http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3410625

UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel can earn up to $1.75 million a year in salary and bonuses under the terms of a five-year contract that was finalized last week, the Los Angeles Times reported.

By comparison, KD made in the range of $850,000 + some in bonuses. Carroll makes in the $2-3 million range. So this is a pretty good chunk of change for CRN.

From The Daily Bruin:

Louisiana State men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson confirmed Tuesday that star recruit J’Mison Morgan will be released from his commitment to the school.

 ...

The Bruins can finally contact Morgan now that LSU has released him from his letter of intent.

 Not much to say that hasn't already been said at BN about this situation. Hopefully Morgan does indeed come to UCLA and hopefully he can be at least a part-time impact player next year, considering our lack of big men.

Gordon, and potentially Morgan, would receive ample opportunity to start next season as the Bruins must replace Love and center Lorenzo Mata-Real. Junior forward Alfred Aboya may also leave the team to focus on academics, which would open another spot on the roster for the incoming post players.

This last bit is what I'd like to call the "Love Effect." Rare is it that a freshman, especially a freshman big man, comes in and contributes immediately. Rarer still is it when that player wins the POY award in the Pac-10. I have big hopes for Morgan, sure. But Alfred Aboya is a seasoned veteran, a vastly improved player in his time here, a key to our success next year, and a great Bruin, a true representative of our university. I'm sure the author did not intend a slight at Aboya, but it came out sounding that way.

To next year! Go Bruins!

Bumped. Goodness, gracious. Monday is not even over but the bloggers here are already on FIRE! GO BRUINS. -N

Now, normally when I visit the WWL website, I do it so that I can check up on scores and of course, read the ridiculous opinions that so many of the "experts" spew out. It's entertaining! It's what makes being a fan so great! The debates, the predictions and ultimately--the resolution. Do I take it the opinions seriously? Well, no, not really. Heck, some of em saw UCLA goin down to WKU.

This opinion, however, is one I think we all value.

"[Two] years ago, we were in the Final Four and we finished second. Last year, we were third. Seems logical to be first this year, don't you think?" [Coach Wooden] told The Associated Press by phone Monday.

....

North Carolina and Kansas play the other semifinal, marking the first time all four No. 1 seeds have reached the Final Four.

"That is remarkable," Wooden said. "Any one of the four could win, but I wouldn't trade UCLA's chances for any of the other teams."

See the rest of the article for some great quotes from both CBH and legendary Coach Wooden. As we know so well, in the end, we play the game. But coming from a man that's taken 10 teams all the way, and coached the greatest college (and later NBA) player of all-time, I'd say this opinion is one worth noting.

This week is going by so slowly! How is it still Monday!?

Not that we didn't already know it to be inevitable, but Kevin Love has been named to the AP All America team:

The 6-10 Love led the Bruins to their third straight Final Four appearance, averaging a double-double in their tournament run after getting 17.1 points and 10.6 rebounds and shooting 55.7 percent in the regular season.

Love received 52 first-team votes and 318 points to become UCLA's second All-America in as many seasons as Arron Afflalo was chosen last year. Love said he followed Beasley closely this season.

No seniors made this year's team, for the first time ever. Love follows AA as the Bruin representative, and we're proud to put those two in the same sentence.

Darren Collison is not in that top 5, though he is listed on the Second Team. Of course, we all know that he's the best college point guard in the country, but hey they can't just put all 5 starting Bruins on that list...right? In any case, he is recognized and I believe would be first team if not for the fact that we've got Love on that list already and they don't want 2 Bruins there.

I'd like to reiterate one thing that I'm sure has been stated on BN before, but is just driving me nuts. You watch the "expert" analysis on WWL, and all you hear about is how K-Love is the only reason we're any good. We could never be here without him. Umm, yes he is a great player, but did anyone notice our trips to the final four and to the championship without him? Perhaps a guy like Luc should be getting some credit? Or 2-straight-years starting PG, clutch performer, and final four leader Darren Collison? I'm glad to see that Love hasn't bought into that garbage. I only hope that it's motivation for all our guys to come out with some extra fire and passion on Saturday, not that any extra motivation will be necessary.

