After CRN’s first season as head coach at UCLA, I had the pleasure of playing golf with him as part of a foursome I had purchased at a UCLA True Blue Fundraiser.  We talked about a lot of things during the 6 plus hours we were together (we had lunch and drinks afterwards).  But the one thing that stuck out as really interesting was his response to some questions I asked about the challenges of recruiting kids to play at UCLA.

CAVEAT:  I’ve been very reluctant to disclose too much from what I learned from CRN on this golf outing, fearing some perceived (albeit internally motivated)“breach of confidence”.  But after reading Nestor’s recent post on the narrative surrounding  CRN’s tenure as the Head Coach at UCLA,  I wanted to post this part of the conversation that was really revealing and relevant to this discussion.  Given this community’s passion about UCLA’s academic and athletic programs, I wanted to put this issue out there for discussion.

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Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

For Mrs. Bald, this is one of her favorite evenings of the  year.  Much changed this year from years past but the vibe was still the same-lots of supporters celebrating the Bruin tradition of winning and excellence.  Here are some observations and thoughts from the night.

• The dinner was much more polished than in years past.  Sit down dinner vs. buffet with dimmed lighting, a full service bar and slick couch seating around the volleyball gym in the Wooden Center.  I liked the new format, but Ms. Bald thought it was a bit too slick.  We understood they were trying create an environment where they could raise more $ in the live auction.  The jury is still out on whether they succeeded.
• The silent auction had a little something for every fan.  There was great signed memorabilia (helmets, balls and pictures, and some strange items as well ( slightly purple and gold, women's FUR jacket with a UCLA emblem, a UCLA bbq mat, and several red UCLA shirts along with the ever-popular (seriously) swimmers robe!)  There was even a box of frosted corn flake cereal with CRN's picture on it and signed by him which the wife and I purchased for our den which already has several other random things we've purchased in the past (ie the UCLAvsUSC chess set signed by many past coaches!!).  While many items never received a single bid, the one that stood out to me that went untouched was the signed J'rue Holliday photo.  Speaks volumes.
• The event was hosted by Matt Stevens and Chris Roberts.  I'm one of those in the "can't stand" Chris Roberts court.  I find him incredibly annoying and painful to listen to which made the live auction tough on me.  Thankfully, in-between auctioning off items, Special Guest, Neil Everett, was there to interview some important Bruins in attendance.  First up was Dan Guerrero.  He spoke about the expanding NCAA basketball tourney size and the importance of expansion and how he didn't see the final bracket last year until after it was released to the public.   His best UCLA memory was the first time he put on a jersey, the same one Jackie Robinson wore. 

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Well fans, if you thought last nights game was a tough one to win, you have to believe that the Bruins have little or no shot when they travel to Palo Alto on Saturday.

Sure the Cardinal are less talented then the Bears with an inferior record and are not picked to finish as high in the Pac 10.  But who thinks this Bruin team has enough talent, moxie and focus to come out and play inspired enough basketball to pull out a Bay Area sweep?  If you do, you need to take off the  myopic glasses and come back down to earth.

As many of you know, during the game thread last night, our friend Nestor morphed into Captain Kierkegaard of the good ship "Naysayer" spewing all sorts of negativity about how the Bruins were destined to lose and had no chance.  He was the little Devil on our shoulder that we all were desperately trying to silence as the game wore on.   (Think of the Devil in Animal House telling the young Pinto to have his way with the young coed.)  We wanted to think it, but as fans were trying to think positively, hopefully, all we got was Capt. Kierke dousing us with his glass half empty.

Well, as the "Eat Crow" chants died down late last night, I began to realize that Nestor was just being more real than most.  This team, despite pulling out a hard fought win, is poised for a  huge let down Saturday.  Why you ask?  Experience tells us that after big wins, or even hard fought losses, this team can't rise up and play well enough to win.  It is too young, too lacking in talent and not committed to playing BenBall defense to win back-to-back games on the road.

I sure hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it.  I'll try to ignore Nestor and that little negative voice in my head screaming "There is no way Nelson makes these free throws", or "There is no way we can stop Drago's man from making easy layups from the back side of the zone".  But, alas, I fear the voices will be too loud.  If I'm wrong, I'll grab my box of Crow cereal, a bowl, spoon and some milk, and share some Crow with Nester.

Until then, I'm dubbing the game on Saturday, "The Turd in 'Furd".  Bring  your TP, Bruin fans, it's gonna be ugly.

