Bruin Bites: Women's Hoops Recruit Ineligible, Ex-Howland All-Stars, and Rick to Kansas?
by Bellerophon on Nov 30, 2011 6:00 PM PST
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It's been a crazy week, with Rick officially out, and UCLA once again looking for a football head coach (although with Chianti Dan still at the helm, I suppose I'm not surprised I feel apprehensive about how this will turn out). There's rumors flying everywhere, rampant Chris Petersen speculation, plus there's the mess that is our basketball program and the fact that multiple non-revenue sports are still in contention for big things this year. So, I'm going to keep this introduction short, since we're likely to be rolling with coaching updates regularly. Oh, and we're playing for the Pac-12 title and a spot in the Rose Bowl this upcoming Friday. Yeah, I know, that seems like a bad joke, but hey, I suppose stranger things have happened (and besides, wouldn't it be great to upset the Quackheads and send Rick out as a winner?).
With that said, let's turn to the bits and pieces of news from around the UCLA-iverse:
- Starting with women's basketball news, UCLA commit Nirra Fields, a big-time recruit who transferred from Oak Hill Academy to Mater Dei has been declared ineligible because of her change of residence was invalid as she is no longer living with the guardian she resided with in Virginia. Kind of stupid, but it's a rough break for the UCLA commit to miss the season.
- Jeff Goodman at CBS Sports took note of the the fact that there is an entire team of ex-Howland players currently in the college ranks, with Matt Carlino, Kendall Williams (a UCLA commit who was shown the door before even arriving in Westwood), Drew Gordon, Chace Stanback, and of course, Mike Moser. In fact, Goodman thinks that this team of ex-Bruins would not only give Howland's current team a game, but probably beat them. Based on the results so far, kind of hard to argue with that, especially with Mike Moser tearing it up (against top tier competition nevertheless). Good job Ben, real good job. </sarcasm>
- Speaking of ex-Howland players, former Bruin Drew Gordon spoke with Diane Pucin at the Los Angeles Times, where he dropped his thoughts on leaving UCLA, the situation with Reeves Nelson's suspension, how it felt to be in Howland's dog-house, and on how well Kendall Williams, who committed to UCLA, only to be left hanging once Howland made it clear he was no longer wanted, has been playing for New Mexico. While Gordon has been widely known as a malcontent, given the state of the program, the exodus of players (even good ones, like LRMAM, ML, etc.), and Howland's reputation of playing favorites and being difficult to play for (and that's being nice), it's hard to dismiss Gordon's comments as the grumblings of a former malcontent with an axe to grind. It's an interesting perspective on the program, that's for sure.
- Finally, without any basis in fact, Matt Conner at SB Nation Kansas City is speculating that Rick Neuheisel might be a good fit for the now coach-less Kansas Jayhawks, arguing that "Neuheisel has a strong coaching resume overall and could do something special with the Jayhawks." Hey, I'm all for Rick getting another shot somewhere else, but boy, those folks in Lawrence really don't pay attention to football, do they, because these last two years have been especially painful. But, wouldn't it be ironic if Rick went to Kansas and turned them into a consistent winner?
With that, those are your Bruin Bites for the middle of the week as we roll through a crazy week here in the wider Bruin Nation. With football on tap this Friday, plus the crazy coaching search rumors, it'll be a full week, so stay tuned.
For now, fire away with your thoughts, comments, and additions in the comment thread.
GO BRUINS
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John Gold reporting
Wow. Emotional scene. #UCLA HC Rick Neuheisel carried off Spaulding Field by his players, then breaking down with the media. Some things are bigger than football.
Feel bad for him. Maybe he could do well in Kansas.
Rick
I sure do hope he gets a chance somewhere else. These tweets just came in:
PeterYoonESPN – UCLA players carried Rick Neuheisel off the field following his final practice as coach.
And moments later:
PeterYoonESPN – UCLA players carried Rick Neuheisel off the field following his final practice as coach
Oh UCLA you sweet bitch, you've BRUINed me for anything else.
It seems disconcerting for the team that Nelson and Gordon are still close.
That probably wouldn’t help Nelson’s relationship with Howland.
All I can say is
damn you Nikola Dragovic. Whatever you did to make Howland play you over Moser, cost us dearly.
When serbians are involved
It’s a promise of what they won’t do to you.
Which makes this Howland quote in the Gordon article all the more interesting.
“We have expectations of how our players represent the university on and off the court,” Howland said two years ago. “When those standards aren’t met, there are consequences.”
Roses are red, violets are blue...f*** $C.