Sidebar:
I went to class today, but man....it is TOUGH to have any focus at all. I also saw some players around campus, so I guess they're getting their new schedules before they head out to San Anton. Tension, excitement--good to be a Bruin.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3312457&sportCa t=ncb

The article is a must-read. To be honest, the thought of calling Coach Howland the "Best Coach Never To Have Won A National Championship" is not something that really had crossed my mind. I mean--he's only been at UCLA for 5 years. Usually guys with that title have been at it for a long time. Like Phil Mickelson in golf, or Kevin Garnett in the NBA. But I think what puts him on that list is that first word--"Best." He is such a GREAT coach, that despite the fact that he hasn't actually been at it for that long (on the Div I championship level at least) he merits consideration for that list. I see it as a positive thing. Basically it's this--he's such a great coach, that people EXPECT a championship w/ in 5 years. Which is of course a RIDICULOUS expectation--that of course he might achieve!

What does all this mean? Nothing really. He's a great coach and has no national championship, but of course we already knew that. And we're all hoping he'll be off that list in a few weeks here. Nevertheless, the article is worth a look, as it describes the intricacies of our great CBH (like the water bottle) and the path that brought him to the well, almost, top.

I am completely out of my mind right now w/ excitement for tomorrow's game. I know our Bruins are feeling confident and ready to show the nation that against a flying team with a funny mascot, we can still play our style of ball and come out w/ a win. GO BRUINS!

I've always been amazed by the ability of student-athletes to maintain a high level of athletic performance while navigating the curriculum. Certainly they have help--tutoring, scholarship, coaching, trainers, etc.--but it is a difficult path despite this help, especially at a top-notch academic/athletic university like UCLA. Now take our international athletes. They travel thousands of miles from their homes to a place most of them have never even seen before, and then deal with the stresses mentioned above. The movement from home to college is difficult for many students--even those from nearby cities with family and high school friends only a few hours' drive away. Frankly, I can't imagine how our inter. athletes adjust as quickly and as well as they do.

I try to keep up on politics, but I know only as much about this story as is shown in the brief NYTimes article (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/world/africa/29briefs-protestsmount.html?_r=1&ref=world&or ef=slogin). I saw it and it brought to mind our fan-faves, the Cameroonian duo. Apparently there have been some fairly widespread and violent protests on the streets of Yaounde, causing businesses city-wide to be forced to close doors until things calm down. The President has made a movement to alter the constitution in order to extend his presidency: not the type of thing we like to hear, and this is part of the motivation for the protest. I have no idea if/how this affects AA2 and LRMAM, but I certainly hope it is not something they or their families will be affected by. It's hard enough to move to a new country and be a top-level student-athlete--I imagine it's even harder when you hear of problems back at home. Hopefully the situation will improve in the coming days and weeks.

After watching this afternoon's basketball game, if that is what you will call it, I found myself unable to get these words out of my head:

Luc
Richard
Mbah
A
Moute

At first, I was not sure why they were pinballing around in my brain. Yes he's a player on this basketball (really?) team. Yes he's out with injury today. But so is Mike Roll. He could help out too. Heck, if we could just drop in a couple threes, we'd be ahead in this game.

Post-gametime came and the words just wouldn't leave. So I started to search around for what they meant. Here's what I've come up with:

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute = UCLA Basketball
(Keep in mind this is not meant at ALL as a slight against any other player on this team. And I also do not feel that effort had ANYTHING to do with our loss today. These guys try hard every single day.)

Reasoning:

1. Hard-working.
   
2. Solid, rather than flashy.
   
3. Winner. Let me expand on this one. UCLA has 3 losses this year. One came when UCLA was down late and Luc Richard brought us all the way back, then missed two vital FT's that cost us the game. Or wait, not really cost us the game, because we would not have been in it had he not brought us back there first. Another loss came to U$C when Luc was KO-ed and missed most of the game w/ a concussion. Our final loss came today in a game that he missed with an ankle injury. Yes there are other reasons we can go into. Look at some close victories too. Clutch shooting in the preseason tourney down to the wire, from a guy who's not even mainly a shooter. How about some past games against, say, Gonzaga?

