Unbelievable, the article, if you read it, was certainly disparaging towards BH.

Stories of BH verbally abusing his assistants, weak players and team managers? BH being a F’n Queen and complaining about the temperature of his water and the temp of the room, which had to be at 76 degrees, and abusing people if it wasn't. BH is a F’n bully who acted like a Primma Donna and picked favorites. Some example he set for his players. Like Nelson said when abusing an assistant, "that’s how BH talks to you." BTW, Nelson is a real POS, I hope he is relegated to the NDBL for the rest of his career, what an Ahole. And, as we suspected, now we really know why those assistants left for places like Gonzaga and Wyoming, to escape the other A-hole, Ben Howland. I’ve met the guy several times, and as I’ve written here many times before, he really is an A-hole.

It also talks about Nelson being a Completely destructive force and presence on the team and BH doing ABSOLUTELY nothing about it. Stories of Nelson setting illegal hard screens with elbows to the chest of Collison, Moser, and Carlino. One time, giving Carlino a concussion and then Nelson hazing Carlino afterwards in the locker room, calling him soft to not practice. Throwing elbows to the chest of Moser twice, illegally, during a drill and Moser warning him that he would punch him if he did it again. Then Moser keeping his promise and a fight ensuing. Stories of Nelson flagrantly fouling Taylor Trepanier hard on a breakaway and then stepping on his chest while he is laying on the ground. BH, showing favoritism by never calling fouls on Nelson, unless they are obvious and flagrant. Nelson pissing on room mate Honeycutt's clothes after coming home wasted one night, for suspecting that Honeycutt derailed Nelson's NY Eve Party Bus plans, by "ratting him out." More importantly Howland doing NOTHING about it. When a ex player asked BH why he was playing favorites and not disciplining Nelson, Bh says "because he produces.

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I have met many times with Ben over the years to know better. I remember the first time I met him in his first year at a meet and greet after the Washington win, the game we came back from like almost being down like 26-27 points in the 3rd quarter, and thought to myself, man, that guy better win soon and consistently, or he's not going to last very long. Nothing he has done in the years since has changed my opinion. He really has a knack for being an abrasive control freak who often rubs people the wrong way and he's not very high on personality. He's the type of guy that you put up with when he produces, but can't wait to get rid of when he doesn't.

The way he treats his assistants is the way he treats his players, my way or the highway and your opinion doesn't matter. Which might be a fine attitude when you have good and tough players who can take it, but many young players just don't have the make up and have fragile egos and don't do well. So, as Howland has proven, during his tenure he has had 3 types of players.

1. Tough players who have thick skin and respond (Farmar, Afflalo, Mbah Moute, Collison, etc.);
2. Headstrong players who are tough, but think to themselves, why am I putting up with this shit? (Gordon, Nelson, Moser); and
3. Guys with Talent, but fragile egos, who might not take criticism so well and don't have the stones to stand up to Howland, so they either end up not doing well or just leaving (DeAndre Robinson, Ryan Wright, Keefe, Stanback, Morgan, Holiday)

The problem is, Howland treats all his players the same, and as I've learned as a Manager you can't do that, because different people have different motivations. Some people need to be challenged, some need to be coddled, some need to be praised, and some just need a swift kick in the ass. Howland seems to only know how to kick you in the ass so often and praise you so sparingly, that you only hear and remember the negative feed back.

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Scout has confirmed that Brandon Willis is heading back to UCLA. Tracy Pierson is usually VERY accurate and does a great job of confirming with his sources before posting a story. Here is the link to the headline, most of the story is behind firewall.

So now, we have heard from Jon Gold and Chris Foster, on Brandon's rumored return.

Tonight, Chris Foster's Tweet that Willis would unlikely get a waiver if he returned to UCLA, further ignites speculation.

CRN, might just be working on Admissions before making an announcement.

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It appears that we are on the verge of again bungling another potential DC hire. Multiple media outlets are reporting that Maryland has offered Shannon and that Shannon has reciprocated interest.

If we do not act quickly and decisively, we will surely lose the only credible DC candidate left.

It seems like our Veto Seto campaign was extremely effective. Our representatives need to know where we stand on the issue. If you are with me, and at this point considering the options we have left I don't see why you wouldn't be, please contact Dan Guerrero, Rick Neuheisel, and Gene Block. I know it is late in the day, and Rick expressed his intent to make a decision by this weekend, but I dont buy it and our efforts have worked at the 11th hour in the past. Here is the contact information for the aforementioned parties of interest.

Dan Guerrero
310.206.6382
dguerrero@athletics.ucla.edu

Rick Neuheisel
310.206.6290
rneuheisel@athletics.ucla.edu

Gene Block
310.825.2151
chancellor@conet.ucla.edu

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BRO is reporting that former SF 49er's OC Mike Johnson has agreed to be UCLA's new OC. It will be interesting to see what will happen and if CRN will have the confidence in him that he lacked in Chow.

