So the big news on the football front is our very exciting bowl match up against Florida State Seminoles. Dan Guerrero is giddy!:
"Obviously, we would like to be playing in a BCS bowl," Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said. "But the opportunity to play in a great city against a marquee team is a real plus for our program."
Last year, the Bruins defeated Northwestern in the Sun Bowl and finished with a 10-2 record. In 2004, UCLA lost to Wyoming in the Las Vegas Bowl and ended 6-6, and in 2003, the Bruins lost to Fresno State in the Silicon Valley Classic and finished 6-7.
"Facing Bobby Bowden and the Florida State Seminoles has a lot of star power attached to that," Guerrero said. "This will not just be an intriguing matchup for us but also for the fans here on the West Coast and a national TV audience."
Yes a national TV audience will be fired up about this game including the Seminoles fan who must be stoked about playing in some no name bowl game, which has nothing to do with BCS. So I went over to our SBN colleague Tomahawk Nation to get a sense of building excitement around this game.Last year, the Bruins defeated Northwestern in the Sun Bowl and finished with a 10-2 record. In 2004, UCLA lost to Wyoming in the Las Vegas Bowl and ended 6-6, and in 2003, the Bruins lost to Fresno State in the Silicon Valley Classic and finished 6-7.
"Facing Bobby Bowden and the Florida State Seminoles has a lot of star power attached to that," Guerrero said. "This will not just be an intriguing matchup for us but also for the fans here on the West Coast and a national TV audience."
Well no mention of UCLA anywhere in one of the better FSU blogs (except for a nifty countdown clock to the bowl game!) and the latest post has this:
In the end I hope Bobby Bowden is happy, rather than listen to someone else who cares about winning as much as he claims to care, he continues to lose and prove he has total control over the program. Congratulations, I hope you can walk with your head high now that 30 years of your work has been destroyed...by you. Be proud. Be happy you showed those fans, that media and that damned internet superstore!
Uh yeah. Those 'Noles are fired up to play Karl Dorrell's Bruins!More dose of reality from Dump Dorrell on this exciting bowl matchup:
Allow schools to exploit their loyal and passionate fans by setting up these ridiculous fundraising and marketing events masquarading as football games between 6-6 powerhouses and this is what you get. And it builds on itself - they are even praising the fact that KD has taken UCLA to four bowls in four seasons. 2 of those seasons were 6-7 and 6-6, and we are about to have a third 6-6. Name one other sport that parades million-dollar-plus a year failed coaches in this way??
Look, what Bruin fan doesn?t like the idea of playing Florida State in a bowl game?! It sounds good because of the history of FSU. But this game is still between two 6-6 teams (we are sticking with our prediction for Saturday but want to be proven wrong), and if it weren?t for us being one of them you would not watch it. Sorry, we think it?s stupid. We will watch it like we watch a car wreck, morbid fascination.
Sounds about right. I mean I am really excited to see FSU's Drew Weatherford who reminds everyone of Charlie Ward (the QB who beat ND, not the pg the Big Red clowned everytime on NBC), Peter Tom Willis, Casey Weldon, Brad Johnson et al. Not.Look, what Bruin fan doesn?t like the idea of playing Florida State in a bowl game?! It sounds good because of the history of FSU. But this game is still between two 6-6 teams (we are sticking with our prediction for Saturday but want to be proven wrong), and if it weren?t for us being one of them you would not watch it. Sorry, we think it?s stupid. We will watch it like we watch a car wreck, morbid fascination.
Ok let me putt aside my cynicism wrt Dorrell's shitty football program for a moment. This bowl game does present him with yet another golden opportunity to resuscitate his irrelevant and mediocre football program. So as DG said this bowl game could be "real plus" for our program. But there is a big "if".
IF Dorrell pulls out a win this Saturday and then build on the incredible euphoria and momentum generated from possibly the biggest victory of UCLA football from last seven mediocre and underachieving years (including last year's joke of a 10 win season), then Dorrell and his coaching staff can do themselves some good by coming out this bowl game and destroying Florida State.
So it really goes back to this weekend. If Dorrell loses this game on Saturday a matchup against a washed up Bobby Bowden's struggling, less than average football program will be uninspiring, boring, and irrelevant to everyone except for the athletics departments lackies and asskissers from Westwood and Tallahassee.
Dorrell has no choice but to win this Saturday.
Losing will not be an option.
GO BRUINS.