Roundup From BN Walk: UCLA Football/Futbol News & Notes

Let's start our walk on a Humpday with some football news and notes. If you have not done yet make sure you are checking out "Upgrade or Downgrade?" segment (inspired by Jake over at Building the Dam), captainqtp have been putting up in the fanposts. So far captainqtp has gone over the postions of SS, CB and DT with more to come. If you have specific feedback in those threads, fire away now because it will be helpful to everyone in the community getting ready for the football season.

Speaking of feedback, I don't spend any time playing video games any more but I can totally appreciate the excitement/obsession around the release of EA Sports NCAA Football 2010. The folks at EA Sports take all of this pretty seriously as they had released their "first look" back in February. Here is the trailer if you haven't seen it:

NCAA Football 2010 [OFFICAL] Trailer (via JustWatch312)

More info over here which includes FAQs, "passing tops," "community playdate" and information on how to use the roster.

As I mentioned above, I have not spent a lot of time on video game in recent years but from what I have read, I have heard of negative feedback re. the UCLA roster as it shows Craft as the starter, includes players who have transferred out of the program (such as Dean, Carter and Johnson), doesn't include recruits such as Sua' Filo, and doesn't include Kevin Prince (again please let me know if my info. is wrong and post in the comments). If you guys have more thoughts of course this would be the place to share it. FWIW, the video still gets me fired up for the season. More notes after the jump

Staying football, looking way ahead there has been some excitement around the UCLA-Rutgers series. From Mark Hasty at NCAA Football Fanhouse giving both schools credit for scheduling this game:

These two schools deserve more credit than they're getting. They deserve praise because this game isn't an automatic victory for either school. Let's face it, non-conference scheduling has become a joke. Teams which aspire to the BCS games routinely refuse to play anybody with a pulse unless tradition forces them to. Instead, the month of September is filled with the likes of David at Goliath, Fire Hydrant at Large Dog, and Movable Object at Irresistible Force. [...]

Look, fan, you're in this for one reason and one reason only: entertainment. If you're not playing or coaching, that's all college football is good for, as far as you're concerned. Maybe you're entertained by a game that's 56-0 at halftime. If you are, please do me one favor: Go dip yourself in honey, then roll around on a hill of fire ants until you change your mind.

The rest of us want to see a game that actually catches and holds our attention. Kudos to Rutgers and UCLA for agreeing to provide games whose outcomes aren't foregone conclusions. (No need to bring up Appalachian State. I've heard of that game.)

Well UCLA has never been shy of scheduling difficult/unpredictable games. Trip to Rutgers should be a lot of fun and exciting for thousands of alums who live around the 1-95 corridor up and down the Eastern seaboard. Speaking of Rutgers, if you don't think they are serious about football, here is a recent update from the NY Times re. their effort to improve their facilities:

Rutgers will build a deluxe football recruiting lounge with a $5 million donation from private benefactors, an amenity that had been trimmed from the university’s stadium expansion plans after it scaled back the project because of concerns over financing.

The plans, approved by the Board of Governors at its meeting Tuesday, call for construction of a 7,600-square-foot lounge that will seat 300 at the south end zone of the renovated Rutgers Stadium. One of the donors is Greg Brown, the president and a co-chief executive of Motorola and a 1982 Rutgers graduate. The other donor wished to remain anonymous, university officials said.

Always interesting how success spurs fundraising and excitment around a program. Gives something to think about if Neuheisel is able turn around our program in next 2-3 years.

Lastly, let's end the walk on futbol notes. Per, What's Bruin Blog, UCLA alumni Patrick Ianni and Chad Barrett are both up for Major League Soccer's Goal of the Week. Ianni scored the game-winning goal for Seattle on a spectacular bicycle kick. Take a look:

Patrick Ianni gives SSFC a 2-1 lead over Houston (via sseatlefan)

Don't have a video for Barrett, who  scored his first of two goals for Toronto after sneaking into the box to receive an over-the-head pass from a teammate. Don't feel too bad for him not having a video though. He was named Major League Soccer's Player of the Week. Congrats to both Patrick and Chad.

GO BRUINS.