Got to love how upfront and honest this kid is. Randall Carroll just tweeted:
generalspankyy OC #1
“since were firing people we really should of fired our equipment staff. THEY MUST GO!”
-SIC for this whole thing by the way. Grammar+Twitter is not a workable equation.
"I have one word for you...Be careful."
-Jose Guillen
Too bad he stopped short of calling for Dan's ouster.
He is the real criminal.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
The man is defrauding the state of California to the tune of $688,000 a year.
Yeah. Criminal.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
Ok, How about the $23 million in student fees wrongfully re-directed toward the Pauley Renovation?
Or, creating a misleading survey and using it’s returns to justify taking the sideline seats away from the student body?
Or, lieing about the number of people took the survey?
The list goes on. You are either willfully ignorant, or been hiding under a rock for the last 12 months.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
That, or I know what criminal means, and you clearly don't.
I’m not defending his job performance. But the level of vitriol from some commenters, whether it be making childish comments calling him Donut Boy (or some other variant of “Hey, he’s fat!”) or posts like this, is really baffling.
by Kenneth Powers on Nov 30, 2011 6:56 PM PST up reply actions
I think somebody could have easily brought charges on the misuse of student fees.
I’ll let any of the legal beagles here opine on that matter, if they so choose. It was discovered during a state audit. I seem to have a clearer grasp of the meaning criminal than you do.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
This
coming from one Kenneth “You’re fuckin out” Powers. That is rich.
Oh UCLA you sweet bitch, you've BRUINed me for anything else.
I can tell the difference between a TV show and real life.
Can you?
by Kenneth Powers on Nov 30, 2011 10:17 PM PST up reply actions
You're not the real Kenny Powers?
Why am I even talking to you.
Oh UCLA you sweet bitch, you've BRUINed me for anything else.
by bruin8uclap on Nov 30, 2011 11:20 PM PST up reply actions
But a true champion, face to face with his darkest hour, will do whatever it takes to rise above.
A man fights, and fights, and then fights some more.
Because surrender is death, and death is for pussies.
by Kenneth Powers on Nov 30, 2011 11:24 PM PST up reply actions
BUT
to call attention to the “childish” comments on this site while affirming your affection for a television which show cases some of the most juvenile humor ever to be seen on cable television, yes thats rich.
Additionally, when you log onto a site which primarily concerns itself with sports, you tend to tailor every comment you make and everything you see on said site through the prism of sports. So yes, in that sense, the acts that “Donut” Dan has perpetrated during his tenure as AD of our school justifies the labeling of him as a criminal.
Even taking away that prism the label might fit. We do after all live in the country with the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. People have gone to the big house for much less.
Oh UCLA you sweet bitch, you've BRUINed me for anything else.
by bruin8uclap on Nov 30, 2011 11:34 PM PST up reply actions
A couple of questions, Kenneth
I believe Dan Guerrerro is a bad athletic director. I think he resembles Homer Simpson. Homer Simpson has an affinity for doughnuts in the animated show. Homer Simpson’s character is that of a bumbling oaf. I believe that the nickname “Doughnut Dan” ridicules Dan Guerrerro by comparing him to Homer Simpson. Now for the questions. Am I not allowed to have these opinions? Am I not allowed to post these opinions? Am I not allowed to use ridicule in advocating his removal from his position? Are you not using vitriol to attack my position by calling it childish? And not to put too fine a point on it, since when did you become the arbiter of what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate?
You called my description of Guerrerro “childish.” Why? What makes my verbal description of our athletic director any different from the famous Thomas Nast political cartoon which parodied the appearance of Boss Tweed. He used the same form of argument as I did (although his talent made his argument much more effective than mine.)
You say you’re not defending his job performance, but you attack posts that suggest Doughnut Dan’s conduct (or if that’s too childish, make it Guerrerror’s conduct or Chianti Dan’s conduct is criminal. You have never heard of hyperbole, I suppose. We are fighting a political fight here against an unelected official who was put in power by another unelected official. We have no way to vote other than by public opinion, and in my opinion, hyperbole is often necessary to change the momentum of public opinion.
You choose to interpret MexiBruin’s comments as literal accusations of crimes, condemn those accusations, but in the same breath admit that you have no legal training. Why don’t you do the modicum of research necessary to find the elements of the crimes you say Mexi is charging and then we can debate this. I am not going to waste my time researching the issue to give you the legal information you need to make your argument. You should have brought it with you when you started criticizing Mexi.
I personally feel that any time an employee of a political entity takes an enormous salary without earning it that it is a form of stealing. I haven’t researched the point, as I said, but you’re the one who is taking issue with the charge. Show me where Doughnut Dan’s malfeasance in office would not fit the definition of theft or fraud or larceny, and we’ll talk about it.
