Like N, and many of the rest of bn, I wasn't too excited to watch this game.  Usually, the UCLA/USC game gets everyone fired up and excited, but I just didn't get that vibe this afternoon.  On the whole, in the bigger scheme of things, I think this game is totally irrelevant to the characterization of the Dorrell era ... just another meaningless Saturday.  But with the national coverage of the game, I was interested to see how our situation would be presented to the country.  

Ultimately, the way this game was presented was horrendous.  ABC/ESPN's coverage was an insult to all Bruins, and any notions of impartiality or solid reporting were destroyed.

First of all: how is it that one of the announcers for the game was a former teammate of Dorrell?  There is absolutely no way that a television network can purport to give objective analysis of a coaching situation, when the reporter is so obviously biased!

Second: the general sentiment of both announcers reflected the culture of excuse-making and scape-goating that pervaded the Dorrell era.  The announcers based their observations on the presumed superiority of USC (not in this particular game of course, but rather, suggested that in general, UCLA will never be able to compete with USC).  This was just an excuse for Dorrell's failures.  Furthermore, the injury excuse was brought up again and again, but nobody mentioned that in Utah (44-6), we had no injuries, and Utah was the one plagued by injuries.

All of this incompetence, though offensive, paled in comparison to the ultimate slap in the face of the broadcast ... allowing Steve Lavin to weigh in on the Dorrell situation.  Lavin is the slime of the sport world, and it is ridiculous that his comments went out without even a comment from the announcers of Lavin's shortcomings as a coach.  But then again, what can we expect from ESPN, who would never go so far as to criticize on of its own employees.

In short, the coverage was sickening, and potentially poisonously disinformative for young Bruin fans who don't know any better.  We blame Dorrell for UCLA Football's culture of mediocrity (and rightly so), and instead of exposing the mediocrity of the Dorrell era, ABC/ESPN is helping perpetuate it.