Last night, I was one of the 37 Bruin fans who watched the game live from Pauley.  At around the 11 minute mark in the Second half, after we went down 8 to a team that IMHO we should have handled easily, and after we allowed another easy basket inside resulting from a blown defensive assignment, I and a few other fans began to "boo" the team.  It was tough to watch the past 30 odd minutes of basketball and we were losing to another team at home that we should be beating.  Frustration was setting in and I decided to voice it.  Loudly.

Many of the fans, mostly geezers and blue hairs sitting in Section 200 with me and my wife, glared judgmentally and even called me out for booing,saying "They're kids, don't boo them."  At the request of my wife, I went silent the rest of the game  refusing to cheer at all, even as we slowly pulled away in the last 10 minutes of the game.

Which brings me to the following poll question.  What do you all think?

Bumped. Bruins in Texas or any Long Horns who might have information for BaldBruin, please help him out! We need him at the game. GO BRUINS. -N

Crazy title, but this post is not OT.

This past weekend, I attended a holiday party with some UCLA friends with whom my wife and I routinely travel to away UCLA football games.  We usually pick one or two away games each year to attend which unfortunately has fallen off in recent years, as our kids have grown older and gotten more involved in fall sports, like soccer and flag football.

We've been to South Bend, Tennessee, several bowl games and to nearly all the pac-10 stadiums.  We constantly try to do our small part to improve the impression many  have that UCLA's fans "don't travel well". 

It was on the bus ride from Chicago to South Bend in 2006 when our crew began planning our trip to Austin in 2010 to catch the UT vs. UCLA football game.  Back then, we didn't care what day the game fell on or whether either team would be rebuilding or on the upswing.  This was a game that couldn't be missed.  6th Street, UT Austin, Beer Gardens, great bars, a Saturday in the great state of Texas watching your favorite college football team do battle with the Longhorns, one of the country's premier athletic and academic institutions.

Out came our Blackberry's and IPhones to begin checking dates, flights and hotel availability as party-goers around us continued to drink in the holiday cheer.

"Holy crap," I exclaimed to one of my friends, "do you know what day the game falls on?"

"Yeah, Saturday September 18th.  Why?" he replied.

"Well, guess what.  Unless we can figure out a way to move the game or change the date of Yom Kippur, looks like we'll be watching the game at the family break-the-fast over brisket, bagels and Manischewiz wine."

"You're kidding" he dejectedly replied.

"Outlook doesn't lie" I responded turning my Blackberry, revealing the calendar entry from 9/18/2010.

Well, not sure what we're going to do just yet.  Religion is fairly important to us, especially  raising young children with an understanding of how important their heritage is.  And this being the holiest day of the year, it appears unlikely right now that we'll be making the pilgrimage to Austin in 2010.

"You better post on this" my wife immediately said once she heard of the news, right after her knee-jerk reaction of "screw Yom Kippur", which she quickly retracted after realizing the gravity of the situation. 

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We belong to a large, reformed Temple on the Westside of Los Angeles. Every High Holiday season, our temple rents a ball room at the Century Park Hotel because our sanctuary is too small to accommodate the large number of Jews who attend services this time of year. This year the Hotel double booked so our temple had to look elsewhere for a place to hold services.

Well, I'm predicting this year should be very "sweet". Our family and community will ring in the new year at Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA.

I'm leaving shortly but I wanted to share with my sports community on BN that not only will I be praying for health, happiness, peace in the middle east, and a variety of other more spiritual things, this year I'll say a little extra prayer for our Bruin gridiron warriors who play tonight on the eve of the first night of Rosh Hashanna. I'll ask G-d to let our boys play again on the Secular New Years Day in a major bowl game and for a victory tonight.   I'll be at my other temple tonight (aka the Rose Bowl) to help cheer on our squad. But starting the New Year off praying at Royce has to mean that the Gods (whoever your G-d is) are looking down on us.

Happy New year to all.

This is admittedly a bit of a stretch, and no analytics or logic went into this comparison, but I started thinking about some similarities between our losses to Norte Dame in 2006 and 2007 and our series with the Volunteers, and how hopefully a similar fate to the one we Bruin fans experienced in the ND series, awaits the Volunteers faithful.

When we played ND in South Bend in 2006, we arguably lost a game we should have won.  We were leading late, played not to lose (thanks KD) and lost on an amazing last minute drive by ND.  Last year, the Vols arguably lost a game they should have won.  They led most of the game, we came back to take the lead in the 4th quarter, only to allow a last second field goal to tie the game.  We eventually win in overtime, sending the Vols home, to await the rematch this year.

