SB Nation User Blog: norcald503

WWL Calls Out Lute, Hails Wooden as Model Example

norcald503 — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 16:37:58 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

I'm still trying to collect my thoughts from watching our Bruins completely fall apart in Berkeley in the last quarter. The UCLA section was having a high ol' time most of the game, and it really felt, that going into the fourth quarter, we were into the fight. Then everything fell apart. So to distract me from yesterday's disappointment, I'm talking about Lute's complete unraveling at the Standard.

WWL's Pat Forde, who normally I think is an idiot (who usually puts drivel out there), managed to put out a decent article on Lute's rather ungraceful exit from the Standard, contrasting Lute's erratic behavior with the cool grace and dignity of the greatest coach of all, John Wooden.

He starts by praising Wooden for the way he retired gracefully:

Where have you gone, John Wooden?

Actually, we know good and well where he's gone. Into retirement with his dignity and legacy intact.

John Wooden was an expert at many things, including when to leave the sidelines.

Some 33½ years ago Wooden retired, at the age of 64, at the top of his profession. He rode away from UCLA in 1975 after winning his 10th national title, timing impeccable as always.

He could have coached longer. He could have continued winning games, chasing titles, milking UCLA for glory and money and fame. Instead, Wooden walked away on his own terms, a clean break, nothing but good feelings on all sides.

Why can't anyone else do that these days? What has happened to the graceful exit?

Forde follows up by wondering what has happened to his boy Lute:

Lute Olson is the latest college coaching legend to thoroughly bollix his closing act. The Arizona basketball coach's retirement was announced Thursday, ending a 12-month saga that did considerable damage to his remarkable rep.

The hope is that this exit has not been forced by a previously undisclosed physical or mental illness or family trauma. Ideally, Olson will now enjoy his retirement in good health. Yet at the same time, a serious ailment would be the most palatable reason for a succession of bizarre, puzzling and poorly explained actions that did a disservice to the school and the players he purported to care about.

Forde then goes on to discuss what we here at BN have been discussing for two years now:

For the second straight season, Olson pulled the rug out from under his program at the worst possible time. For the second straight season, the school was left squirming to explain the erratic actions of a legend -- at times seemingly compelled to fib on Olson's behalf. For the second straight season, Arizona basketball has been thrown into turmoil by the very man who breathed life into it.

Sadly, a guy who projected an aura of control and composure has turned his exit from basketball into an absolute mess. Even sadder is the fact that Olson is merely the latest in a line of college coaching legends who don't seem to know when or how to walk away.

Folks on the Standard bandwagon have been talking about Olson deserves to be mentioned alongside Wooden (especially when Lute broke Wooden's record for Pac-10 victories). Never mind, that Olson has one title to Wooden's ten.

I think the rest of the nation is beginning to see what we've seen for a while: ol' Viagra Lute was a real good coach who took Arizona from nothing into a nice regional power, but he still doesn't belong in the same breath as John Wooden.

Not only did Wooden set the standard for excellence, he did it with the dignity and class that other coaching "legends" (Lute, Bobby Knight, and Eddie Sutton) have failed to demonstrate, or as Forde finished:

[T]he sad part is what the legends lose when they can't find the right exit strategy.

John Wooden was an expert on many things. Leaving included.

Dec. 5, 2008 - O.J. Gets His Due

norcald503 — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:03:52 -0000

As Fox noted, on December 5, 2008, O.J. will be sentenced for his role in an armed robbery at a Las Vegas casino/hotel. Since Fox asked, attached to this post is a poll.

O.J. faces a term anywhere between 15 years to life. I'm not at all familar with Nevada sentencing law, so if anyone out there has any information to share, by all means, please do so.

That said, vote away.

Poll

What do you think the length of U$C "great" O.J. Simpson's sentence will be?

At U$C, Resisting Arrest is All Good

norcald503 — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:59:18 -0000

A little over a week ago, there was some discussion here (also see here and here) on BN regarding the Shareece Wright situation at U$C, in particular, the minor matter of Wright resisting arrest.

While most resisting arrest charges are filed as a misdemeanor violation of Penal Code Section 148(a)(1), it appears Wright was charged with felony resisting arrest, in violation of Penal Code Section 69.

Well, WWL is reporting that Wright suffered a vertebrae hairline fracture and will be out a "number of weeks." What's particular interesting is that the quotes from the ol' Humanitarian give some insight as to why, despite being charged with a felony, Wright wasn't suspended for a single play.

It appears Koach Karl I was right on the money afterall; according to WWL:

Trojan coaches have been raving about Wright's ability for weeks, suggesting he might emerge as the best corner USC has had in the Carroll era.

Hmm, important player getting in trouble while the Humanitarian does nothing. Why does this feel like deja vu?

The Humanitarian claims Wright wasn't suspended because it was a perfect "teaching moment" for Wright. You sure there isn't another reason there Pete?

The injury hinders the Trojans' depth. USC's four-man rotation at corner likely becomes a three-man platoon with Kevin Thomas becoming the first guy off the bench. Blue-chip freshman T.J. Bryant will be available, but the coaches would prefer not to burn his redshirt season if they don't have to.

Hmm, makes one wonder. "Teachable moment" or necessary measure to mask depth problems at corner and not burn a freshman's redshirt season?

Well, don't worry fellow law-abiding Bruins. The Humanitarian has, despite his usual practice, taken action:

Carroll has said Wright was being disciplined internally for that situation.

And by "disciplined internally" he means sleeping with one of U$C's rather, umm, physically-lacking Song Girls. Because, seriously, that's about as much punishment as anyone can expect from the Humanitarian.

