I've been inspired by gbruin's excellent post Reason and Consistency. I believe it is a discussion that was far too important to fall to the side. While we are all pretty excited by the good news coming out of the Football program; it seems many have forgotten just how inept our Athletic Department really is, or just how apathetic our school administration is.

gbruin's post (and KSBruin's which preceded and inspired it) have examined 'if Ben Howland deserved to stay on as coach of UCLA Men's Basketball. It is a worthy discussion and worth thinking about.

I want to take a look further up the totem pole and look at those responsible for hiring our coaches, and more importantly, setting the standard our coaches must strive for. Let me rephrase that. Coach Wooden set the standard when he won 10 National Championship between 1963 and 1975. Just to re-iterate, no one is expecting us to win back to back to back National Championships. We do have a certain standard to maintain however, and I believe that includes winning the occasional Championship that necessarily comes with maintaining a high standard of competition. Do the leaders of our university feel the need to maintain that high standard of competition?

The results of my study would suggest, No. Numbers and charts after the jump.

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Bumped. Even though Alabama won the game last nights (congrats to Roll Bama Roll), the underlying points in this post doesn't change. - BN Eds.

I know what you're thinking, Athletes colliding at high speed, but that is not what I am going to discuss today. Let's start by stating (or restating) a fundamental law of the universe.

a body at rest will remain at rest unless an outside force acts on it, and a body in motion at a constant velocity will remain in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force.

For the purpose of today's examination I am going to define a "Body" as in Student Body or Body of Alumni. I find it interesting that when discussing fans, however, it is referred to as a "fan base" and we simply take for granted that it is comprised of both Student Body, and Body of Alumni as well as those fans whose only tie to the university is generally regional or circumstantial.

I'm going to get back to that. For now, join me after the jump for another example put to work.

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One of the great satisfactions I have derived from the time I have spent here on Bruins Nation is the friends I have made outside of the back and forth of online comments. I am proud to say I have met a fair number of you 'in real life.' Class of '66 jumps immediately to mind because we have tailgated together a handful of times. I met BritishBruin through '66. I met UCLALUV on campus when she signed the original SFatPauley petition to return students to sideline seating at Pauley . I met UCLAFAN11 in Knoxville when I took a Volunteer up on his offer and flew out for the game on very short notice and without a flight back even booked.

During the original SFatPauley campaign I had the good fortune of receiving an email from one of Coach Wooden's players, thanking me for our efforts. I wrote back, to confirm he was who I thought he was, and to ask if I could go public with his name. He agreed, and we have since traded the occasional email.

Yesterday, Andy Hill attended Walt Hazzard's Memorial and I am deeply honored to share with everyone his experience; after the jump.

via www.latimes.com

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Bumped. Interesting discussion. GO BRUINS. - BN Eds.

There seems to be a great deal of conjecture on who are next FB coach should be. But, what I find the most distressing, is the repeated suggestion that we should get an NFL coach.

First of all, let's remember that basic rule of thumb that NFL coaches make poor CFB coaches, and CFB coaches make poor NFL coaches. In just recent memory, both Nick Saban and Steve Spurrier had both won National Championships before moving on to the NFL game where they failed miserably.

I'll discuss the why's and wherefore's after the jump.

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I'm going to admit something that is not easy to do.

I lost my job in the 2008 economic collapse.

OK, right about now I've confused many of you who read the headline, and the first two sentences, and were ready to hear me admit I have an unhealthy obsession with sports. I might still, but we have a lot of ground to cover.

The last seven days have been really hard for anyone who truly cares about UCLA Athletics. Friday, the UCLA Men's Basketball team was embarrassed by the LMU Lions at home. To make matters worse, Josh Smith increased our humiliation by insulting the integrity of the very men that beat us fair and square. Saturday, the UCLA Football team was demolished by the Utah Utes, in what has become a form of predictable and routine form of ignomy. Yesterday we learned Reeves Nelson is unhappy and talking about leaving the team. According to reports, Ben Howland has granted his wish and suspended him from the team.

It really makes me wonder why I even bother caring.

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Fox71 recently made a comment in one of the fanposts along the lines of getting me to take over for Dan Guerreror when he is removed from office.

