Accountability: Need for Follow Ups

by Nestor on Dec 28, 2006 10:12 AM PST in Football

I am sure by now everyone has read the following comments from Christian Taylor leading up to the Florida State game (emphasis ours throughout):

"If we lose this game, then the SC game meant nothing," UCLA junior middle linebacker Christian Taylor said. "To me, that's the biggest thing. We've won our last few games, but if we lose our last game of the season, we're not going in the right direction heading into the off-season.

"It can be a wake-up call, but it's not what you want. It's not good for anything. ... It's not good for notoriety. It's not good for preseason rankings. It's not good for recruiting. It's not good for the overall mentality of your program."

I have not seen any followup on Taylor after the game. If anyone has seen anything, please post it in this thread. This could be an interesting issue for Dohnster to followup on his blog. Nothing on this on his blog yet. Although Dohn has given out his grades for the FSU game and the mark for coaching staff is not pretty:

Coaching
The Bruins played hard, but there wasn’t the intense emotion needed to win this game. The offensive game plan was strong in the first half, but Florida State made better halftime adjustments. Ditto for the defense, and blocked punts are usually a product of coaching.
Grade: D

Again, as I said below, we have seen this from Dorrell and his mediocre staff before. Nothing new here. Oh, BTW, Brian also had this leading up to last night:

UCLA is treating this bowl practice session like it is training camp. The Bruins are doing a lot of hitting, and working rapidly. A few of the players I spoke with said it was the toughest bowl practice sessions they've had, and the guys I was talking to were upperclassmen. There is real motivation from the coaching staff to build off the USC win, and not fall flat against Florida State. I've been covering UCLA since coach Karl Dorrell's first season, and I can tell how much a win in this game means to him.

Yeah, so much for the spin coming from delusional Dorrell supporters, who are trying to spin this loss as a "meaningless" one.

We'd like to see some follow up from Dohn. It'd be nice if the best beat reporter (then again, competition is not all that stiff given the coverage and quaility of what passes for "reporting" we get from the So. Cal. media) hold the figures/characters who they are covering accountable for what they say or project. It'd be nice to see some followup. Those were tough words from Christian and, once again, lots of Bruins fans were suckered by stories of great practice reports. Like I said, we are getting tired of the same damn script.

GO BRUINS.

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Associated Press article on the game

Christian Taylor Comment: "We have to use this to drive ourselves to getting better," UCLA linebacker Christian Taylor said. "We need to work even harder in the offseason, because we know we have some weaknesses. Someone had to lose and it's disappointing it was us." I love Taylor, but these sound exactly like KD quotes after the bowl losses to Fresno State and Wyoming, and the loss to SUC last year. Most pathetic comment that sums up state of UCLA football: "...the Bruins, who finished a mediocre regular season playing some of their best football in Dorrell's four seasons." Just great. We are stuck another year with a coach who's "Best team yet" is 7-6, medicore, and losses to an 8th place ACC team while playing some of their best football in KD's four seasons. It feels like we made a deal with the devil on Dec. 2nd.

by bornagainbruin on Dec 28, 2006 10:38 AM PST reply actions

sorry, I couldn't break it up into paragraphs.

by bornagainbruin on Dec 28, 2006 10:39 AM PST reply actions

Our brillliant evil plan has fallen apart

we thought we had it rigged ... the evil plan to dominate the football universe next year. Karl Dorrell would hire a great OC for a one-year run at fame and glory. KD would get his NFL job, Walker would get his HC job, and we would get a great championship run, and a new HC. The only losers would be the NFL team that got Dorrell. Perfect plan. Foiled! It will be harder to convince a great OC to coach this team next year for a big run, when the HC is so clueless he can't beat the 8th place ACC team. Who wants to be a part of that, and be scapegoated when things go wrong???

by DumpDorrell on Dec 28, 2006 2:43 PM PST reply actions

5 worst decisions from yesterday

(5) My choice to go for food with 29 seconds left in the 1st quarter. The absolutely idiotic adult concession workers on field level were so slow, so poorly prepared, so clueless that they needed a pen and paper to subtract $17.50 from a $20.00 bill... even after their registers apparently displayed the correct amount. This ill-advised food run resulted in me not making it back to my seat until the 8:40 mark... AFTER missing the rarest of sights, a Junior Taylor reception for a touchdown.

(4) The apparently horrible judgment call by UCLA equipment managers to equip our team with tap shoes instead of wet-conditions cleats. I thought it would be cold and wet, and I bought a good rain jacket before driving up. You mean our guys were in town for a week and couldn't get shoes with decent traction???

(3) Ryan Graves brain-lock that led to him running UPFIELD to catch a punt and field it over his shoulder, which resulted in him sliding even further backwards on his bedroom-slipper-slick shoes and bury us deep in our territory.

(2) Derrick Williams' moronic delusions of grandeur by pretending to be on a GOOD team, namely our basketball team, by trying to f**ing DRIBBLE a live ball on kickoff, even when every fan in the place could tell it was going out of bounds and no FSU player was within 20 yards of him. I was so mad after that STUPID play, I almost wanted Williams to walk back to the hotel in full uniform.

(1) The gutless, yet arguably inevitable, accion sin conjones of our own Coach Dorrell to call a timeout on a 4th and 1 within the 5-yard line and call a -- YOU GUESSED IT, I GUESSED IT, EVERY UCLA FAN OVER THE AGE OF SIX GUESSED IT -- a run up the middle, something that hasn't worked at any critical moment ALL F**ING YEAR!!!!!!!

Like I drove 6 hours to see this team pull the same spinless crap we've been doing all year.

This does NOT play to win. It plays NOT TO LOSE.

Despite Dan Guerrero's plans, this team does not "fire out." It burns itself out out of fear of losing.

Dorrell coaches like he is afraid. Afraid of losing, afraid of criticism, afraid of failure, afraid of firing. He's gotten the first two. He may yet succeed at the second two.

Dorrell does not know how to play with a halftime lead. Washington. Notre Dame. Washington State. And now FSU.

Dorell does not know how to score within the 5.

Dorell does not know how to rally a team that does not have a senior quarterback, a 6-6 athletic freak at the tight end spot, or a 5-7 human bowling ball with almost unparalleled leg strength and sprinters' speed as a halfback.

Dorrell does not know how to win without having players with overpowering physical gifts.

Dorell apparently does not know how to recruit players with such gifts, as evidenced by our continuing stream of undersized defensive backs, or lightweight receivers, or offensive linemen who are incapable of being mobile and strong and smart at the same time.

Dorrell does not know how to even read a freaking weather report and prepare a team to deal with the cold and wet and windy conditions that fans going to the game have been preparing for for a WEEK.

Aside from last year, he's a perfectly unimpressive 19-19. In the REALLY big games -- U$C and bowl games -- he's 2-6.

Yeah, sure, he's getting another year. But we don't have to like it.

Garlic Fries and a Coke in AT&T Park? $12.
Tickets to the Emerald Bowl? $40.
Gas driving to and from San Francisco? $80.
One night hotel stay and parking? $135.

"Coaching" by Karl Dorrell and the rest of the staff after our "turning point" victory over U$C?

USELESS.

MIM

by Meriones on Dec 28, 2006 8:00 PM PST reply actions