Despite this, the short-sighted supporters of U$C can't seem to wrap their brains around this:

More puzzling is the fact that he was detained, interviewed and the released only to have the D.A. come back and charge him with resisting. I mean come on you had him detained, you interviewed him and then you released him. If truly resisted why was he not arrested at the time of detention? These guys can't be serious. What new information did they obtain after the fact that made them decide to charge him?

Well, I'm sure the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office will make sure they run all of their charging decisions by you first whenever it involves a U$C player. I suppose the entire concept of arrest and cite is lost on the folks across town. I mean, one would think they'd understand given the fact so many of their fellow trOJans find themselves on the police blotter and criminal court docket.

But, rather than trust prosecutors who are sworn to uphold the law, they're going to rely on the word of an accused criminal (Wright) and his defense attorney:

Carlos J. Juarez, Wright's attorney, said would start interviewing eye witnesses and expected the charges to be dropped before the Oct. 29 hearing.

Well, if a defense attorney said it, it must be true! Because a defense attorney would never mislead the media to gain a perceived tacital advantage.

Although they have nothing to go by but the self-serving statements by Wright's attorneys, trOJans have already begun to serve up the spin

Now, Wright isn't necessarily squeaky clean here as he has two failure to appear on his record for two traffic violations and while one has nothing to do with the other the perception is one of a player who doesn't respect the legal process.

The "perception" of a player who doesn't respect the legal process? Umm, where I come from, two FTAs don't create the "perception" of someone who doesn't respect the legal process, it is pretty convincing evidence of someone who thinks they can break the law and then blow off court.

To me, just like his fellow trOJans, that pattern of behavior by Wright indicates a complete disregard for the law and our system of justice.

The best part of all of this, though, is that trOJans are placing their blind faith in the Humanitarian to do whatever is "appropriate":

I trust Pete Carroll and Mike Garrett will handle it as they see fit.

Does "as they see fit" mean do absolutely nothing and look the other way as they do with the long, well-known, laundry list of criminal conduct by U$C players?

Or maybe if they tell themselves that OJ didn't do it, that the Humanitarian isn't running a dirty program, that OJ2 didn't take any improper benefits, that Bu$h didn't get any pay-off, and that Wright is innocent, they'll actually believe it's all true.

Delusion is something of a particular favorite over there at the University of Second Choice.

Finally, changing gears from trOJan delusion to amusing quotes, I found this to be of particular amusement:

In addition to Wright having great quickness, Carroll has gushed about Wright's toughness and his knack for making plays.

Apparently, Wright thinks he's tough enough to take on police officers with guns, batons, and tasers. But, as we now know, he wasn't fast enough to elude the police and apparently U$C playmaking ability doesn't translate into skating on criminal charges.

Wasn't he paying attention when the Humanitarian brought favorite U$C alum OJ1 to practice? Or has even "slashing the competition" become a Senora Ross course?

U$C: win at all costs. Even if that involves fighting with police officers, sexually assaulting young women, or committing double murder.

Interwebs Chatter: Highest Form of Flattery?

norcald503 — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:33:36 -0000

Right now, the MSM is just loving the whole "gutty little Bruins upseting big, bad, heavily favored SEC powerhouse Tennessee to start the Rick Neuheisel returning home era" story. WWL, Fox Sports, SI, etc. are all running some variation of this story (which you can check out here, here, here, here, here, here, and here)

Got to love the national exposure. Hopefully it translates into better recruiting returns, which in turn, hopefully leads to this program returning to its rightful place of national prominence.

But, what I find particularly amusing isn't the MSM exposure and hype after our big win over the Vols. What I find really amusing is that so many of the haters out there can't seem to stop talking about UCLA and our Bruins. Now, I'll admit I was a bit curious to see what our fellow SBN blogs were saying in the wake of the MSM love-fest for our upset win. I started over at Rocky Top Talk (by the way, Vols fans, you have been a class act in defeat, which, unfortunately UCLA fans don't get to see very often, having to play certain teams with a**hole fanbases) to see what they saw from their side (I like to get a balanced look at a game when possible). I eventually made by way to some of the haters' blogs, and boy, was I bit shocked by what I found.

The folks over at California Golden Blogs just can't get enough of UCLA. And, well, many of them are so taken with our good looks, beautiful blue jerseys, etc. that they couldn't wait for us to upset the Vols: they had to talk about us before the game.

In sum, you can catch our cocky (yet secretly envious) 'big brothers' discussing UCLA, the Bruins, or our program here, here, here, and here. Sure, they take their shots at Neuheisel or our Bruins, but it makes one wonder, why so much talk about a team they dismiss out of hand, hmm? Perhaps a few Bears, while loathe to admit it, secretly house a secret crush on UCLA.

No worries CGB guys. I don't blame you. After all, you guys have to look at this:

Image Credit: KTVU

Meanwhile, those of us who are fortunate enough to be Bruins, get to see this on a regular basis:

Image Credit: UCLA Dance Team

The folks over at Conquest Chronicles, on the other hand, don't share the Bears' envy of UCLA. Which isn't too much of a surprise, because, while I hate to admit it, the trOJans actually win once and a while. But, while they don't share the Bears' figurative penis envy of the Bruins, they, like the folks in the People's Republic of Berkeley, can't help but talk about the Bruins, as in here, here, and here.

Not that I mind the chatter. We hear a lot of snide jibes about the recent LA Times ad where a picture of Neuheisel bodly declares the football monopoly in LA is over. Yet, despite U$C jumping Georgia in the polls to take the top spot, everyone can't stop talking about the "gutty little Bruins."