It will also be interesting to see what will happen to Chow? Will he resign, be fired, be demoted to QB coach, a lot remains to be seen. Any thoughts? I hope this is the right move and it seems that we will now go back to a Pro Style Offense. I do however hope we keep some Pistol wrinkles and add some Option wrinkles. I hope this help us with recruiting as well.

Chris Foster just reported on his Twitter, that according to a source, Vic Fangio is out of consideration. Apparently, UCLA made a push for Fangio, but according to the source "he was out of reach." This would indicate to me that we didn't have the dollars to get Fangio.

He also followed that post up by saying that UCLA had an interest in Okie State's DC Bill Young, but OSU wouldn't let him out of his contract. What a bunch of terds. If somebody wants to leave, I say let them. I guess Mike Gundy is not such a man afterall.

Ho Hum, same old Bruin sad song.

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Very interesting developments indeed. ESPN is reporting that the Pac-10 Chancellors and Presidents have given Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott the authority to explore any and ALL expansion options. The Big12 has given Missouri and Nebraska a deadline of Friday to decide if they are staying or leaving. This could create a HUGE vacuum, which could fragment the Big12 and open the door for Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado to reportedly join the conference. This would create a SUPER Pac16 Conference. I say, let's do it. Here's the link.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5257774

Looks like a top ranked and highly sought after recruit, Earnest Thomas, a safety from Michigan has picked UCLA over Michigan, Illinois, Penn State, and 13 other offers including Stanford. Since Stanford offered, you can be sure he is a great student. He has nice size and looks like a good get. With some added weight and size, he could conceivably even play linebacker or be a monster at Safety. Looks like CRN pulled a rabbit out of a hat with this one. I certainly didn't see this coming as our next commit.

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/876500.html

Think about it, given Troy Aikman's recent comments regarding his distance from UCLA, his desire to be a larger part of it's FB program, his comments about the recruting class, considering how fond CRN is of Troy and the fact that he just got his BA. Do you think there is a plan or he is setting himself up to be a coach? Maybe QB coach? We sure need one.

You do have to have a degree to coach at UCLA. Was there an ulterior motive to Troy finally getting his degree? Think about it. Hmmmmm.

Just in. Jill Painter from the Daily News is reporting that J'mison Morgan's brother has confirmed his inetent to transfer to UCLA, pending his release from his LSU LOI. He also says that they fully expect the LSU administration to grant his release. Did Ben Howland know something we didn't when he released Chace Stanback? Meaning, did he already have a good idea of who will be coming back, who he is still going after that will come to UCLA, etc. and therefore lead Chace in the direction of transfering? This would certainly be a huge coup for Howland and for UCLA. This would cement our stellar class and make us extremely formidable next year no matter who comes back. Getting Shipp, Aboya, and Mbah Moute would certainly help.

Very interesting indeed. Here is the post on DN's blog:

Posted by Jill Painter at 10:46 AM
I just spoke with Ronnie Morgan, J'Mison Morgan's brother, and he said ``he's planning for sure to attend UCLA next year.''
Morgan also said he believes LSU will let J'Mison Morgan out of his letter-of-intent, paving the way for Morgan to play for the Bruins this season.
``They haven't made an (official) decision yet, but they say they're going to (grant the release),'' Ronnie Morgan said."

I'm sorry guys. I know this story is a week old story, but I don't remember anybody posting about it on here. In any event, I just couldn't resist.

It seems that PUSC has just released it's grades for Basketball and Football for last semester. Let's just say they weren't exactly stellar. They were more like cellar and not as in a good vintage either. Academically, it was certainly another bad year for their sports teams. Are you ready for this? The Football team came in at a whopping 2.36 GPA. HAHAHAHA. You heard right. Timmeh's crew took time off from watching free Laker games and put the full court press on the Football team by crushing them with a 2.37 GPA. I guess this is what Brian Dohn wants for our teams. If we do what he recommends and drop our entrance standards, this is very well where we might be.

This of course comes from TrOJie Scotty's blog. Here is the link.

http://www.insidesocal.com/usc/archives/2008/01/grade-check-4.html

LMFAO, at one of the posters on the Grade check, II entry.

"Oldestundergrad said:
as someone who started going this year, i have heard from faculty and alums alike that things have really stepped up across the school.

i just broke a 3.0 in the business school, and i know i don't have the unpaid full time job of being an athlete. "

WOW! HAHAHAHA. Imagine if things hadn't been stepping up on campus. HAHAHAHA. UMMMMM, maybe he should check with Mr. Bush about the unpaid part.