Now you and I both know he was only joking, but it got me to thinking, and I made a nice long list of the things I would do if I were Athletic Director. Now let's dispense with the obvious stuff, like Firing Rick Neuheisel and Hiring Mike Leach. Those things are a given in my mind. So, what would I do?

The first thing I would do is take a pay cut. As discussed before, Dan Guerrero makes in excess of 600K per year; in no uncertain terms, it is a poor investment. I would take HALF that amount and consider myself blessed. The other $344,148 would be reinvested in UCLA Athletics. I know I'm too late, but just imagine how much of that I would have needed to keep Nikki Caldwell? My salary? More than enough to house and feed my family.

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Bumped. -BN Eds. 

Dear friends and fellow sufferers.

While I have not been posting much since our 'win' against Washington State I have been reading with great interest all the uproar caused by poor play in football.

I have noticed not only an increase in posts by new members, I have noticed a distinct increase in fan posts by new members. I particularly must give proper respects to Soccerboy and his call to inundate Chancellor Gene Block with calls, emails and letters.

In the spirit of activism and thanks in large part to the encouragement of friends, family and fellow posters, I have created an online petition to 1) Fire Dan Guerrero and 2) Fire Rick Neuheisel. I hope you will support me in this, and lend me your signature. I will include the letter to Gene Block after the jump.

Sign the petition now.

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I admit, I don't have the years and years of experience The Rick or any of our coaches have at playing or coaching football. I played High School ball and a couple of years of Adult Flag Football. But, we won in High School and we won in Flag Football. And, I'm going to bring that little experience to bear upon our own Football woes.

Before I begin; I want to say one more thing. I love backgammon. I'm very good at backgammon. This is not boasting. I will play anyone, anytime, anywhere for money. I will bring some of this experience to bear as well.

Follow me after the jump.

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Bumped. Don't forget to sign the petition to get students back on the sidelines today and also join Facebook event asking UCLA students to vote to restore court-side seating. - BN Eds.

I'm going to be honest here. When I attended the UCLA Football Spring Scrimmage with a clipboard in hand, and a quickly worded demand statement printed from a small home computer, there were a large number of things I did not expect to happen.

I did not expect to get more than a handful of signatures. We got over 50. I did not expect to be accosted by a senior Morgan Center official; and when he told me it was a pointless exercise, I secretly agreed with him.

I did not expect to receive the signatures and/or support of current basketball players or for that matter past members of the basketball team. We did.

I did not expect to see the signatures of my personal friends, who had not heard about the petition from me. I did.

I did not expect students taking things into their own hands and pushing for a referendum to be placed on the student elections ballot. They did.

When I launched the online petition form, I didn't think we would get more and a few hundred signatures. Today we passed the 1,000 signature milestone.

I'm proud you! My Bruin Family. Follow me after the jump and read some of my personal favorite comments.

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Bumped. This is massive news. Don't forget to sign the petition to get students back on the sidelines today and also join Facebook event asking UCLA students to vote to restore court-side seating. - BN Eds.

Almost as if by divine intervention our mutual struggle has received a much needed boost from two of Coach Wooden's boys. Lynn Shackelford and Andrew Hill have signed our petition! 


Andy Hill played on 3 National Championship teams including the 1971-72 team pictured above (AP Photo)

We'll start with Lynn Shackelford; his signature reads:

Submission by Lynn Shackelford on 2011-04-30 10:49 am:

Graduating Year.   1969

Comments    Funded in part by the State of California, this was always intended to be used in part by the students and for the students.

(emphasis in bold is mine)

For the many of us that were not around during Coach's Golden era here is a refresher on one of our true Sons of Westwood.

Lynn was one of those guys that played when freshman did not compete and so his statistics only reflect 3 years. "Lynn was known for his high arching corner jumper and great defensive play. he was the 'one' in the diamond and one defense against Elvin Hayes and Houston in the 1968 NCAA Semi Finals." (1991 Collegiate Collection) This refers to what has become to be known as the Game of the Century. We lost that game but went on to avenge that loss a year later at Pauley Pavilion. The game was a ratings bonanza before the advent of the 24 hour news cycle and went on to prove College Basketball and NCAA Tournament were viable media commodities.