Monopolies aren't just measured in wins and losses, folks, and CRN is already showing how these Bruins are going to start loosening the absolute stranglehold U$C had on LA the last few years.

Love the coverage from all corners of the interwebs, even from those out there who proclaim to not have any love for the greatest university in the world.

Fox Sports Deems CRN #29 Div. I-A Coach

norcald503 — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:26:16 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. - N

Fox Sports has posted CollegeFootballNews.com's preseason coaching rankings for this upcoming season. While I'm not a big fan of preseason polls, especially ones like this, I do appreciate that CFN isn't just bowing to the company line and putting legends like Bowden (#38) and Paterno (#31) near the top based on their reputation alone. So, since it looks like they're willing to knock coaches down to how they think they'll perform this season, I thought I'd do a quick run-through of the rankings for those interested.

First, CRN came in at #29, sandwiched between Dan Hawkins of Colorado (#30) and Butch Davis of UNC (#28).

29. Rick Neuheisel, UCLA: Say what you will about Neuheisel's off-field shenanigans, but the guy knows how to produce results. At both Colorado and Washington, he won twice as many games as he lost and three times finished in the top 10. How he handles this next gig after a six-year absence will define him as a coach.

Given the MSM's line on CRN, I did not expect him to finish so high, but I'm glad someone out there recognizes CRN, despite the "Slick Rick" rep., can flat-out coach. Never mind the allusion to "shenanigans" that CRN was often not guilty of, it's nice to see they recognize the coaching talent we have in Westwood.

Second, I thought I'd compare where some of the names we all tossed around during the coaching search ended up. Those that finished behind CRN included Al Golden of Temple (#78), June Jones of SMU (#55), Todd Graham of Tulsa (#44), Gary Patterson of TCU (#37), Bronco Mendenhall of BYU (#32). A bit of a shock to see Mendenhall down in the 30s. Personally, I'd have him in the low-20s or high teens, but definitely within the top 25. The guy is young and BYU is going to be a damn good team as long as he's at the helm in Provo. CFN seemed to agree, but still went in the low-30s:

32. Bronco Mendenhall, BYU: It took a few years, but BYU has found its man to build a bridge back to the program's golden years. In successive seasons, the Cougars have swept the Mountain West and finished ranked in the polls. If Mendenhall keeps this up, his name will replace Lavell Edwards' outside the stadium.

The guys from our coaching search coming in ahead of CRN include Mike Leach of Texas Tech (#25), Chris Petersen of Boise State (#22), Brian Kelly of Cincinnati (#18), Paul Johnson of Georgia Tech (#17), Mike Bellotti of Oregon (#15), and Jim Grobe of Wake Forest (#6). No real shock here. All very solid coaches, although I'd rather have CRN given his energy, his passion, and the fact, as a fellow Bruin, he understands how important beating U$C, winning the Pac-10, and playing in the Rose Bowl in January is.

Now, CRN isn't going to have it easy. The Pac-10 boasts some of college football's best coaches (rivaling the coaching talent in any conference, including the SEC, but more on that in a bit). Within our conference, we do have Mike Stoops of Arizona (#82) and Tyrone Wilingham of Washington (#70). Now that I've mentioned the scrubs, we do have Paul Wulff of Washington State (#90), Jim Harbaugh of Stanford (#66), Mike Riley of Oregon State (#25), Jeff Tedford of Cal (#16), Mike Bellotti of Oregon (#15), Dennis Erickson of Arizona State (#14), and ol' Cheaty Peety of U$C (#2).

Personally, I think Wulff and Harbaugh are going to climb that ladder. Both guys don't have easy jobs (how do you convince a kid to come to Pullman and getting through Stanford admissions can't be an easy task), but I suspect both teams , in a few years, will regularly contend for bowl games and be tough away games for our Bruins. I don't expect Stoops or Willingham to be around much longer. As for the talent part, Riley has done a great job with the Beavers despite not having the elite talent, Tedford made Cal relevant (before Tedford, Cal football flat out sucked), Erickson, despite his shady recruiting and reputation, wins wherever he goes (unless it's the NFL), and as much as we hate Pom Pom, he's made the trOJans a force.

While we're in the business of arbitrarily ranking coaches, let's arbitrarily compare the Pac-10 with the other BCS conferences. If you take each coaches' ranking, add them together, and divide by the number of teams in each conference, you end up with the following average coaching rank: SEC (28.92), ACC (36.08), Pac-10 (40.9), Big-10 (43.45), Big-12 (44.92), Big East (51.5). The Pac-10 isn't doing too bad, especially considering we're saddled with Stoops and Willingham and Harbaugh and Wulff are young up-and-comers. The ACC got a huge boost from landing Paul Johnson at GT (#17).

Finally, some other coaches of note. Bob Toledo, now at Tulane, came in at #88. CFN had this to say about the man who came before the Doofus:

88. Bob Toledo, Tulane: Best known for a seven-year stint at UCLA, Toledo has largely had an inconsistent career on the sidelines. Always an offensive innovator, his teams rarely play much defense or with any degree of sustained excellence.

Sounds about right. Moving on, Charlie Weis of Notre Dame finished at #48. Pat Hill, the man in charge at Fresno State, a team that will give our Bruins a tough game, was ranked #41:

41. Pat Hill, Fresno State: Hill's "anybody, anytime, anywhere" attitude resonates throughout a program that's had considerable success against larger schools. His teams are always tough, physical, and built on a solid running game. The Bulldogs have been to eight bowl games in nine years, but a WAC title has escaped them since Boise State joined the league.