Of course you're allowed.
You’re allowed to go in the street and call him Adolf Hitler for all you want. There are plenty of things you’re allowed to do—that doesn’t make them the actions of a mature adult.
You can make the weak Homer Simpson excuse all you want, but you’re just denying what’s supremely obvious here—the donut allusions catch on quickly precisely because Guerrero is overweight, much in the same way your beloved donut-eating Homer Simpson is overweight. But let’s call a spade a spade here. You can try to spin it all you want, but we all know the donut comments are because he’s fat.
And yes, calling someone fat is a taunt that should be reserved for elementary school playgrounds. If you disagree, fine. If you don’t like being called childish for calling a guy fat, deal with it.
However, as I’ve also noted several times, Chianti Dan is an amusing nickname, because it has pertinence specifically to UCLA alumni’s grievances. It demonstrates that Guerrero was tone-deaf to the desires of his constituency, and instead was planning lavish getaways while UCLA athletics is going through its worst period any of us can remember. And it seems like the front-pagers agree with me on this one given their use of monikers—they know it hurts credibility to resort to such lowbrow mockery. And to be quite honest, I don’t think we need to resort to such conduct when the underperformance is so blatantly obvious following a season (and really, a 4-year tenure) full of embarrassing blowout loss after blowout loss.
As far as “in the same breath admit that you have no legal training”—bullshit. I’m an attorney much like yourself. And as you well know, the burden of proof is on the one making the accusation.
We are UCLA alumni, and we should be better than juvenile playground taunts. But then again, perhaps I expect too much from the regular commentariat on an Internet blog.
by Kenneth Powers on Nov 30, 2011 10:33 PM PST up reply actions
Comparing him to Homer Simpson
is an insult to Homer Simpson!
He’s one of my favorite characters from The Simpsons and is a lovable oaf who has his family’s interest at heart (usually).
I don’t find our athletic director lovable, or caring in any way.
Plus Homer always stops the meltdown.
by Kenneth Powers on Nov 30, 2011 11:27 PM PST up reply actions
Forgive me, Kenneth
I thought I read somewhere that you said you were not an attorney, and now you say you are. If that is true, then you should have no difficulty laying out the elements of the crimes of theft or larceny or any similar violations of the Penal Code, and then we can debate whether Guerrerror committed any crimes. This is what attorneys do. So be Chianti Dan’s lawyer and explain why he is not guilty of any crimes. Or to put it another way, back up what you say.
By the way, I like your clever and effective choice of words. Throwing in profanity has always been right at the top of my list of ways to persuade.
You accuse me of referring to Guerrerror with the Doughnut appellation because of his weight. What is your evidence to support this assertion? You say it’s supremely obvious. Prove it. I have never seen a picture of our athletic director other than a portrait, and I think he looks like Homer Simpson. Your statement that I am basing my choice of words on his weight is simply your speculation about my state of mind and it is incorrect. In fact, it is insultingly incorrect to both Chianti Dan and to me. You assume that Doughnut Dan is overweight, and I do not know that to be the case. Is he? I don’t know, and have never suggested that he is. I have seen a picture of his face and I have seen a picture of Homer Simpson’s face. I called him Doughnut Dan for that alone. You should not assume that I assert that Mrs. Guerrerror has tall, blue hair.
I remain of the belief that Doughnut Dan is an appropriate nickname because it likens our athletic director to an incompetent boob, which I believe him to be. If you don’t like that nickname, then to use your phraseology, deal with it. The fact that those who moderate this blog prefer Chianti Dan to Doughnut Dan is their preference (and as it turns out, it is now mine.) Likewise, if you don’t like it when you are called out for making unsupported and unsupportable accusations, then deal with that, too.
Around and around we go.
I thought I read somewhere that you said you were not an attorney, and now you say you are. If that is true, then you should have no difficulty laying out the elements of the crimes of theft or larceny or any similar violations of the Penal Code, and then we can debate whether Guerrerror committed any crimes. This is what attorneys do. So be Chianti Dan’s lawyer and explain why he is not guilty of any crimes. Or to put it another way, back up what you say.
See above. “And as you well know, the burden of proof is on the one making the accusation.”
But hey, as you’ve already admitted, we’re in the realm of hyperbole, and it’s cool to totally make things up when trying to accomplish political objectives.
By the way, I like your clever and effective choice of words. Throwing in profanity has always been right at the top of my list of ways to persuade.