Anyway, this whole thing brought back fond memories of the GREATEST college movie of all time, thus the Faber College reference. There's plenty of Mr. Blutowski's on SUC's teams. HAHAHAHA. I imagine this is what SUC's athletic department meetings with their student athletes are like. Please enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3gNl7M6CR8

We knew from the beginning this would be a longshot and an uphill battle for this kid. Considering he goes to Mater Dei, with their long history of filtering players to SUC, and his whole family being a SUC school. His father even played Water Polo at SUC. Although this is bad news, it is still very very early and anything can change. Sunshine can turn our program around. PUSC might be placed under probation. He might not like his playing time situation there with all the QB's they already have. Anything can happen. Seems like his decision was also based on staying close to home, so UCLA fits that bill and I'm sure Sunshine has not given up on bringing him to Westwood. We just need to worry about us now and we will be fine. Sunshine has thankfully been shoring up our recruits and we have every faith that he has the program moving in the right direction.

According to Scout.com:

His father, Les, is a former USC water polo and since he was a kid, Barkley dreamed of playing for the Trojans.

"I've always loved the schools and loved the color," said Barkley. "It's always been in me. It's real evident."

Here's the link:

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/722832.html

According to Scott Wolfe over at Inside USC, how deep I wonder, Sunshine is now going after former PUSC Thorpe Award winner Mark Carrier as Secondary Coach. As you can imagine, they are not happy at all and have resorted to their usual Bruin hating and name calling. Look at the interesting post, as well as my comical point of view. HAHAHAHAHA. Enjoy!!!!

http://www.insidesocal.com/usc/archives/2008/01/more-to-come.html

Here is what I posted over there. HAHAHAHA:

Jealously and cheating will get you nowhere. You guys are hilarious. Clearly RN has done his job and gotten under all of your skin. I love it. Instead why not give credit to RN for doing something in less than a month that nobody thought possible. The funny thing is, like typical whinny TrOJies, you think you own everything and everybody, including past assistants. The fact is, these assistants worked at other places before PUSC, are not PUSC alums, and therefore have no allegiance to you. You guys sound like UCLA just stole your GF's. HAHAHAHAHA. These assistants obviously know where the NEW power in the Pac-10 will be and have decided wisely. I don't know if Carrier is any good, but if RN is after him he must be. With regard to Petros, you guys can keep Schmiegal. When nobody else wants to work for A-hole Chetey Petey, he can lick his bootstrap for an assistant's job. Schmiegal no lie Petey, Schmiegal love you. HAHAHAHA. This proves the only TrOJans that stick together are used ones. HAHAHAHA. BTW, after we are done taking all your coaches, we will take your players too. How sweet will it be when we beat you with all your coaches. HAHAHAHA. "I love the smell of used TrOJans in the morning, Smells like used TrOJans." HAHAHAHA.

CHEAT ON!!!!

Whew!!!! Does this guy have energy or what? After chasing Norton and Chow. Rick waited for the contact period to come and according to Brian Dohn he flew to Texas to meet with none other than Aundre Dean, UCLA's highest and most prized non commited recruit left on the board. According to Dohn, the meeting went well, Dean is warming up to UCLA, and he will have an official visit on Jan. 25. Just recently it was highly speculated that Aundre was done with UCLA and leaning elswhere. I've got a new nickname for Neuheisal, SUNSHINE, and he has sure brought a whole lot of it to the Bruin Faithful. He sure looks a lot like the character from Remember the Titans and has the same moxie. Watch out TrOJies, here comes the PAIN!!!!

On a side note, anybody hear about Coach Walker's son now being a Soft Verbal to UCLA? Apparently he wants to explore his options now that he isn't sure his position coach E Scott will be returning. WTF, I thought we had offered this kid as a favor to Walker in the first place. Now he slaps us in the face with this? So much for Walker's recruiting and retention abilities. How much do you suck if you can't even get your own kid to stay commited? You think maybe he KNOWS his dear old Dad won't be in Westwood too long? Interesting. This and Neuheisal has to go out and clean your mess by re-recruting every kid you and your family swore you had a lock on? Unbelievable.

http://www.insidesocal.com/ucla/

GO SUNSHINE!!!!

GO BRUINS!!!!

This is such freaken BS. On this Lousiana NBC affiliate news piece, Joe Mcknight clearly admitted being called by Cheetey Petey and Bu$h and making his decision to go to USC based on that conversation.

It's not bad enough that Reggie Bush is a scumbag and has put his current program in jeopardy while at USC, now he has resorted to put future classes and athletes in jeopardy. The classless bum lies to Joe McKnight about his NCAA violations, probably at the insistence of Chetey Petey, to get him to come to USC. What more evidence does the NCAA need? Yet the NCAA has the balls to mess with somebody with the character and moral standards of John Wooden? The kid clearly admitted the violation on TV.

I like how the sleezy attorney tries to put a gag order on McKnight after he spills the beans. I'm tired of these freaken TrOJies getting away with this crap. This time they went TOO far by shamelessly putting the Greatest Coach EVER in such a position. You know it was them that called the NCAA. We need to force a new movement here to get the message across to the NCAA and do some reporting of their transgressions ourselves. Can somebody get some information on where we can report $C's violations? CHEAT ON!!!!

Here is the video.