As for the season opener, Phil Fulmer of Tennessee took the #33 slot:

33. Phil Fulmer, Tennessee: Whether Fulmer's glass is half full or half empty probably depends on your geography. While there's no denying he's been very successful over the last 16 years, folks in Knoxville point to a 10-year stretch without an SEC title and zero top 10 finishes since 2001.

CRN will be facing some tough teams with good coaching. In fact, when you look at our schedule, the only two coaching rejects we'll see are Stoops in Arizona and Willingham at Washington. Yet, despite the fact these guys have been total busts at both schools, they have a tendency to play us tough, especially when they're home.

If CRN puts together a bowl-eligible season with a banged-up OL, big questions at QB, a inexperienced secondary, and one of the nation's toughest schedules, there's no way he won't slide into the top 25.

But hey, according to some people, we were being totally unreasonable in our predictions for this season. What a bunch of clowns.

American Strict Uniform Rules? Why?!

norcald503 — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:19:47 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

Earlier today, Nestor gave us a good update on Neuheisel and Carroll's plan to bring back the home and home uniform tradition for our rivalry game. I had some thoughts on the topic (which ran a bit long), and per N's request, those comments are now this full-blown post.

And it looks like I'm not the only one at BN with a bit of an interest in uniforms (it's an aesthetics thing). So, first, I'm going to begin with this picture:

Image credit: Los Angeles Times

Now, as N pointed out in his post, there appears to be a hiccup in the plan to have both Neuheisel and Carroll work around the rules to make it happen:

"The rules, right now, make it a little tenuous because you have to forfeit a timeout,'' Neuheisel said. "We were both of the mind that you only had to forfeit a timeout in the first half, but we were told that we would have to forfeit a timeout in both halves, and that's a little scary in a game that matters that much."

And, unless the Pac-10 is willing to bend the NCAA rules a bit to make this happen, it looks like once again, we'll be subjected to boring old white-versus-home-colors.

Which brings us to problem itself: the NCAA rule that requires visiting teams to wear white uniforms. The rule itself, Rule 1-4, Article 3(a) states, in relevant part:

Players of opposing teams shall wear jerseys of contrasting colors, and the visiting team shall wear white jerseys. White jerseys may be worn by the home team when the teams have agreed before the season.

As much as we dislike the NCAA around here, they're not the only ones with these kinds of stupid rules. You're all familar with the following list and standard uniform conventions:

MLB: Home team wears white, away team wears gray (except for SD which wears sand rather than gray), and teams may wear a colored alternate uniform
NFL: Home team wears colored uniforms, away team wears white (there are some exceptions, such as Dallas, but one team must always be in white)
NBA: Home team wears white, away teams wears a colored uniform (there are some notable exceptions, such as the Lakers with their home yellows and white alternates)
NCAA FB: Same as NFL
NCAA BB: Same as NBA

America is pretty used to this enforced uniform code. We've become so accustomed to this system, most fans can instantly tell by uniform alone which team is home and which is away with a quick glance at the screen. The knowledgeable fans can even (sometimes) tell the day of the week by uniform alone (the Lakers wear their alternate whites on Sunday and most MLB teams wear their colored alternates on Sundays).

But, why is it this way? As Rye pointed out, the origin of this rule is television:

The reason that such rules exist in the US about one team wearing white is because of TV. When the rule was made there was only black and white TV and one team needed to wear white so viewers could differentiate between the two teams. Black and white TV is why refs wear black and white striped shirts too. It’s an antiquated rule, but it’s become tradition here.

Well, I'm willing to bet all of us are watching in full color now. Since TV isn't the problem anymore, there's only two real reasons these antiquated rules are still in effect: (1) to aid the players tell who is on their team and who isn't (and to a lesser extent, help the fans identify which team is which) and/or (2) merchandising considerations, in that, the more jerseys a team wears, the more jerseys teams can sell to fans.

When you look at these two reasons though, they don't hold up. These reasons shouldn't be standing in the way of tradition.

Reason 1: Aiding Players In Identifying Their Teammates

It simply makes no logical sense. First, let's begin with the children. I'm sure a lot of you, in your childhood, played youth soccer, Little League, Pop Warner, or some other organized youth sport. Likewise, I bet some of the older members of BN have kids who play or played organized youth sports. Now, when I was a kid (which was about 15-20 years ago), in every sport I played, we got just one uniform. Period. Just one. There was no home jersey. No away jersey. Just one uniform. Whoever was in charge of the league and uniforms made sure every team ended up with a different color. I'm pretty sure the economics of youth sports hasn't changed and things are the same way. At least it sure looks that way:

Image credit: Salt Lake County, Utah - Parks & Recreation

So, 5-10 year old children are able to wear colored uniforms and tell who is on their team and who isn't. I can't recall a time that was ever a problem for me (the only time I've seen it happen is pick-up basketball at Wooden, where a bunch of guys who don't know each other and who are wearing similar colors (as one would expect there were lots of white, gray, and blue t-shirts) inadvertantly pass the ball to the wrong guy for a turnover. I don't think that really counts, does it?

It seems reasonable that if children can wear colored uniforms and not have problems that adult, professional athletes should be able to do the same. Unless we assume at 18, our professional athletes magically become dumber than children.

But we know that's not true. We need look no further than across the pond to see how it works for other pro athletes. Those of you who caught the UEFA Champions League final saw Manchester United, in their famous red kits (uniform in football-speak) put Chelsea, in their blue kits, to the sword in Moscow. Now, it seems reasonable that if a bunch of guys who don't share the same first language (Utd's starting eleven that night included a Dutchman, a Frenchman, a Serbian, six Englishmen, an Argentine, and a Portugese) can wear colored uniforms against another team wearing colored uniforms and not have problems, there's no real reason it can't be done here in the States, where most of our pro athletes speak the same language.

