apparently missed what was going on with Gilbert.
“Among the things Coach Wooden was good at,” Hill said, “was knowing what he didn’t want to know.”
Three days later, Chris Dufresne of the L.A. TIMES wrote a story in the newspaper titled, “The Dark Side of UCLA Basketball.“
In reponse to that piece, here’s a letter Hill sent to Dufresne in which Hill notes that he was misquoted in the Wooden obit: Read more…
Rick Neuheisel embarrassed himself, his team and his university last night here in Los Angeles as he took a senseless timeout late in the game against USC that lead to an embarrassing 48-yard touchdown pass by the Trojans’ to cap a 28-7 win over UCLA.
(Slick Rick gave us something to remember him by last night)
With under a minute to go and UCLA trailing 21-7, USC quarterback Matt Barkley took a knee to run out the clock, but Neuheisel inexplicably called timeout. Barkley responded on the next play with the long touchdown strike.
Barkley after the game said, “They can’t disrespect us like that.“
The move by the Neuheisel was another clue that UCLA blew it when hiring him, and I’m guessing last night’s game may shave a year off the coach’s tenure in Westwood.
In other words, Neuheisel could be facing a make or break season in 2010. Read more…
It’s USC-UCLA week which means the main statues on each campus get extra protection from vandalism. USC duct tapes the entire Tommy Trojan statue and has students stand guard round-the-clock.
(SbB Girl Cecilia in front of Tommy Trojan statue on USC campus)
UCLA has no such student guard patrols, and only drapes a tarp over the Bruin to prevent vandalism.
(SbB Girl Jenna next to Bruin Bear tarp on UCLA campus)
The result? The L.A. TIMES reports USC students plundered the UCLA symbol overnight, drenching it with gallons of Cardinal & Gold paint. It’s the first time I can remember the statue getting vandalized, so you know what that means: TV News choppers!
I’m happy to report that several USC fans have enthusiastically sent me more previously unseen photos of the Bruin Bear vandalized in red and yellow paint. Read more…
Imagine being a starting quarterback who has just won the Super Bowl, and having your own television variety show. That was Joe Namath, circa 1969, when he hosted the infamous “Joe Namath Show.” The premise was that Joe just invited whoever the hell he felt like talking with, and they taped a show. They don’t make them like that anymore.
Here’s Joe, below, chatting with guest host Dick Schapp, and … hmm. Can you identify the other two? While you’re pondering that, enjoy women’s soccer, UCLA football, and loads of other listings from which to steer clear. You’re welcome.
(Still better than “Joe Buck Live”) Read more…
Another nice find by Jay Christensen at WIZ OF ODDS, as the DAILY BRUIN has this delightful moment involving UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel as he sat in front of the media following Cal’s 45-26 throttling of the Bruins last Saturday:
At that moment UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel walked into the room, sunburned and exasperated after his team’s 45-26 defeat to rival Cal.
Almost no one moved. Necks remained craned toward the USC game until a frustrated Neuheisel spoke sharply.
“Would everyone like to watch the end of that ball game?” Neuheisel asked. “I am more than willing to wait.”
There was a hint of bitterness in Neuheisel’s voice, a slight sign of the wounded pride of UCLA football.
Get used to it Coach. Read more…
During the current recession, one of the main areas hit hardest have been lavish expenditures by large organizations - particularly, oh, athletic departments at major universities. They’ve been inured, however, to their current standards of luxury; familiarity and routine will do that. So cutbacks that you or I might take for granted, instead come as shocks to the system of a typical football coach.
(It could be worse; they could be using UCLA’s ride instead.)
Luckily, Jeff Tedford is a reasonable man.* He knows that no state’s hurting worse than California, and the budget shortfalls are hitting the state schools especially hard. And so off his Golden Bears will go this weekend, traveling down to Los Angeles for a game against UCLA, just like every other year. Except this time, it’ll be in a bus… and they’ll be lucky to get there in seven hours. Hope your iPods are charged!
So the economy has been a barrel of laughs lately, am I right folks? If you’re unlucky enough to be familiar with the term “mandatory furlough days,” then chances are you work at a newspaper, or for the government. Heck, I guess these are turning up in just about every type of business, come to think of it. Yes, it sucks.
(Too important to be furloughed)
But if you’re a California State University football coach, the government is willing to work with you. Other state employees are currently required to take two unpaid furlough days a month. But football coaches, who presumably put in long hours in the fall and sleep on their office sofas (your team may vary), simply can’t get away! Read more…
Lane Kiffin’s wife Layla tailgating before last Saturday’s UCLA-Tennessee game:
(Good, ole Rocky Top! - Photo Source)
One more after the jump.
For past two seasons, the once-mighty Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry has been mighty crappy. There was ND’s 35-17 wipeout of the Wolverines in South Bend last season, and then there was UM’s 38-0 a$$-whooping of the Irish in Ann Arbor the season before that. So you’d figure that today’s matchup in the Big House would be a big bore.
Big mistake to assume that. Like two aging heavyweights whose glory days appeared to have been behind them, Michigan & Notre Dame traded punches all afternoon (figurative, not literal) as the score see-sawed back & forth. But it was the Maize & Blue who managed the final knockout blow, as Tate Forcier tossed a 5-yard TD pass to Greg Matthews with 11 seconds left. So Hail to the Victors in a 38-34 thriller.
(Time to get those Charlie Weis-bashing billboards back up.)
Speaking of knockouts, another top-5 team from the Sooner state took another tumble on the field in an upset loss.