Lynn moved on to play in the ABA in the days before the merger with the NBA. But it would be his eight years as color commentator along side Chick Hearns on Lakers broadcast that would cement his name in Los Angeles Basketball history

Follow me after the jump for more.

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Bumped. The petition drive to get students back on the sidelines now has generated over 700 signatures. Bravo to everyone. If you have not signed it yet, Sign the petition today. Please sign it and pass it on to every Bruin student and alum you know. - BN Eds.

In the past week, spearheading the online petition to return students to Pauley Pavilion court side seats, I've learned a great deal about people and passion. One thing I've learned is how little people know about what is happening. In my approximation most season ticket holders go about their daily business and will either renew their season tickets or not based on whether the team is playing well. The year before last we experienced one of the most dismal seasons in UCLA basketball history, consequentially this last season we experienced some of lowest attendance numbers in the history of UCLA basketball.

When I have had the opportunity to speak to season ticket holders about the current Morgan Center decision to remove students from the Pauley Pavilion sidelines; I usually receive a standard response:  "They are?" and "Why?" At which point I will go into a long winded description of that everything that is happening.

I don't think a clear concise history has been made publicly available. I've often heard the complaint that students allowed this to happen, or somehow deserve this. I've come to learn that is far from the truth. It is because of this that I will launch into a sordid history of everything that has happened in the past 5 or 6 months.

Follow me after the jump.

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Bumped. Sign the petition today. - BN Eds.

UPDATE II (HM): We have reached 700 signatures! Keep them coming Bruins! Keep reaching out to your classmates, people you may know at work. I'm finding that people I talk to, STILL know little to nothing about this. Yet, when they learn they cannot help but feel strongly about this. Keep spreading the word!

UPDATE (BN): The petition is catching fire now. Over 250 signatures in already today. If you have not done it yet, Sign the petition today and pass it on to everyone else.

In the past week a small number of students and myself embarked on an ambitious plan to collect signatures of those opposed to the Morgan Center's decision to remove the student section from the Pauley Pavilion sideline.

To be clear; our goal is to restore the Student Section to Pauley Pavilion as it was described in the original Campaign of Champions seating guide. It illustrates a student section that stretches the length of an entire sideline and behind one basket forming an "L" shape.

via cdn0.sbnation.com

We further believe the student section should be placed opposite the Television Cameras so that we may "enhance visitor and student amenities" and directly "impact recruiting." (Quotes are taken from the COC Seating Guide).

Sign the petition today. You can sign by going here. Please help get the word out by linking this on Facebook or Tweeting using the buttons at the bottom of this post.

Follow me after the jump to learn more onhow you can help.

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Bumped. - BN Eds.

As I sit at my computer and reminisce about our annual Spring Scrimmage today, my mind is on matters far more important than the state of UCLA Football.

UCLA grad and author Carlos Castaneda in his series of semi anthropological books introduced the notion of ‘Controlled Folly.’ My personal interpretation of this idea is that it is something you do knowing full well that your actions are meaningless. For example, I personally believe voting has become a pointless exercise, but I vote every election anyway. That is my controlled folly.

Today I embarked on a controlled folly with a small number of current students at UCLA. We attended the UCLA Spring Scrimmage to directly approach Students, Alumni and Fans with petitions demanding the return to the original seating assignments for the renovated Pauley Pavilion as originally published in the Campaign of Champions.

Our pitch was simple, "Can you spare a minute to sign a petition that directly affects UCLA students?" If we got a bite we would move on, "are you aware that when the Pauley Pavilion renovation is complete, the students are going to be completely removed from their sideline seats and placed behind one of the baskets?

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As the Bruin Nation seethes with anger over Scam Guerrero's decision to rob the students of their sideline seating, I too have been caught up in a swirl of emotions. I have pondered how I could take a direct action (thanks, 66) that could have any meaningful effect.

Today I read a comment by Fox 71 that struck me to my core.

Maybe someone with access to a photocopy machine could do a fair poll, get the answers at Bruin Walk or its equivalent, and present that to morgan off-center. Here’s a fair question: “Do you support morgan off-center’s decision to move the student section from the sideline to behind the basket.?”

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