Reason 2: Merchandising (Making Money for the Ownership)

The current system favors merchandising, and thus, generates revenue for the team and its owners (or in the case of college sports, the NCAA and its member schools). If a team wears multiple uniforms, that's more uniforms you can sell to fans. I admit to it myself. I'm the proud owner of an Oakland A's home hat (with the yellow bill and white A's), an Oakland away cap (solid green with a yellow A's), and even the old Oakland spring training hat (with the elephant behind the sun). So, somewhere, someone in Oakland is happy they got me to spend $75 (3 hats at $25 per) rather than just $25.

So, one would assume that American owners would be reluctant to give up such a regime that favors expanding their merchandising opportunities. Yet, when you again look across the pond, you'll see that this system doesn't stifle those merchandising opportunities.

Again, let's look at Man Utd (if you can't tell by now, they're my team of choice). Besides being my team, they're a pretty good point of comparison. Their uniforms are made by our very own Nike and they're owned by the Glazer family, who happen to also own the Tampa Bay Bucs. Now the Glazers, being familar with the NFL before buying Utd, are pretty familar with the American uniform and merchandising regime. Shortly after taking over, Glazer changed the Bucs lame orange and white uniforms to the current red, black, and pewter scheme we see today.

But Glazer made no move to change United's kit or logo. Why? Because there was no need, despite the lack of similar mandatory uniform rules. In European football, there is no rule that a team must wear "away white" or anything similar. As I discussed above, teams often play in colored jerseys, as you can see below:

Image Credit: The Sun (UK)

For those keeping score at home, that's Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the opening goal of the Champions League final against Chelsea this year.

But I digress. Back to my point. As you can see, there is no mandatory white or away jersey rules in European football. Despite this, Man Utd (or for that matter, Chelsea, Inter, AC Milan, Barca, and Celtic) has no problem selling merchandise.

Man Utd is one of the world's most supported clubs. It's estimated they have around 330+ million supporters (including yours truly). By comparison, the Census Bureau estimates the United States has a current population of around 304,712,000+ as of the date I post this. Which means, to me at least, that Utd has as much, if not more, fan support than the entire NFL. At the very least, it means Utd has more fan support than any individual NFL, NBA, or MLB franchise.

So, one would think that United, being a very large club with an American owner, Nike uniforms, and a huge fan base, many of whom are die-hard and more willing to spend for their club, would want to tap into this merchandising boon and engage in the same kind of uniform merchandising that is done in the United States.

Well, they do. In fact, United just replaced its all-black away kit with a new (and ugly) white and blue away kit. And like American franchises, United added a third alternate uniform (which isn't bad looking, I suppose).

So, even without strict uniform rules (such as the NCAA's 1-4, Art. 3), Man Utd, the Glazers, and Nike are pulling out all the stops in an all-out war to merchandise. Just like they do here in the States. And, best of all, it's working for Man Utd without the rule. Man Utd is doing just fine in terms of merchandising and turning a profit. It appears English fans, who as I said before, tend to be more die-hard than their American counterparts (except for maybe the Raider Nation) are complying, buying up new uniforms whenever Nike rolls out another United kit.

The most interesting part of this though, is that United sells plenty of its away and third kits, despite the fact, and this is key, United wear their "home" red kits every game, except for when they are away and the opposing team also wears home reds or a shade close to red (for example when United play Liverpool at Anfield or when United play Aston Villa at Villa Park).

American teams, on the other hand, play 50% of their games in their home uniform and 50% in their away uniform (unless they play an odd number of games in their final playoff series, but we're talking a one game difference here).

Yet, European football teams have no problem merchandising their gear, despite the fact they wear their other uniforms only when necessary. So, apparently, the financial implications don't justify the mandatory uniform rules either.

Wrapping It Up

When you look at the two main reasons American sports impose the antiquated uniform restrictions, it doesn't fly. Most importantly, it stifles traditions like our home-and-home with U$C. It seems kind of stupid that these rules don't have exceptions for situations like this.

Besides, don't you think this looks kind of cool (and would look pretty cool on HDTV):

Image credit: ViewImages

I mean, regardless of what you think of soccer, I think the colors appeal to the eye more than, say, this:

Image credit: NFL

Wow. A lot of navy blue and white. Kind of boring, if you ask me. Now compared to watching the Manchester derby, with United in red and City in light blue, is classic. Absolutely classic. And it would be just a memory if the Premiership adopted an idiotic rule like American sports have.

Now, I'm not advocating getting rid of the white uniforms. I think some of them look pretty cool. In fact, I love our away whites now that the numbers are in the right shade of blue. I think they look pretty good. And they look good when we're playing, say, at Palo Alto or Corvallis. But, when we go to the Mausoleum, we should be in our home blues. That's how it used to be and how it should be from here forward.

But, unfortunately, I don't think we'll be seeing mustard-and-ketchup in the Rose Bowl or our perfect blue and gold in the Mausoleum in the immediately future. Why? Because the NCAA and Pac-10 are in charge and when does either ever make a decision that makes logical sense?

Finally, since I opened with a great image, it would only make sense to close with another great image:

Image credit: ViewImages

Let's hope we see more images of Bruins in blue celebrating in the end zone, in both the Rose Bowl and the Mausoleum.

I was hunting for a UCLA alumni plate for the new car (because the UCLA Store is currently out of...

norcald503 — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 06:16:35 -0000

I was hunting for a UCLA alumni plate for the new car (because the UCLA Store is currently out of stock) and I stumbled across a website with this. So if anyone in BN has a hitch in need of a cover, consider giving BN some love. :)

RW Dubbed Best of Orlando Summer League

norcald503 — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:32:08 -0000

John Denton, over at the WWL, had a quick run-through of the best and worst of the NBA's Orlando Summer League. And of no surprise to all of BN, RW was dubbed the league's best player.