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is UCLA Basketball.

As of now, I am willing to simplify my notion about how far this team can go. This team can go all the way: provided that Luc plays every game of the NCAA tourney.

As a graduating senior I have been regularly attending UCLA sporting events for four years. This has truly been one of the greatest aspects of being a Bruin.

But fans, I have a bone to pick.

As mentioned in today's LA Times, the Oregon fans at Thursday's game were spitting out some rather awful chants that went far beyond basketball. Cheering and booing I have no problem with. Calling players fat or ugly--this has no place in the stands or on the court. If fans are part of the game, they should be expected to behave as such.

I am proud to be a Bruin, and one of many reasons for this is that I believe we hold ourselves to a higher standard. Yes we're college students, yes we get carried away sometimes. I'm not going to say I've never blurted out expletives at a football/bball game. But more and more I am realizing that chants like "F*CK SC!" in place of "Fight, fight, fight!" do nothing but reflect badly on our students, our university, and our teams. I am certain that the venerable Coach Wooden would agree. And I know for a fact that Howland has brought up this issue a number of times.

Attending games, I do not get the sense that many fans agree, especially students. There is a level of enjoyment acquired through being obnoxious. Chanting "Bullsh*t!" repeatedly after every slightly questionable call seems to be a real winner among fans.

I want to know the following:

1. What's your outlook, BNers?
   
2. Should we hold ourselves to a higher standard as fans?
   
3. Can we?

Perhaps someone can get a more complete version of this story, but I did want to get the note up here: Lakers announcer Joel Myers mentioned the "Passion Bucket" today during the 3rd quarter of the Lakers-Mavs game. He was speaking about Kobe's great effort, and was making a reference to Kobe's comment described in an earlier BN post. What I found interesting though was that when Joel said it, he did not quote Kobe, he simply said something about Kobe's PB being full, knowing exactly what a PB was, treating it like a common phrase.

Articles are now being posted on Google News about PB. Joe Buck has also reportedly made a mention, and there are a few national articles mentioning PB, including one in USAToday.

To be honest, I find this whole PB craze to be very entertaining and funny. The phrase itself doesn't exactly make sense, but we get what it means anyways, and apparently it expresses something that was previously difficult to express.

Here's my question for my fellow BNers though: IS NEXT SEASON, THE SEASON OF THE PASSION BUCKET?

A final note--
I am going to personally adopt the phrase into conversation and posts if I can. So let me say that my passion bucket is full for tomorrow's game. All games matter in the ferocious Pac10.

ESPN is reporting that KD has signed on as the WR coach for the Miami Dolphins. Congratulations and good luck, Karl.

Now for a few questions/comments:

1)
KD was a successful WR coach at Denver, but was obviously in over his head here at UCLA. Leaving what we think of KD aside for the moment, does it shock anyone else that The Tuna brought him onto staff? I, personally, am quite shocked. I realize that KD had success as an NFL WR coach, but he just doesn't seem like the typical Parcells-type guy. Obviously, I am wrong.

2)
Many BNers had responded to the incorrect leaked news of KD going to KC with very positive and congratulatory remarks. It's good to see this. But let me also say that if I were KD, I would DESPISE bruinsnation and dumpdorrell. Let's face it: we absolutely reamed him. Yes we gave him time--5 years--but when the flood gates broke, boy did they break. Viscious ads in the newspaper, hundreds of ferocious blogs...we made his life pretty darn rough. What I really want to mention is that the attacks were NOT limited to his coaching ability. There were numerous posts containing attacks against his character, his passion, and his effort. It was personal, and I don't think we can just brush this aside and wish him luck. I have not fully forgiven his mistakes as coach, and I would not expect him to have forgiven our attacks. I hope the wounds heal in the future--but for now, all I can really say is that I hope he fits in at Miami, and that I hope UCLA football is better off without him.

