First let get to couple of football notes. The DyNoMite "coached" football team sounds like a Dorrell coached football team. Once again our players are talking about how they are taking their bowl game "seriously":
"It means a lot, we get to go out and finish with a win," senior cornerback Trey Brown said. "Any time you can go out and put the UCLA jersey on, represent this great university, you want to put on a great show. For the seniors to go out and finish with a win, means a lot."
And then?
"We all know it will be the last one, but it probably won't hit us really until after the game," Brown said of the seniors.[…]
Whether their performance this season could be diluted by indifference was a question that was put to interim Coach DeWayne Walker.
"That's a heck of a question," said Walker, who added that he thought the Bruins were eager to play this game.
Walker said that "the things we talk about behind closed doors and just the lessons we've learned" have the Bruins focused. That should be made easier with 25 seniors playing their last collegiate game.
"I was talking to the senior defensive backs and asked them, 'How do you guys feel about this being your last collegiate game?' " Walker said. "They all said they just want to go out a winner."
Aaaah. That makes us all feel so warm and fuzzy. Doesn’t it? The players on cue are spouting all the pro Walker TPs:
And then?
"We all know it will be the last one, but it probably won't hit us really until after the game," Brown said of the seniors.[…]
Whether their performance this season could be diluted by indifference was a question that was put to interim Coach DeWayne Walker.
"That's a heck of a question," said Walker, who added that he thought the Bruins were eager to play this game.
Walker said that "the things we talk about behind closed doors and just the lessons we've learned" have the Bruins focused. That should be made easier with 25 seniors playing their last collegiate game.
"I was talking to the senior defensive backs and asked them, 'How do you guys feel about this being your last collegiate game?' " Walker said. "They all said they just want to go out a winner."
"If we didn't have a bowl to play in my senior year I'd be (ticked)," UCLA tailback Chris Markey said. "I'm excited because this is another chance to go out and play. I'm damn happy to be playing in a bowl game my senior year."
Senior receiver Brandon Breazell echoed Markey's stance, and said playing well for defensive coordinator and interim coach DeWayne Walker is important.
"You just saw me pull a guy to the side and talk to him," Breazell said. "I've never done that my whole career. D-Walk gets here and makes a big impact on this team. He makes me feel like I have to stand up more. He brings out the leaders in the team. He helps us focus and keep our eye on the prize."
Wow. I am so glad to hear they are keeping their eye on winning some stupid no-name bowl in Vegas. It is great they are getting excited about a game that will mean absolutely nothing to the history of this program. And it should mean absolutely nothing wrt to long term prospects of their "interim HC" in the program.Senior receiver Brandon Breazell echoed Markey's stance, and said playing well for defensive coordinator and interim coach DeWayne Walker is important.
"You just saw me pull a guy to the side and talk to him," Breazell said. "I've never done that my whole career. D-Walk gets here and makes a big impact on this team. He makes me feel like I have to stand up more. He brings out the leaders in the team. He helps us focus and keep our eye on the prize."
Regardless Walker continues to campaign hard, which I guess includes shameless pandering to recruits and their parents:
"I thought it went great,’’ Walker said. "I really thought that keeping this weekend on was very beneficial. Very beneficial. I had a chance to talk to the parents privately. I had a chance to talk to the players privately. I thought our hosts did a great job. I thought it was a big plus for us.’’
So, with the coaching situation unstable, what was the vibe among the players?
"They’re waiting to see what the powers that be, what they’re going to do,'' Walker said. "But as of today, they’re still with us.’’
You mean they are with "you" not "UCLA." Right DeWayne?So, with the coaching situation unstable, what was the vibe among the players?
"They’re waiting to see what the powers that be, what they’re going to do,'' Walker said. "But as of today, they’re still with us.’’
Elsewhere, there is nothing new on the coaching search front. I know some of you guys want us to lay off from Dan Guerrero right now. BruinsRule made this point in the comment thread of our last post:
Let the man do his job. If he thinks his job is to choose between the other Harbaugh and Skippy and that everyone will be fine with that, he's wrong, and we can take him on then. Otherwise, until he speaks about who we've hired or who the candidates are, I'm with Class of '66 in saying this whole critique is premature.
Well, those are good points. However, I will beg to differ. I have followed UCLA football too long at this point to know that we can’t just sit back and trust the bureaucrats of Morgan Center. Yes, I know DG scored with the hires of Howland and Savage. But he is on the spot in terms of his football hire. This is the hire that will effectively determine his legacy at UCLA. And we cannot just sit back, stay quiet, and not make him feel the pressure, where there so much direct and indirect campaigning going on by the pencil pushing losers in the athletic department, the access loving morons in the beat press and subscription based fan sites to maintain the status quo. Right now those guys are not sitting back. They are on a full scale lobbying mode to keep Walker or bring in the CHOKER. When that kind of effort is going on, we will simply not sit back and not put pressure on DG.If you don’t want to join us in our effort to keep the pressure on DG, that’s fine. We didn’t wait for anyone to join us when we started speaking up on Karl Dorrell either. If we see or sense something that is disconcerting when it comes to UCLA athletics, we are not going to stay hush. So yeah, we are going to keep the pressure on DG, make sure that he understands that we fully expect him to live up to his words.
GO BRUINS.