In 2007, we played a horrible ND team at home.  They hadn’t won a game all year.  It was a game we should have won, but ND came into our house and kicked our asses despite a very large (78,543 reported in attendance), very pro-UCLA crowd at the Rose Bowl.  While we’re not as bad this year as ND was in 2007, and Neyland will be much more hostile than the Rose Bowl was when ND thumped us, but hopefully next Saturday, the Bruins will achieve the same result as the Irish did against us in 2007.  Hopefully, the bright orange-clad Volunteer faithful will feel the same pain we did after an embarrassing home loss to ND at home. 

Hopefully, they will lose the second game in a high profile out of conference home/away series. 

Hopefully, they will lose a home game most think they should win. 

Hopefully, they will believe like many of us did before the ND game in 2007 that the prior year’s game was one we should have won and try too hard to avenge a bitter road loss.

A fan can Hope, can’t  he???

Bumped. GO BRUINS. - N

Yesterday was the final day of the first week of the UCLA Summer Basketball Camp where young kids from around the Los Angeles area ages 7-12 can visit College basketball Mecca and enjoy a week long session of learning and playing hoops.  Two of my boys attended the camp and yesterday was the awards ceremony and final tournament.

As has been the case for the last few years, Coach Howland gave a nice motivational speech just prior to handing out the camp awards.   It was nice that CBH was there and he imparted some nice words to the campers, but the buzz was about another Bruin Basketball star that was in attendance that day.

Prior to the awards ceremony my boys were absolutely giddy as they told me that "Bobo", UCLA Center J'mison Morgan, was hanging around the gyms (the kids play at Pauley, Wooden Center and the old Mens Gym) signing autographs for the kids. 

"Was he still here?" I inquired of my star struck young hoopsters.  "Yeah, dad. He's right over there sitting in the corner signing stuff". 

So, over the objections of my kids, who were afraid their old man was going to embarrass them, I casually sauntered over to the small throng of young boys thrusting head bands, sneakers, shirts and basketballs into the immense hands of the continuously smiling, very tall young man.  It was, in fact, J'mison Morgan.  I positioned myself at the end of the makeshift line and waited for my turn to speak with this budding young star. To read how it all turned out come with me after the jump.

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I saw this in the local fish wrap a few days ago and thought Nester or one of the other front pagers would have picked it up.  Maybe because it isn't directly a UCLA story, but it appears CRN's oldest boy has been named QB1 at Loyola HS as a junior.

Question for the Nation:

If the young "gun slinging" Neuheisel turns out to be a top notch D1 QB prospect, does CRN and Coach Chow actively recruit him or would such a recuit produce cries of nepotism resulting in unwanted pressure on CRN, the program and Jerry causing the staff to "pass" (bad pun intended).  Do you take a top recruit even if he is the coach's son or avoid the scrutiny and potentially have to scheme against him in the future?

Thoughts?

Since the beginning of this season, many here on BN have contended that this is a young, inexperienced team, with lots of freshman who are new to the system. This has been done in part, I believe, to temper expectations for this team.  While I applaud the rationale for trying to make such a claim, (keep expectations modest so as to not disappoint) I have secretly taken issue with the assessment believing in my gut that any team that starts three seniors all of which play considerable minutes, can not truly be considered “young”.  Then, consider that the three reserves used most this year are juniors, one of which (MR) is a redshirt Junior who has been in CBH’s system four years, it becomes nearly impossible to subscribe to the belief that this team will underachieve because of too many Freshman.

So in the spirit of BN, where numbers and analysis are what carry the day, I went back and looked at each of the teams from the 03’/04’ seasons through the present to see if I could come up with some evidence to support my theory that this team is as seasoned as some, if not most of CBH’s previous squads.

Disclaimer:  I’m a lawyer and while I fancy myself a decent “numbers guy” I’m no CPA or statistician.  I’m going to show you all my calculations and assumptions to make sure there is complete transparency related to my argument, as I know I’m taking a position contrary to the belief of many who post here.

For each year I looked at the players from the roster who played the majority of minutes in that year and what year they were in school.  Freshman got a 1; Sophomores a 2; Juniors a 3; Seniors a 4 and any player who redshirted while playing for CBH got another year added for the years they were actually in the system (for example, Josh Shipp got a 5 for this year because he redshirted while playing for CBH).  My analysis is admittedly somewhat flawed in that I did not have the actual minutes each player played, but having followed the Bruins pretty closely during these years, I have decent recall of which players played the most minutes in a given year.  If I made any glaring mistakes, I’m sure you’ll let me know.