3)
Despite the above, I do not believe that KD was a terrible head coach--mediocre I think is a better term. I felt that for the most part his players stayed out of trouble and his teams were not bottom-feeders, but middle-of-the-pack. Unacceptable for UCLA, yes, but other quality schools have been there before (or worse, case in point LSU in the '90s). Also, given the level of criticism he received throughout his time here, I felt he conducted himself very well.

KD will always be a very touchy subject, especially here at BN. I just hope that the results of all the hirings and firings will be good in the long-run for both sides.

Ben Howland is one of the premiere coaches in college basketball, and is a star representative of our beloved UCLA. His players work hard, are humble and well-spoken in interviews, and don't get in trouble off the court. He prepares his team well, and he's a great in-game coach. More importantly, he has made visible improvement during his time here.

There's always room for more.

Now I realize that this comes after a depressing loss, and it's always easy to point out flaws in poorly played games. But the following has been consistent throughout Howland's time here, and I'd like to open it up for discussion.

When UCLA is ahead, UCLA's timeout strategy is pretty standard: save them if possible, use them to stop opponent team runs.

When UCLA is behind, Howland uses his timeouts as quickly as possible. Often they are gone with 5 or more minutes left. I am not at all sure that this is a poor strategy--UCLA has had some quality comebacks (eg. Gonzaga) with this method. Great coaches do sometimes use rather unorthodox timeout strategies. Consider Phil Jackson's concept of letting his team play through opponent runs in order to gain experience and confidence. Very unorthodox, but apparently very successful.

At worst it's a topic of discussion.

I personally think an effort to save 1-2 timeouts by design in close games could prove valuable. Obviously there is no reasonable way to determine the efficacy of this strategy, but it seemed to me that having 1 timeout at the end of each of our losses this year would have given us a greater opportunities to win. Maybe not. Maybe it would not have been close (we were down big in both) if we had not used our timeouts to slow things down. I don't know. But again, I would like to see a few timeouts left at the end of close games. Obviously Howland's use of rapid succession timeouts is by design, and maybe it's the right way to go.

This will certainly come up again before this season is through, probably on multiple occasions. Hopefully, whatever strategy is utilized, we come out on top from here on in.

Bumped from the diaries. GO BRUINS. -N

News and notes:

1) Kevin Love has essentially been cleared by the NCAA after investigation into possible violation of recruiting regulations in June 2006. Andy Katz at ESPN reports that the NCAA determined the contact between Love and our Great John Wooden "was perfectly legal because Wooden is on the UCLA payroll and the meeting took place on campus." As much as we knew this whole thing was ridiculous when it came out, it's still good to see that Love's name will be cleared. I do not fault the NCAA for investigating the matter, as illegal contact is a serious issue, and I applaud them for making the right decision. Link

2) Some Howlandwood gems that haven't been shown here at BN:

From ESPN--

About the win over WSU...

"If you saw him when we won the game, he was screaming in the locker room," Love said. Just watch Coach Howland next time UCLA's playing some D, and you get a good glimpse of what it must be like in the locker room when he's amped up. Gotta love the enthusiasm. And more... Howland has told his team recently that every game matters on the road to becoming a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He has mentioned the sites and points to Anaheim (first and second round) and Phoenix (regional semifinals and finals), which would give UCLA a potentially friendly and short trek to the Final Four in San Antonio.

"It's early to talk about that publicly," Howland said. "But I do talk about that with my team. It was huge." Howland is running this team with one goal in mind--a national title. Exactly how it should be. All is right in Westwood.

UCLA CANNOT AND SHOULD NOT HIRE ANY COACH TO A LONG-TERM DEAL, UNLESS THAT COACH IS A PROVEN CHAMPION.

This is my belief. Give me a chance to explain.

I personally am not thrilled with any of the current candidates out there, including Bellotti who everyone is going absolutely bonkers over. Count the number of championships the current candidates have won as head coaches...0. Now, if you tell me that UCLA has the opportunity to hire a Spurrier, Erickson, etc., I'm all for throwing a long-term big-money deal. But that is not what we are dealing with. Even Bellotti is a decent choice at best. Four straight bowl losses, a .614% WP (good, not stellar), and don't forget he lost to KARL this year and he recruited a boy from the Leaf family--okay, none of this worth crying over, but it's also not completely meaningless. He has 0 championships and has had what is really an up-and-down career. He could potentially be good, but he's not the caliber I'm looking for at this point in his career.