As Denton says:

BEST PLAYER: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City
Ask the GMs who attended the five-day camp in Orlando, and they unanimously pick Westbrook as the week's top performer. Everyone knew he was a defensive ace with his long arms and burly shoulders, but he was far more effective offensively this week than most expected.

He used his size and burst off the dribble to get anywhere on the floor he wanted. Because of injuries, he never got to play against Rose in what would have been one of the marquee matchups of the week, but he had his way with Chalmers and the other guards in the camp.

Kevin Durant, the NBA's reigning Rookie of the Year, left highly impressed, and confident that the young core of himself, Jeff Green, White and Westbrook means that OKC will have a winner sooner rather than later.

On the flip side, Denton dubbed Rose the summer league's "biggest disappointment" due to his knee issues and frustration with the structured offense the Bulls were running.

Denton kept with the Pac-10 love, going with Brook Lopez as the best big man of the Orlando summer league (with Beasley coming in second).

While it's nice to see the Pac-10 get some love, this news re: RW comes as no surprise to those of us who got to watch him week in and week out doing all kinds of incredible things, both on offense and defense.

Here's to seeing some more signature high-flying nasty in-your-face dunks (coupled with in-your-face defense) from RW in OKC this year.

WWL Joins the Conspiracy! Bring Out the Tin Foil Hats!

norcald503 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:00:05 -0000

While there are some people intent on claiming BN is part of a pro-Neuheisel conspiracy to lower expectations in Westwood, it appears the WWL has joined BN with a rather paltry assessment of the state of UCLA football:

In fact, in Ted Miller's Pac-10 preseason rankings, he doesn't just put UCLA in the bottom half of the Pac-10, he puts us at 8, ahead of only Stanford (9) and Washington St. (10).

On the Bruins, Miller says:

8. UCLA: The schedule is brutal (Tennessee, BYU and Fresno State are the nonconference games). The offensive line may be brutalized. New coach Rick Neuheisel didn't inherit much talent, and that figures to show on the field, no matter how good the coaching staff is.

So, either BN is paying the WWL to get on board with the same conspiracy that Rivals and other MSM sources have joined, or, well, believing that despite CRN, NC, and DW running the show, the lack of talent and tough schedule means it'll be a long season for the Bruins isn't unreasonable after all.

Despite the lack of experience and talent, I'm really hoping this team can surprise a few people and pull out a 7-5 record and get CRN a bowl game his first year at the helm. But, that kind of finish is a hope, rather than a probable prediction. Hope for the best, but let's not be too surprised if things don't pan out so well this year.

Looking Ahead: Football Depth Next Season and Beyond - Offense

norcald503 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:38:18 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

As part of my two-part series on looking forward at our football team's depth this season and the two following seasons, this is the section for those wanting a break-down of the offensive side of the ball (which will include our kicker/punter situation simply because a whole special teams section would be kind of dumb, and they technically step on the field on offense).

Anyway, again I think having this kind of information broken down will give us some perspective to gauge how our recruiting efforts are shaping up, see where we're going to need to get help down the line, and touch off a bit of discussion.

Also, this run-through is a bit more broken down than the defensive run-through simply because the offense doesn’t lend itself to a neat, three-part grouping as the defense does.

And once again, to make it a bit easier to sort, I've broke each group up into separate block quote sections:

OFFENSE

QUARTERBACK

'08-'09

QB1: Ben Olson (RS SR)
QB2: Kevin Craft (RS JR)
QB3: Chris Forcier (RS FR)

Reserves: Osaar Rasshan (RS JR); Patrick Cowan (RS SR – Out for Season)

Incoming Freshmen/Transfers: Kevin Craft (RS JR, JC Transfer - 5 stars by Scout); Nick Crissman (4 stars, #9 by Scout); Kevin Prince (3 stars, #40 by Scout)

Notes: Patrick Cowan is out for the season and will apply for a sixth year of eligibility to return in ’09-’10. Kevin Craft is a transfer from Mount San Antonio College (via SDSU). Osaar Rasshan was transitioned to WR under KD and switched back last season in response to injuries/ineffectiveness to/from Ben Olson, Pat Cowan, and McLeod Bethel-Thompson.

'09-'10 (7 total scholarship players)

QB1: Cowan (RS SR)
QB2: Craft (RS SR)
QB3: Forcier (RS SO)

Reserves: Rasshan (RS SR); Crissman (RS FR or SO); Prince (RS FR or SO)

Incoming Freshmen/Transfers: Richard Brehaut (4 stars, #13 by Scout)

Notes: This assumes that Cowan will be able to obtain another year of eligibility. If he can’t expect Craft to be the likely starter with Forcier and Crissman most likely to be the top back-up. Brehaut is highly touted but unlikely to break into the starting line-up his freshman year.

'10-'11 (4 scholarship players):

QB1: Forcier (RS JR)
QB2: Crissman (RS SO or JR)
QB3: Brehaut (RS FR or SO)

Reserves: Prince (RS SO or JR)

Notes: In two seasons’ time, the QB position will be wide-open, with Forcier, Crissman, and Brehaut all possible starters. Prince, with a strong showing either during the previous season or going into camp before ’10-’11 could break into the mix. If Norm Chow’s instincts on Brehaut play out as they have before, the job could be his by a long-shot.