So here goes:

03’-04

Ariza -1

Bozeman – 3

TJ Cummings 4

Fey – 2

Hollins – 2

Josiah Johnson – 3

Dijon Thompson – 3

18/7 = 2.57

04’-05’

Brian Morrison  - 4

Farmar – 1

Afflalo – 1

Bozeman – 4

Shipp – 1

Fey – 3

Hollins – 3

Josiah Johnson 4

Dijon Thompson – 4

25/9 = 2.77

05’-06’

Farmar – 2

AA – 2

Bozeman – 4

Shipp – (RS DNP)

Fey – 4

Hollins – 4

LRMBM – 1

Mata – 2

Collison – 1

AA2 – 1

21 / 9= 2.33

06’-07’

Westbrook – 1

AA – 3

Keefe – 1

Shipp – 3 (Includes RS)

Roll -2

LRMBM – 2

Mata – 3

Collison -2

AA2 -2

19 / 9 = 2.11

07’-08 ‘

Westbrook – 2

Keefe -2

Shipp – 4

Roll – RS _DNP

Love – 1

Drago – 2 (I didn’t include him last year as he didn’t play much as a freshman)

LRMBM – 3

Mata – 4

Collison – 3

AA2 – 3

 24 / 9 = 2.66

08’-09’

JK – 3

Shipp – 5 (Includes RS)

Roll – 4

Drago – 3

Collison – 4

AA2 – 4

JA – 1

DG – 1

JH – 1

ML – 1

 27 / 10 = 2.77

So here is what it looks like: 

03-04 – 2.57

04-05 – 2.77

05-06 – 2.33

06-07 – 2.11

07-08 – 2.66

08-09 – 2.77

While not a perfect analysis, I am fairly convinced that compared to the teams in the past, this is not a young, inexperience team.  Our final 4 team from 06’-07’ was clearly our youngest and this year’s is in fact one of the most mature. 

So, maybe going forward we can ease off the youth/lack of experience argument here to mitigate expectations or try and make people feel better after a difficult loss.  I don’t buy it anymore.  I really never did, and this analysis has helped confirm this belief.  

Others have trotted out more plausible rationales for these losses such as a lack of heart, or a lack of real commitment to defense or no true “go-to-guy” (which I also don’t subscribe to because I believe DC is that guy – at least as much as any of our previous leaders (Farmar, AA, Westbrook or Love)).  Some have chosen to hang it on the refs (not one I’m fond of either). However, I for one, refuse to buy into the assertion that youth and inexperience is an excuse for underperforming this year.  I just don’t see the numbers supporting such a contention.

This has been a tough week for the Bruin faithful.  I have been in a terrible funk since Thursday night.  Which is why I probably went though this exercise on a Valentines Saturday night (my 4 Valentines were asleep at the time).  Not sure I feel any better (or worse for that matter), now that I’m done, but what I do know is that I expect more from this team.   I expect it because we have one of the best coaches in the country and a team that is one of the most experienced CBH has had while at UCLA.   

Don’t misunderstand, please. I’m not one of those people who can only be satisfied hanging banners or winning championships.  I expected 4 or 5 losses this year.  I knew there would be ups and downs.  But I also expected to pull out games like the one this past Thursday.  And I expected to win at least half of the games we played against ranked opponents, which I don’t think is possible anymore. What I didn’t expect was the kind of effort I saw yesterday.   And I certainly don’t think our poor effort had anything to do with youth or inexperience.

This is a good team.  Not great yet but I hope we’ll get there.  I do think this team has as much potential to win the Pac-10 and get to another Final Four as any we have seen in recent years.  Whether they live up to that potential remains to be seen.  But youth and inexperience is not an excuse I’m willing to accept if we don’t.  I hope we do live up to my lofty expectations.  I know all our Ben Ball warriors want to win a National Championship as do most people here on BN.   And so do I.  But if we don’t, I for one will have enjoyed the ride. 

Let's try and continue to enjoy the ride.  It’s far from over.

No excuses.  High expectations.  No regrets.

While atching last nights game at Pauley, a question came to mind.  The question arose as a result of our usual inconsistent Pac-10 officiating and the answer just may be that. . . Pac -10 refs are just sub par and inconsistent.