I'm NOT saying not to hire him. Just this: no matter who UCLA hires, it should be a 2-year deal at the longest. Even if this means losing out on a few of these characters. Here's what I will not stand--signing one of them to a big 7 year deal (as recommended by some of my fellow BN'ers) in blind hope for a real winner. Bottom line is, no one great is available right now. I would rather go with a risky, short-term hire and hope for a great coach becoming available next year than to choose one from this marginal pile and give him half a decade to become a champ.

I know I'll take some flak for this but here goes: I would rather have Walker in a 1-year deal than Bellotti for 5+. Bellotti has proven to be a good, solid head coach, but nothing more. If we take him and he struggles for 2 years (look at his career, this is not impossible), we'll be stuck with 3 on his contract and we'll be even worse off than we are now. If we take someone else (or Bellotti, but I can't imagine he'd accept it) for a short deal and it doesn't work out, so what! During that time we can find a real head coach and we will not have lost out because we will have no long-term dedication to someone.

I'm just afraid that as Bruin fans we are preparing ourselves to settle with what we get. Bellotti is interesting, but not godly. Neuheisel is pretty scummy. Another BN fave, Mariucci, has proven in his long career that he knows how to lose. Golden is a joke.

You may say I'm naive. Very few coaches have won championships. But you know what, count how many in our own division have won one, and you'll see my head isn't entirely in the clouds.

My vote goes to a 1-2 year deal, and I don't care who it is. If we can ink Bellotti for 2 years, I'm right behind it. But if it's going to take a long deal, I'm not interested.

Still hoping for the best,
GO BRUINS!

When it was announced that D Walker was coaching UCLA in the bowl game on Dec. 22, the first thing that popped in my head was: why? Why oh why would DG want Walker coaching the bowl game? No reasonable person would make a decision based on one game, so could he really be using this game as his test of DW? At the time it sounded like WSU was interested in bringing in DW as a head coach, so it seemed like having DW win our bowl game was going to result in one of two things--him leaving or him becoming our head coach. But I never got the sense that DG really wanted DW promoted, but instead wanted him to stay as a DC.

Ah, then the realization.

Early this season, with a completely healthy team, we managed to squeak by BYU on a few favorable calls and a couple lucky and bizarre plays. We now have 3 QB's with injury-laden, mediocre seasons and a 5th-string RB (face it, Markey has lost it). Our guys have nothing to play for after such high hopes early in the year, and BYU gets to play for revenge. We have an interim (maybe) head coach and we still have Jay Norvell, so I can't imagine any offensive scheme is going to suddenly appear out of nowhere.

Ah so, DG's plan emerges.

We must lose. Or at least, that is my estimation of his plan. A loss in the bowl game to a team people expect us to beat (though I can't see why) means a big hit to DW's 1/2 page resume. This allows for us to more easily retain him as a DC without making it appear that he was never given a "shot." The players who love him so much will be forced to accept the fact publicly that he "blew his big chance," though all of us (players included) know that this is not a reflection of reality. With no real harm done, except of course to us fans who can't STAND to UCLA lose EVER and haven't slept well all season because of it, DG will be free to hire his new head coach, probably retain Walker, and make everyone relatively happy.

Not a bad plan really. Actually, I feel pretty confident that it's going to work. A couple writers from the LA Times, I don't think I need to mention names, will bitch and moan that DW was snubbed, but that'll blow over quickly because nothing speaks like a loss.

Of course, there is one flaw.

We could win.

Jrue Holiday is the headline of tonight's ESPN2 high school basketball game.