I apologize for offending your delicate senisibilities. “Mr. Fox 71, you are incorrect in your assumption that I am not an attorney.” Better?
You accuse me of referring to Guerrerror with the Doughnut appellation because of his weight. What is your evidence to support this assertion? You say it’s supremely obvious. Prove it…
Yes, because people routinely refer to people using a remarkably fatty, unhealthy pastry when they aren’t making a commentary on weight. Laughable at best; more than likely completely disingenuous.
I remain of the belief that Doughnut Dan is an appropriate nickname because it likens our athletic director to an incompetent boob, which I believe him to be. If you don’t like that nickname, then to use your phraseology, deal with it.
Suit yourself. My apologies again for having higher expectations than juvenile playground taunts.
by Kenneth Powers on Dec 1, 2011 8:06 AM PST up reply actions
Fox 71 rules
I agree with Fox 71. This board is more grown up than the thread in this commentary and that is a key reason I came here.
Mensgym
In the land of Bruins Nation
Dan Guerrero has broken every law. That is what matters
Or is it that grammar and athletes is not a workable equation?
by Kenneth Powers on Nov 30, 2011 6:34 PM PST up reply actions
Chris Joseph...
…and his Rhodes scholarship would like to take this opportunity to say:
“Fuck you Kenneth Powers.”
And Alterraun Verner too.
But come on, we’re kidding ourselves if we don’t admit they’re the exceptions to the rule.
I don’t think I need to go into detail to prove that point.
by Kenneth Powers on Nov 30, 2011 10:36 PM PST up reply actions
I would hope Rick does land somewhere and does well again.
I would hope he sheds some of his conservatism. I would also hope if he is hired, the AD does not saddle him with coordinators he did not choose.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
KU's record the last couple of years makes ours look impressive.
That being said, both defenses were in the bottom 20 most of the year.
Roses are red, violets are blue...f*** $C.
From the BSPN announcement of Leach's hiring:
Moos said he has been talking with Leach since mid-November, and offered him the job Monday
Does anybody believe Guerror was A) talking to anybody in mid November or B) decided what he was going to do by mid November?
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
If you follow Pierson and others on BRO, the answer is yes.
by Kenneth Powers on Nov 30, 2011 6:57 PM PST up reply actions
Actually not quiet
Our boosters certainly have been more aggressive. However, they are making proactive efforts despite the lollygagging from Guerrero. If UCLA can close on our top choice, the credit will go to guys like Wasserman and Aikman, who got it done despite indecisive measures from Guerrero.
LOL....no!
In fact he doesnt appear to know what to do now.
I fear he’s thinking that three or four more weeks of inactivity will manifest a course of action on it’s own…when we hire the last man standing.
Oh heck…
by GemCityBruin on Nov 30, 2011 7:01 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
If we do in fact land Petersen, you won't hear anything about it until Sunday at the earliest.
So I’m not sure what you’re expecting to hear right now.
Petersen is not gonna comment on or commit to anything while he’s still got a game to play on Saturday. It’s quite obvious we’re going to wait on his response before moving on to other candidates.
by Kenneth Powers on Nov 30, 2011 7:03 PM PST up reply actions
There are a lot of eggs in that basket.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
You're absolutely right.
Though I think the vast majority of us would agree he’s worth it, no?
by Kenneth Powers on Nov 30, 2011 10:15 PM PST up reply actions
He's worth it if we land him
If not, we just sent Mike Leach to Wazzu without a sniff of an interview, where I’m sure he’ll end up beating the tar out of whatever retread we go after if CP says no. As I’ve said to several friends, the only way I’m OK with us blowing off Leach is if we already had a verbal from Petersen.
I'm with you on that.
And . . . . . apparently the other shoe has dropped.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
If my neighbor drops a tree on my house
When do I have an idea there is trouble? When I hear the crash…or the chainsaw?
by GemCityBruin on Nov 30, 2011 7:13 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
I know Dan Guerror's got a job and all
Being you know, the AD of UCLA, but is he the only one entitled to make approaches on Coaches? Can’t boosters and wealthy influential alumni also approach prospects and get them ready / force Dan to sit at the table
It is understood
that the reason Kendall Williams was shown the door before he came to WW was not because of his on court abilities, or because Howland didnt want him as a player, but because of his on court antics. He often got T’d up, would get in arguments with the refs and HS coaches. As good of a player as he is, he was Drew Gordon part 2 in terms of his attitude, do we really want to deal with that again?
Moser and Stanback
Still sting, and that UNLV game only showed more reasons why
It, of course, makes the entire Drago BS all that much more unreasonable and unacceptable
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