Had a Conversation with a Football legend at Spring . . .

I got to the scrimmage quite a bit later than I was hoping (looking for a new place to live with my wife). As my wife and I were walking through the front aisle of seats at the Rose Bowl – she saw two empty seats and remarked that we should sit there. I figured that they were spoken for – and just assumed that we would find some seats in the upper region of seats. However, my wife isn’t shy when it comes to getting her way – and she did not want to walk up the stairs and sit with a less advantageous view. So she asked a man sitting with his son if we could sit in the two seats next to them. The father seemed initially apprehensive – but then quickly relented and welcomed us to the seats.

I actually recognized who this spectator was right away – but didn’t say anything to him – or to my wife. However, after we sat down – I leaned over to my wife and told her that we were sitting next to Brian Bosworth – perhaps the greatest defensive player in college football history. After a few minutes, an opportunity presented itself to talk to him – and I asked him how he thought his nephews were going to do this year. He was very candid – and approachable – and he offered me his views on a variety of subjects regarding college football, his days at Oklahoma, and the NFL draft. Since I did not ask for his permission to report on what he was saying – I will respect his privacy and my wife and I will enjoy the conversation that we had with him. However, I did want to report that he asseverated that he offered to help out with the defense (not as a paid coach – he just thought that it might be helpful to provide the kids with some defensive guidance) when KD was coach – but was denied any opportunity. I guess I felt compelled to share that part of our conversation because I was bummed to hear it. I wasn’t necessarily surprised – just feel as though an opportunity was missed.

Overall. Bosworth seemed to believe that UCLA was heading in the right direction. From watching the scrimmage – I felt encouraged as well. There were flashes here and there from the offense that seemed to suggest progress. The defense looked dominating at times – and the speed and hitting was electric from the defense. As for me and my wife (okay – really just me) – I had an absolutely awesome time. I couldn’t stop smiling the entire scrimmage (this was due to the amalgamation of being at the Rose Bowl, having an ongoing dialogue with the Bos – I think I’m at the point where I can just call him the “Bos” now – haha, listening to our charismatic leader pump up the crowd, hearing Dick Vermeil and Terry Donahue speak with enthusiasm about the direction of this team, and seeing a panoply of high level recruits at the game and appearing to have a good time).

Hope everyone else had a good time tonight – seemed like a good crowd. Would love to hear other people’s experiences as well. There seems to be an overall paradigm shift in UCLA football – and I think the crowd tonight sensed that we are on the cusp of something special.