We're heading into halftime and all I can do is smile. Jrue Holiday, another superstar on his way to UCLA. I'll leave talent evaluation to Coach Howland--needless to say, the guy can really pick 'em--but I will say this: kid looks good. The announcers are drooling over him, 6-11 for 18 pts, 5 rebs against the #11 team in the country at the HALF. Great passing too, don't have the assists number. Jrue is apparently hoping Love sticks around, and based on what I've seen so far, I think Love could definitely benefit from a little extra time in college (then again I always think that, UCLA or no) so you never know, Jrue's hope may come true.

Jrue's an extremely talented offensive player, but, and no surprise here, it's obvious that he's an absolute star on the defensive end. Man, Howland can pick 'em. This kid will find a lot of success in our program, and I think he'll find it as a frosh.

Essays and lab reports combined with a loss to SC (good to see KD fired, but a loss to SC is ALWAYS painful) and a great comeback followed by a completely blown game at home against Texas. In other words, I didn't sleep much Sunday night. There is good news: from here on in, things are looking up. We're on the search for a new coach in football, and in basketball Roll, DC, and Keefe are getting their games back.

The final minutes of a dreary, rain-soaked day tick away.

An uncomfortable feeling rests over Westwood--is it excitement or is it dread? Is it loathing or is it boredom? And tomorrow night? What then? Mixed elation? Anger? Depression? Could it....could it be exuberant happiness?

Those final minutes, ticking away.

Karl Dorrell will struggle to sleep tonight. So many ideas, so many words floating through his mind. Where will I be tomorrow night? He thinks of Pat Cowan. Pat's awake also. Can we do it? Can I catch lightning in a bottle? I'm the starter, but will I really be in charge? He thinks of brother Joe. So maybe it's my final game. Wonder how Pat is sleeping...

No uncertainty here. Tomorrow's game will happen when it happens, and when it's over we'll have a new coach or a bowl game.

Roommates tapping away at keyboards, getting in their last predictions. ESPN background noise from the other room. Trying to get amped up, pumped up, excited. Hoping for that sleepless tossing, wondering, dreaming. Am I still a fan?

Feeling sleepy, relaxed, drooping eyelids. Visions of stumbling runs towards the endzone, leaping interception, clock expiring.

Sleep well Bruins, sleep well. Dream of the good days, dream of kick returns. Dream.

Not that I could hear much at the Beat SC rally, but just before they set off the bonfire, the players gave a crack at pumping up the crowd. It was the smallest crowd I've seen in 4 years here, and the rally itself was awful--2 hours of skits and dances, the stage was inaudible from anywhere beyond 50 feet, and they took so long waiting to light the fire that many people left before they set it off.

In any case, from where I was I couldn't hear much, but I did hear Shannon Tevaga start a "Pat Cowan" cheer. And I saw PC talking into the mic with a smile on his face. So I'm going to go ahead and guess that this means he's starting. I just can't imagine starting a PC cheer in any other case. Guess you never know though.

I'm sure it's been announced somewhere by now.

With PC we get much the same thing that we get from the coach--big games against good teams, duds against duds. What I worry about though is his mobility, which is such a large part of his game. And if it rains, which it looks like it might, he'll be even more limited. It's not all that shocking to find out he'll be at the helm. I've got to imagine that the Trojans will be scrutinizing last year's film. And I'm going to guess that UCLA tries to run the exact same game plan--attack Booty, stop the run. I guess it will be a battle of adjustments. Yikes.

According to yesterday's Bruin, PC is now working with the 1-offense. Of course BO is on the sideline with soreness. And OR is working the second string. KD says all three could play.

This has gotten rather ridiculous at this point. Given that offensive success for the Bruins this year has been rare and random, I guess the point is moot anyways, BUT--I think this QB crap is a joke.

I do not make predictions, but given KD's history as a head coach over the last 5 years, it would seem likely that BO will get the call and that he will play all game. Then again, given BO's history here at UCLA it would seem that he has a greater chance of being injured before or during the game than he does of completing it. I get the sense that this "soreness" may put him on the sideline Saturday, not because of KD, but because BO will say he can't play. That leaves PC as the starter, OR as #2. OR seems to have been thrown to the back of the room once again, despite performances that were really no worse than any others we've seen at that position this season.