ASSESSMENT: While we have really good depth at QB this season and next, this year’s QBs are learning an entirely new system, with starter Olson working for yet another offensive coordinator. As great as NC is as an OC, expect growing pains as Olson gets acclimated with Chow’s offense. Long-term, we look set at QB, with Crissman and Brehaut likely to run the Bruins offense in a few seasons. Going into ’10-’11, the Bruins will only have 4 QBs, so look for CRN and NC to bring in some new signal-callers in the Class of ’10. By not offering Nunes and Brehaut, it seems to indicate CRN and NC will wait until ’10 to bring in more depth.

RUNNING BACKS

'08-'09 (10 total scholarship players):

HB1: Kahlil Bell (SR)
HB2: Raymond Carter (RS FR)
HB3: Chane Moline (JR)
HB4: Christian Ramirez (JR)
FB1: Trevor Theriot (RS JR)
FB2: Tobi Umodu (RS SO)

Reserves: Craig Sheppard, HB (RS JR) (Non-Scholarship); Robert McCurdy, HB/FB (RS FR) (Non-Scholarship)

Incoming Freshmen: Aundre Dean, HB (4 stars, #6 by Scout); Milton Knox, HB (4 stars, #30 by Scout); Johnathan Franklin, HB (3 stars, #55 by Scout); Derrick Coleman, FB (3 stars, #3 by Scout)

Notes: The above assumes Dean, Knox, and Franklin will not break into the rotation this season; at the minimum, expect Dean and Knox to get some significant time, likely slotting in between Carter and Moline. Also, both Bell and Carter are returning from missing significant time with injury. Umodu has made the conversion from LB to FB this season, so expect Coleman to press for time should Theriot go down with injury.

'09-'10 (9 total scholarship players)

HB1: Carter (RS SO)
HB2: Dean (RS FR or SO)
HB3: Knox (RS FR or SO)
HB4: Ramirez (SR)/Moline (SR)
FB1: Theriot (RS SR)
FB2: Umodu (RS JR)/Coleman (RS FR or SO)

Reserves: Franklin, HB (RS FR or SO); Ramirez, HB (SR)/Moline, HB/FB (SR); Umodu, FB (RS JR)/Coleman, FB (RS FR or SO); Sheppard, HB (RS SR) (Non-Scholarship); Robert McCurdy, HB/FB (RS SO) (Non-Scholarship)

Incoming Freshmen: No current commits for the Class of ‘09

Notes: Dean and Knox, if they live up to their billing, should be getting significant time. Carter was a highly touted recruit but has been hampered by injury. Only Bell will graduate.

'10-'11 (7 scholarship players):

HB1: Carter (RS JR)
HB2: Dean (RS SO or JR)
HB3: Knox (RS SO or JR)
HB4: Franklin (RS SO or JR)
FB1: Umodu (RS SR)
FB2: Coleman (RS SO or JR)

Reserves: Robert McCurdy, HB/FB (RS JR) (Non-Scholarship)

Notes: The above assumes that there will be no additional running back recruits brought in with either the Class of ’09 or the Class of ’10. Expect CRN and NC to bring in additional depth with the Class of ’09 and/or Class of ’10.

ASSESSMENT: Our running back corps will be the strength of our offense this season. With Ben Olson learning a new system behind a weakened and thin offensive line, look for NC to utilize our depth and quality at RB to maximum advantage. Bell is a proven talent and Carter, Dean, and Knox are all highly touted. Our RB corps should be deep again the following season, but look for NC and CRN to bring in more talent by the ’10-’11 season, although Carter, Dean, and Knox give us a solid core of young talent to build our offense around for at least three seasons.

WIDE RECEIVERS AND TIGHT ENDS

'08-'09 (14 total scholarship players):

WR (SE1): Dominique Johnson (RS SO)
WR (SE2): Gavin Ketchum (RS JR)
WR (FL1): Marcus Everett (RS SR)
WR (FL2): Terrence Austin (JR)
TE1: Logan Paulsen (SR)
TE2: Ryan Moya (RS JR)

Reserves: Ryan Graves, WR (SE) (RS SR); Jamil Turner, WR (FL) (RS JR); Nate Chandler, TE (RS FR)

Incoming Freshmen: Taylor Embree, WR (FL) (FR Early Enrollee – C/O ’07, 1 star, NR by Scout); Nelson Rosario, WR (4 stars, #41 by Scout); Antwon Moutra, WR (4 stars, #43 by Scout); Jerry Johnson, WR (3 stars, #57 by Scout); Cory Harkey, TE (3 stars, #47 by Scout)

Notes: Marcus Everett returns after obtaining an extra year of eligibility following season-ending injury last season. Ryan Moya returns after a season-ending injury last season.

'09-'10 (11 total scholarship players)

WR (SE1): Johnson (RS JR)
WR (SE2): Ketchum (RS SR)
WR (FL1): Austin (SR)
WR (FL2): Embree (SO)
TE1: Moya (RS SR)
TE2: Chandler (RS SO)

Reserves: Turner, WR (FL) (RS SR); Rosario, WR (RS FR or SO); Moutra, WR (RS FR or SO); Johnson, WR (RS FR or SO); Harkey, TE (RS FR or SO)

Incoming Freshmen: No current commits for Class of ‘09

Notes: Highly touted TE Chandler should break into the offense on two-TE sets once Paulsen graduates.

'10-'11 (7 scholarship players):

WR (SE1): Johnson (RS SR)
WR (SE2): Rosario (RS SO or JR)
WR (FL1): Embree (JR)
WR (FL2): Moutra (RS SO or JR)
TE1: Chandler (RS JR)
TE2: Hackey (RS SO or JR)

Reserves: Johnson, WR (RS SO or JR)

Notes: Depth at WR and TE will be thin following the graduations of Ketchum, Austin, Turner, and Moya.

