SB Nation User Blog: tasser10

Cody Decker Named Rookie League MVP

tasser10 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:06:31 -0000

Cody Decker Named Rookie League MVP

Good for him!

Toby Gerhart for the Heisman

tasser10 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:44:02 -0000

Toby Gerhart for the Heisman

It's really not my place to promote a Stanford player (apologies to those of you who hate the 'Furd), but I know a great player when I see one. While the MSM is pimping the usual SEC players and the moronic WWL actually suggested that thug Taylor Mays (when it had 4 seconds to breathe by taking its lips off Cheatey Petey's ass), I just think Toby deserves a mention, if not a frontrunner position, especially after what he did to Oregon today.

If not Toby, then definitely Kai Forbath :)

Profile on Geoff Strand

tasser10 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:53:23 -0000

Profile on Geoff Strand

Every man, woman and child...
Nice profile, even if it's by Marcia Marcia Marcia...in the OC Register.
But I had to point it out because Geoff was the captain on a national championship rowing team, so he's my homeboy.

Football is like a box of chocolates

tasser10 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:13:16 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

I think we can all agree that the last two years have been an absolute pit of misery for UCLA football. The wins over Tennessee were great, but by no means dominating performances.

We all know that Coach Neuheisel inherited a disastrous situation.

And a lot of us believe that the coaches could be doing some things differently with these players, as young, inexperienced and limited as they are. Because of all this, our team essentially has to play mistake-free football, which is a lot to ask of such young players.

But on top of all this, I can't help but think...

By golly, CRN has had some terrible luck along the way.

He lost Patrick Cowan before the 2008 season started...

...then lost Ben Olson on the very next play...

...then lost a starting offensive lineman to a freak golf cart injury...

...had an injured Khalil Bell as a running back...

...lost his best Tight End in the first game of the season last year...

...and then this year, our starting QB, who had shown some promise, goes and gets his jaw broken...

...a promising corner (Hester) breaks his leg...

...a bunch of freshmen go and do something stupid to get suspended.

Anyway, what am I getting at?

If you look at the totality of Coach Neuheisel's coaching career, his early success, his fall from grace, and his chance at redemption...it just reminds me of a certain character from the Forrest Gump movie:

Lieutenant Dan.

Lieutenant Dan was a decorated soldier who got his legs blown off in Vietnam, gets saved by Forrest Gump against his will, only to return to an ungrateful society. He hooks up with Forrest Gump again after the war, still depressed, and joins him on his shrimp boat. The scene that sticks out in my mind is the one in which they are stuck in a hurricane, and Lieutenant Dan is at the top of the mast, screaming at God, "IS THIS ALL YOU GOT?!", daring to be killed. The hurricane passes, they survive, and Lieutenant Dan is finally happy. As Forrest says, Lieutenant Dan had finally made his peace with God. And they both got rich because the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. boat is the only one that survived the hurricane. Later, at Forrest's wedding, Lieutenant Dan shows up with his bride, titanium legs, and freshly issued shares of Apple Computer as a wedding gift.

So, CRN is Lieutenant Dan, and he is up on the mast right now, in the middle of this football hurricane.

UCLA Football is Forrest Gump.

I'll let you figure out what the Apple shares are.

We'll get there.

GO BRUINS.

All the wrong moves

tasser10 — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:14:13 -0000

Bumped. Still gathering my thoughts. Let me say this: tasser and yours truly started as students UCLA on the same day in the same class. We attended all the games sitting in the student moshpit watching UCLA teams from the 90s. Bruins Nation has always been about holding our athletic programs accountable to maintain the standards set by our tradition. We are not giving up on Neuheisel. I personally will do my best to wait till the end of his 4th season to make my final determination on whether he is the answer. That said anything less than 6 wins in 2009 will not be acceptable here on Bruins Nation. If our team doesn't get to 6 wins this year, we will consider it as first strike against Neuheisel in his career as the UCLA head coach. GO BRUINS. - N

19 games into the Neu era.

What has our football team improved in?

Well...the QBs are throwing fewer interceptions. They're just replacing them with fumbles.

The field goal kicker is having a record season. Because the offense can't score TDs.

The punter is even better than last year. Because the offense can't convert on third downs.

The wide receivers drop even more passes. Nelson Rosario is officially doing a Brian Poli-Dixon impersonation.

The defense is better than last year...it is sad to see their efforts go to waste because our offense just can't score.

The OL is doing a better job, though still inconsistent.

This is a sad, sad state of affairs. I think it is fair to say that overall there has been zero progress made since last year. Zero. What is the point of bringing in all this talent only to have game plans that take the game out of their hands. If our coaches don't trust the players, then don't friggin' recruit them. Freshmen...freshmen are calling out Norm Chow...on friggin' twitter. We are losing games, eminently winnable games, because the coaches just cannot bring themselves to take the training wheels off. That is not what inspires people, and that is not what motivates players.

This season is in a downward death spiral and I am deeply disappointed with the approach taken by the coaches this year. Players make the mistakes, sure, but this game plan has no place on this team anymore. It was okay last year. I don't care how green or inexperienced our players are, if you don't put them in a position to win games and make plays, they simply won't. If something isn't done to get this disgusting taste of losing out of the players' mouths, this team will go the way of Toledo's 2001 team.

I can't bear to watch this team anymore and I don't know whom to blame anymore either. Perhaps my own delusional expectations of having a team out there that actually looks like it knows what it's doing. There is simply nothing to look forward to in each subsequent game. The game plan is the exact same every week and I just sit here dreadfully waiting to see who will screw up first. Last year we were overmatched, so losing was not as painful. This year, we were in the game in all 4 of our losses. This team has not made a play when it mattered the most, except on the goal line stand against Tennessee. That's it. That is pathetic.

I have never, ever seen a team, even the bottom dwellers of the worst conferences, play with such a reduced, lame and boring playbook because "they don't have the personnel". If our coaches make our players play in fear of screwing up, then I'd rather they didn't play at all.

To be fair, we have played four straight games against good, or very good teams. And we were close each time, even against Cal. But it's time for the coaches to help their players lose their big play virginity.

UCLA, tied with Washington State at the bottom of the conference. These are dark days.

Dodger tickets discounted!

tasser10 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:29:17 -0000

Dodger tickets discounted!

Not much of a baseball fan, but I know there are die-hards in this community! I hope the link works.

OC Register owner to file for bankruptcy

tasser10 — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:32:35 -0000

OC Register owner to file for bankruptcy

I don't wish ill on anyone in this economy...but this is what happens when you publish CRAP. We are halfway to Fox's utopia.

Question is...will Marcia Smith blame this on UCLA?

Fun with LRMAM

tasser10 — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:34:27 -0000

Fun with LRMAM

Blame Nestor for showing me this blog. Funny anagrams of Luc Richard Mbah A Moute's name.
The Livin' Large series on the blog is hilarious too.

Kevin Love might get on Team USA

tasser10 — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:32:29 -0000

Kevin Love might get on Team USA

He would be a great fit on the team!

2007-2008 Athletic Dept. Revenues

tasser10 — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:23:16 -0000

2007-2008 Athletic Dept. Revenues

UCLA is 25th in the country in terms of athletic revenues. That's not bad, but you'd expect a heck of a lot more, playing in the Rose Bowl and having a great basketball team. Not going to a bowl game hurt us, but UCLA should still be much higher than that...some of the teams that earned more are very one-dimensional.