But over the course of the game as our bigs were hedging on screens, there were fouls called a few times (AA2 and JK) where our guys seemed to be in perfect position, but got called for a foul and other times where they made what seemed to be identical plays, no whistles were blown.

Are these types of calls subjective?  Is there a rule/standard? 

Seeing as this is a critical element to our defensive strategy, I for one would like to know when the call was "right" and when the refs blow it, so I can scream and rant appropriately.

Any help from BN would be appreciated?

The Bald Eagle family traveled west to the beautiful isle of Maui for Thanksgiving and to visit the brother-in-law.  Upon arrival we were pleased to find out that Maui Invitational Basketball tournament was in full tilt.   My boys and I passed a few of the Texas players in the lobby after they beat their first round opponent and casually struck up a conversation, telling them we were coming to get them next week in Austin and to be ready for a little retribution for last years loss at Pauley.  Then my 3 and 6 year-olds tried to teach the UT players the 8-clap (wish I had the video camera).  Before we parted, and after my 3 year’s failed attempt at a Bruin cheer, he proceeded to blurt out, “teach that to your mother”.  Not sure where he learned it, but the UT guys loved it!  Very funny moment.

Anyway, the second round included a not-to-be missed match-up between UT and Notre Dame, two top-10 ranked, talent-laden squads.  My brother-in-law and I scored 4 tickets last minute and we took a 5 minute cab ride with my two oldest boys to Civic Auditorium, a small, quaint little high school-esq facility where the tournament games are played.  Since our Bruins will play both these squads later this year, I thought I’d do some live scouting for BN. While not as detailed as Nestor and others will provide us during the actual game weeks, here is my casual observations from seeing these two future Bruin opponents live.

Notre Dame:  This is a very talented, balanced team with a solid inside game and some deadly outside shooters.  Luke Harangody, the Big East Player of the Year last year, returns bigger and possibly more skilled.  He struggled in the first hal  to score in the paint against UT’s very athletic front line, but really started to click in the 2nd.  He has quite possibly the quickest release that I’ve seen in basketball making it almost impossible to block his shots from 15 feet in.  Kyle McAlarney, a sharp-shooting guard from Staten Island NY, can really fill it up.  He provides solid senior leadership on the floor and always seem to hit big shots when the game got tight.

Seniors Zach Hillesland and Ryan Ayers split time at power forward and have different games but both can play.  Ayers is a bit more athletic and a shot blocker, while Hillesland was just solid defensively and had some nice scores around the hoop.

ND was not the most athletic team on the court but they were the most sound fundamentally.  They played very solid defense and got the ball easily into Harangody in the post who is very tough to stop when he turns to the hoop.

Texas:  As expected, this is a very athletic team.  They return 4 starters and 9 of their top 10 scorers from last year’s team that went 31-7, including a gut-wrenching, last second victory at Pauley last year.  They return 73 percent of their scoring from last year.

Their backcourt is absolutely terrific.  A.J. Abrams is their floor leader.  They went to him consistently at the end of the game to make threes to bring UT back from a late 7 point deficit.  Justin Mason also ran the point some and was lighting fast on D and created numerous shots driving to the hoop. 

Dexter Pittman started at center and he is Tight End in hoops shorts.  At 6-10 298 he is a load down low.  Thankfully he is a foul waiting to happen.  Worse than AA2 on his worst day.  Connor Atchley, a 5th yr. Senior was active around the hoop but really nothing to write home about.  I got the same impression last year when I watched him at Pauley.  If you don’t put a body on him he’ll sneak in for some put-backs and easy hoops.

Damion James is arguably their best player.  He killed us last year.  A 6-7’ G/F who can leap out of the building, he is a nightmare match-up.  He didn’t have a huge game today, but every time you looked up he was flying above the rim grabbing rebounds or slashing to the hoop for easy points off the glass.  If JA can’t guard him this year, he could be our Achilles Heel again.

The game was amazing.  For those who didn’t get to see it live or catch the highlights, it was very well played, back-and-forth battle.  Very few turnovers, well executed offense, great three pt shooting by both teams and a great ending.  Texas was down by as much as 9 late in the game and proceeded to shoot enough threes, foul and then have ND miss some key free throws down the stretch to get to within 1 point with 4 seconds left.  After a second missed free throw, UT dribble down the floor and Mason or Abrams (I forget who) launched a desperation 3 from just over half court that hit the front of the rim.  I know many of  you saw the highlights but seeing it live was electric!!  We were sitting in the UT section and they were really hoping for a miracle last minute victory, but everyone left knowing that they just seen a really well played college hoops game… in Maui!!