Many attribute our lack of offense to the Dorvell combination. TRUE! It doesn't help though that of three potential QB starters for our regular season's final game, none excite in any way.

Regarding all of the predictions for Saturday's game:
Frankly, I don't understand many of them. People are remembering our last game at the Coliseum but forgetting that the team we lost to had 2 absolutely electric college RB's, a solid QB, and some quality WR's. ALL of those players we remember, are now gone from Trojanville.

UCLA's offense has been awful. UCLA's defense has varied from great to average, and it's probably somewhere in between. U$C's offense has been pretty bad--ranked ~40-50th in the nation in every major category, 43rd overall. U$C's defense has been it's staple. People have been placing an excessive amount of weight on last week's blowout of AZ St; only time will tell if this is reasonable. I think it is not. It seems to me that all arrows point towards a low-scoring game, that will likely be decided by turnovers. Both sides have multiple QB's capable of losing games by themselves, as they have proven all year long.

Conclusion: Low-scoring games are essentially up-for-grabs. Our team is worse. But U$C is not good either.

FOOTBALL:

People are approaching this game all wrong.

It is WIN-WIN!!!

Here it is: if UCLA wins, SC is outa the Rose Bowl, and we have a shot at it. If SC wins, KD is gone. WIN-WIN!

I'm tired of Bruin negativity. Yes KD sucks. Yes UCLA football threw away its season. But let's look at the bright side here, beyond just our WIN-WIN Saturday:

1. Our best player Kahlil Bell may not be amazing, but he did average 5.6 yds per carry with little help from an otherwise anemic offense. He's back next year.
   
2. Markey is a senior.
   
3. Forbath is good.
   
4. SC is back to the pack.
   
5. We have a theoretically decent recruiting class (no 5 stars mind you, but at least a few of these guys will fill holes).
   
6. All these injuries have shown us a lot about who on this team is good and who is not. That will help next year's new head coach.
   
7. The fans here at Bruins Nation prove that we do remember--UCLA is a football school, and even a season like this (in which we could be anywhere from 1-5 in the conference), is unacceptable.
   
8. We may choke it up, but man....we're not NEARLY as pathetic as Cal. Every year, top 10 preseason, completely fall apart.

8 for 8-clap. Go Bruins!

Note:
I stand by my previous post--I take an SC loss, any day, any circumstance. But on this very rare occasion, the pain of a rivalry defeat could be tempered by the chance of change. So don't mope--SMILE!! For once, no worries going in, no worries coming out. I'm looking forward to it!

How many Bruin quarterbacks does it take to screw in a light bulb?

From what I can tell, KD is repeating last week's tricky little step of not revealing information about his qb. Oooooh, so scary last week when we didn't know (of course we did know) if BO was going to backup OR. So I guess the idea this week is if we delay naming a quarterback then U$C won't be able to prepare for one.

Here's the problem: THIS DOES NOT WORK WHEN ALL THREE POSSIBLE STARTERS ARE MEDIOCRE!!! You don't need to prepare for UCLA's offense because, well, it doesn't exist!

Frankly, I think we should rotate around during the game. It's irrelevant because none of them are going to do anything, but I'm fairly certain that if we play either BO or PC for an extended period of time, we'll have an injury and have to bring in the other anyways.

All this ridiculous strategy aside, I have one bone to pick.

Some of you are so furious at KD that you are actually rooting for U$C. SHAME ON YOU!!! Bad coach or not, it's no excuse. Making the Rose Bowl...well we really don't deserve it. But you know what? The hated ones don't either. (For those that have been watching, with 0 injuries they lost to Stanford who has lost to ND, making them approximately at our level on that specific blown game). If nothing else, we have to hope beyond hope that we knock them out of it. And for you uber-haters, you can even hope for us and ASU to win, followed by a coaching staff upheaval. The single most important thing this weekend is that USC loses, and the way it worked out, it's going to be us that has to make it happen.

So you know what...GO BRUINS!!! BEAT SC!!!!

Oh by the way--5. Two to get injured, one to throw extra light bulbs wildly around the room, one to run around holding the light bulb and falling down, and the last one to screw it in.