TONEDEAF: UCLA's Wooden Athletic Fund Wants You to Pay $3,998 for Joshua Smith's "S&C and Nutrition"

by Nestor on Dec 26, 2011 11:55 AM PST in UCLA Athletics

As tasser mentioned few days ago we don't really like doing this kind of posts. We rather focus on our programs and our players. However, the incompetence of Dan Guerrero's athletic department is so surreal that it is near impossible to stay quiet while we keep seeing one embarrassing example after another marking the total cluelessness in Westwood.

So picking up on tasser10's thoughts on UCLA's total disinterest in developing meaningful relationship with the alumni community, we couldn't help but chuckle at the following spread from the Wooden Athletic Fund:

That was from page 52 of the latest "UCLA" magazine.

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry to see WAF using the picture of Joshua Smith in making their care for "investing in tomorrow's champions." One has to wonder if people who work in this department actually watch our games or are fans of our programs.

Seriously. Do the people who "brainstormed" to come up with this one page and and then "executed" running this ad in the "UCLA" magazine sent to Bruin alums all over the country didn't see the disconnect between marketing the ideal student athlete and what the same alums have been watching when they tune in to check out our hoops team this team this year? Do they get how absurd it appears when they ask for money so that we could pay for "strength, conditioning and nutrition" of Joshua Smith? WT_?

The advertisement itself is a lovely concept. It makes sense. But talk about picking the wrong student athlete to make the case. This is not to pick on Smith. He knows what he needs to do and he hasn't gotten it done. Everyone is at fault for the strange saga around Smith this season which goes all the way to Ben Howland. Yet another total marketing fail.

What is inexcusable is for the WAF clowns not realizing how stupid and ridiculous this ad looks. Once again they appear tonedeaf and completely out of touch with the zeitgeist of UCLA athletics.

If they were fans of our programs they wouldn't offer up the kind of advertisement that is so tonedeaf and out of touch. I guess it is par for the course for Chianti Dan's incompetent department. As we have said along, UCLA alums should not invest one penny our athletic department until we have a change of leadership at the top. Chianti needs to go.

GO BRUINS.

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Almost 4 grand in McDoubles

by Bruins#1 on Dec 26, 2011 11:58 AM PST reply actions

This is hilarious!...

and sad at the same time. Absolute marketing fail. I know I’ve seen something similar on a post off Bruin Walk on campus. In an effort to advertise some sort of merchandise, there’s a pic of josh’s head with a thought bubble and some sort of food item next to it. Not the brightest thing to do IMO.

by MathBruin on Dec 26, 2011 12:07 PM PST reply actions

2 pages before, they are selling off seats from the old Pauly Pavilion

In all fairness, as you point out, the Wooden fund ad would be ok if they hadn’t chosen Joshua Smith as the poster boy, an unfortunate choice. I wonder how long ago the ad was conceived, but either way, there should be some kind of final review before it goes to press. We forget the long lead times for print media in this age of instant information, but it sure makes the MC look ridiculous, once again.

by ucla717274 on Dec 26, 2011 12:17 PM PST reply actions

Exactly

The concept itself is okay … but the roll out and execution shows that these guys are not paying any attention.

by Nestor on Dec 26, 2011 12:20 PM PST up reply actions

By comparison, Jerime's conditioning and nutrition costs are only $1,785.00.

"It's not who you are underneath. It's what you DO that defines you."

by Meriones on Dec 26, 2011 12:37 PM PST reply actions

F**kin absurd.

Everybody should have the same conditioning and nutrition cost. What next? Should the athletic dept pay for gastric bypass.

by 808 Bruin on Dec 26, 2011 1:28 PM PST up reply actions

This was Josh's reaction to his likeness as a "poster boy" for UCLA's athletic "excellence"

by charnaw on Dec 26, 2011 12:49 PM PST reply actions

"hey, I thought it was 'all you can eat'"

by charnaw on Dec 26, 2011 12:49 PM PST up reply actions

i am all in for making fun of making fun of our inept PR for our athletic fund...

but how does the money actually break down?

Go Bruins

by INawe on Dec 26, 2011 1:05 PM PST reply actions

Sooo...

$100 for strength…
$1 for conditioning…
$3897 for nutrition…

Seriously, taking into account he’s an athlete and supposed to be in peak physical condition, doesn’t this seem kind of low for annual food costs? I never played D-1 athletics, but during the season for high school football I averaged over 3500 calories a day and could not add weight at all.

by DamienW on Dec 26, 2011 2:03 PM PST reply actions

Room & Board

includes food. The $4k is more likely the costs of a nutritionist.

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Dec 26, 2011 10:32 PM PST up reply actions

Why so high, don't we have a nutritionist on staff?

by Bruin'96 on Dec 26, 2011 11:01 PM PST up reply actions

You'd think not

by looking at Smith on the court.

Roses are red, violets are blue...f*** $C.

by KSBruin on Dec 27, 2011 8:19 AM PST up reply actions

why is he charged in state tuition?

Not that it maters with the scholarship of anything

by andyland on Dec 26, 2011 2:11 PM PST via mobile reply actions

That may be a typo

I think that’s out of state tuition

by MathBruin on Dec 26, 2011 2:37 PM PST up reply actions

nvm it includes room and board. good point

by MathBruin on Dec 26, 2011 2:41 PM PST up reply actions

Hahahaha

I laughed so hard when I saw that.

Over

by cybermaldonado on Dec 26, 2011 3:59 PM PST reply actions

Remember in the exhibition game against Fullerton?

We were saying things like “he looks 10 pounds slimmer!”

oh how naive we were..

by BruinEngy on Dec 26, 2011 4:28 PM PST reply actions

Hanging Josh Out to Dry

This is so typical, unfortunately, for the mindset at Morgan Center.
I truly feel sorry for the way that Josh gets pilloried, because he is wearing the UCLA uniform. He has brought it on himself to a large extent, for not taking the steps necessary to be in shape to perform at the level he is capable of. But the result is that he is an object of ridicule.
I don’t think that anybody who wears the UCLA uniform should be personally attacked. And yet by making Josh the poster boy for the Wooden Fund campaign, Morgan Center has set him up like a pinata.
This is so similar in cluelessness to what they did with CRN, by putting together a campaign without his input, which led to predictable ridicule when he could not deliver.
There is an incompetent tool in Morgan Center, who does not wear the UCLA uniform. DG- we are talking about you.
But by allowing ridiculous campaigns like the Wooden Fund poster and the monopoly over ad, DG is able to deflect the ridicule which is rightfully directed 100% at him. Pathetic.

by islandbruin on Dec 26, 2011 7:57 PM PST reply actions