Overall impressions:  We can beat either of these teams but we’ll really need to play well.  The thing that really stuck out for me was how physically strong both teams looked.  UT’s guards are really physical and attack the rim to grab rebounds and ND’s bigs are all upper classmen who just look imposing.  James is a beast and while Atchley is frail, he is really active around the basket.  I hope we’re physically strong enough to play with these teams, given our youth.

As for NC, they exceed the hype.  Several people have posted here about how they are a lock to win it all.  Based on what I saw this past week, I would have to agree.  Something catestrophic would have to happen in March for the Tarheels not to win it all.  Hansbrough was the best player on the Island, even on one leg.  With an outstanding supporting cast, it seems incomprehensible that they aren't cutting down the nets in Detroit.

I’m certain Nestor and the boys here at BN will have much more on these squads during the respective game weeks, and I don’t want to get caught looking ahead to either of these two games, but we could easily loose both if we don’t come out and play some trademark Howland –D and get some production from our bigs and wing players.

I know this post is a bit late but vacation time with the fam made it hard to get this cleaned up and posted.  We all have lots to be thankful this year.  I’m thankful to be here with my family; thankful for my health and the health of my family; and thankful for my Bruins.   Enjoy your Holidays BN’ers.

See you on the Mainland.

Aloha.

Mrs. Bald Eagle alerted me to the fact that we have plans this Saturday night.  That's right, she is taking me and 2 of my 3 little Bald Eagles to an evening of fun at Drake to watch our gridiron warriors have a little scrimmage.

G-d I love that woman.  No expensive dinners, or boring movies or reconnecting with old friends.  Just some quality time on a beautiful summer evening with the family and our favorite football team on the campus of the best University in land.

The boys will get a poster, meet some of our Bruin Warriors, get some autographs, we'll dine in the Food Zone (not my first choice as for culinary experiences, but I  have to be mindful of the whole experience).  Here is the link to the official site for all the details.

Sorry all you non-locals won't be able to join me on my "date" but I'm sure we'll get a recap from some of the  Nation faithful who will be out there with me and fam.  I may even invite greatgymnasticsschool to join me and the Mrs on our magical date at Drake, if I wasn't worried that the Mrs would be tempted to go home with him  instead of me and the kids.

Go Bruins.

I was there last Saturday when CRN had everyone drinking from the passion bucket; from the fans in top rows, near the rafters and banners, to those paying top dollar sitting courtside.  Every person at Pauley was on their feet cheering wildly.  Even the Zona fans sitting next to me were impressed.  "This guy is really good," was their reaction.  

And the loudest and longest cheers were for CW, as the Bruin fans appreciated that he could have easily jumped ship and sought greener and possibly richer pastures elsewhere, but instead chose to remain at the University he loves and become part of one of the all time best coaching staffs in college football history.  

Having worked at several large companies for a number of CEO's, both good and not-so-good, CRN has shown the characteristics of what it means to be a true leader.  KD gave it lip service but never lived it.  CRN giving equal and substantial praise and recognition to his two right-hand men is exactly what leaders do.  If they fail, CRN will remain accountable.  When we succeed, he will again douse them with the praise they deserve.  No more sidestepping issues and passing off blame or making excuses.  This is no longer "football 101".  CRN is the generous, passionate professor who makes sure you understand, even though the answers may be obvious to him.

While there were moments during CRN's rousing speech and introductions that it appeared he was going a bit "Howard Dean", once you remembered this is football and not politics, you appreciated that CRN may not be the guy you want leading our country, but there is no one better right now to run the UCLA football program.

CRN has done more in the few months as our head coach then KD did in five years.  From managing the media, creating positive buzz about the football program, to recruiting exceptional talent (coaches and players) and making UCLA fans believe that a National Championship in football is a realistic and attainable goal.

I am one of those fans Kristy spoke of on her post at Bruinzone.com.  I dress my sons in Bruin gear, from the Crocks to the Jerseys.  My mood is affected by whether the Bruins win or lose.  I scream at the bad calls and go berserk when we make great plays!  My sons have had birthday parties at Bruin home baseball games.  I wear my Bruin wear proudly, win or lose, outside, so the other half of LA sees that even in defeat, I'm still proud to be part of the Bruin family.  And right now, wearing my gear has never felt better!!!

Go Bruins.