ASSESSMENT: Marcus Everett returning will be a huge boost to the wide receiving corps, which has good depth, but not a lot of experience (3 starts combined of all other WRs in ’07-’08 season). Depth should not be an issue in the wide receiving corps, until the ’10-’11 season, where depth will be thin due to graduation. TE is another area of strength for the offense this season, with both Paulsen and Moya experienced. Chandler was highly-touted coming out of HS and should be a solid starter in the future for the Bruins. Embree has been impressive in this year’s spring camp; Rosario should provide height at WR in the future.

OFFENSIVE LINE

'08-'09 (16 total scholarship players):

LT: Micah Kia (JR)
LG: Darius Savage (RS SO)
C: Micah Reed (RS SR)
RG: Scott Glicksberg (RS SR)/Nick Ekbatani (RS JR)
RT: Mike Harris (RS FR)

Reserves: Brandon Bennett, LT (RS SO); Sonny Tevaga, LG (RS SO); Aaron Meyer, LG (RS SR); Jake Dean, C (RS SO); Adam Heater, C (RS JR); Glicksberg, RG (RS SR)/Ekbatani, RG (RS JR); Andy Keane, RG (RS SO); Sean Sheller (RS SO – Out for Season)

Incoming Freshmen/Transfers: Donovan Edwards, OT (JR, JC Transfer – 1 star by Scout); Connor Bradford, OT (3 stars, #81 by Scout); Jeff Baca, OG (3 stars, #36 by Scout)

Notes: Sean Sheller was projected to be the starting RT but is out for the season with a knee injury. Darius Savage has switched from the defensive line to the offensive line. Scott Glicksberg has switched from TE to the offensive line. Micah Reed has switched from RG to C this season. Adam Heater has switched from TE to the offensive line. Sonny Tevaga is the younger brother of former pre-season All-American OG Shannon Tevaga.

'09-'10 (13 total scholarship players)

LT: Kia (SR)
LG: Savage (RS JR)
C: Dean (RS JR)
RG: Ekbatani (RS SR)
RT: Sheller (RS JR)

Reserves: Bennett, LT (RS JR); Tevaga, LG (RS JR); Heater, C (RS SR); Keane, RG (RS JR); Edwards, OT (RS JR or SR); Bradford, OT (RS FR or SO); Baca, OG (RS FR or SO)

Incoming Freshmen/Transfers: Greg Capella, OG (3 stars, #28 by Scout)

Notes: Starting positions along the line are in flux going into next season; expect Kia and Sheller to book-end the offensive line.

'10-'11 (10 scholarship players):

LT: Bradford (RS SO or JR)
LG: Savage (RS SR)
C: Dean (RS SR)
RG: Baca (RS SO or JR)/Tevaga (RS SR)
RT: Sheller (RS SR)

Reserves: Bennett, LT (RS SR); Tevaga, LG (RS SR)/Baca, OG (RS SO or JR); Keane, RG (RS SR); Edwards, OT (RS SR if uses RS); Capella, OG (RS FR or SO)

Notes: LT, RG, and RT should all be wide open, with Bradford, Baca, Keane, and Tevaga all competing to start.

ASSESSMENT: While our numerical depth isn’t an issue, the quality of our line is a major concern. Numerous projected starters have little to no experience starting on the offensive line and numerous starters are undersized. Down the line, the offensive line gets woefully thin. If Baca and Bradford don’t pan out, the line could be in pretty bad shape. Look for CRN and NC to make landing OL talent a major priority in both the Class of ’09 and the Class of ’10. Failure to bring in more OL talent in the next two classes could cause major problems for the Bruin offense down the line.

KICKERS

'08-'09 (3 total scholarship players):

K: Kai Forbath (RS SO)
P: Aaron Perez (RS SR)
KOS: Jimmy Rotstein (RS JR) (Non-Scholarship)

Reserves: None

Incoming Freshmen: Jeff Locke, P (4 stars, #1 by Scout)

Notes: Locke will most likely redshirt his first year at UCLA, taking over the punting duties after Aaron Perez graduates.

'09-'10 (2 total scholarship players)

K: Forbath (RS JR)
P: Locke (RS FR or SO)
KOS: Rotstein (RS SR) (Non-Scholarship)

Reserves: None

Incoming Freshmen: No current commits in the Class of ’09.

Notes: Expect Rotstein to continue handling kick-off duties, with Forbath focusing solely on field goal and PAT duties. Locke is the top-ranked punter in the Class of ’09 and should be a solid starter for us next season.

'10-'11 (2 scholarship players):

K: Forbath (RS SR)
P: Locke (RS SO or JR)
KOS: Forbath (RS SR)/Locke (RS SO or JR)

Reserves: None

Notes: Kick-off duties in the ’10-’11 season are up-for-grabs, but odds are Locke will handle kick-off duties, leaving Forbath to focus on FG and PAT duties.

ASSESSMENT: Although KD was a terrible coach, he did a terrific job of bringing in talented kicking talent. Perhaps because KD knew he’d be relying on his kickers so often with his inept offense. CRN will need to plan on bringing in a kicker in the Class of ’10, to redshirt the new kicker in anticipation of a new kicker taking over after Forbath graduates. There is an outside possibility that Forbath could leave a year early, but it’s a slim possibility.

Thanks for all of the support. As we get closer to basketball season, I'll try to do the same kind of break-down for our Ben Ball Warriors (which I suspect will be a bit harder in the one-and-done era). So feel free to let me know what you'd like to see, what kind of stuff to add for the next time I do this.