The Morning After, Part 12: Southern Cal

I didn't get any sleep last night.  But it's not why you think.  

Freesia stole my post.  

I was going to write this:

Fifty to nothing.  Not since 1930. Thank god we wore white.  At least we didn't embarrass our colors.

Texas, Stanford, Arizona, Utah, *$c.  And we play at Autzen next week.

No psychology, or physics, or lyrics today.  Just the brutal truth.  Sometimes, less is more.

Who among us would keep our job if we performed like Rick Neuheisel and Dan Guerrero?

Phone: 310-825-2151
E-mail: chancellor@ucla.edu

Let him hear from you, because this is life until Chancellor Block replaces both Guerrero and Neuheisel.

And that was going to be it.  It was written, formatted, and scheduled for 8 am EST.

Sorry to wuss out, but it was after midnight here and I had to get up in 3 hours to go to my son's hockey game. He's 9.  I know that's really early, but they are in the semis of a big tournament, and the games start pretty early.  Wisely, all the family is staying in a hotel near the rink, but I stayed at home tonight to watch the football game.  Yeah, bad choice.  But I had to be leaving early to make sure I got to the game.  Oh, and also to take him the socks he forgot.  I mentioned he's 9, right?  

Now I'm not one of those parents who is pushing his kid to be some super sports star.  Trust me, he's pretty good for his age, but his hockey career is finite.  I'll be paying for his college.  But in the meantime, I have only 3 rules for him: Have fun, Try hard, and Listen to your coach.  We repeat those things before every practice and game, then I give him a hug and he gets on the ice.  As long as he is doing those 3 things, I'll keep driving him to all the practices and games and tournaments he wants.  And if the day comes that he doesn't want to play anymore, I'll be fine with it, and I'll go take a nap.

So the short and not-so-sweet Morning After post was going to work out well.  Besides, I was still so frustrated and angry and appalled by the state of our football team that there really didn't need to be anything more said, and I always try to write these Morning After pieces with a level head and not get caught up in the negative emotions.  We have mentioned once or a hundred times lately that we need regime change in Westwood.  I didn't need to recount the reasons, or make any more logical arguments, or throw out any more stats.  Last night's game in the Coliseum did all the talking I could ever do.  I wrote a few words, posted the Chancellor's phone and email, and was gong to bed for a few hours.

But then I read Freesia's post game before going to bed and she beat me to it.  

Still, I almost left mine as it was.  But with all those who complain that we are repeating the same mantra over and over in mind, I thought that maybe this would actually be a bit repetitive.  Then Nestor directed me to some horribly lame and naive and stupid post game comments from Chianti Dan and suggested I could write about that.  So I got started on them, and it was going to be easy.  Really, Dan, "strapping on the uniform"?  (well, I can think of something you do need to strap on).  And suggesting we be excited about "playing for the Rose Bowl net week"?  Just how out of touch with the fan base is this guy?  But then the tweet about Rick being fired tomorrow came out and that needed a prompt post.

Unfortunately, that tweet was followed by others which backed away from the claim and deferred to Dan's statement that Rick was coaching in Oregon next week.  Buzzkill.  I guess I shouldn't be too irritated with Sports by Brooks.  He watched what we all watched.  Maybe it seemed so obvious that he decided to just take the flyer up the rail and go for the win by tweeting it out first before it was official.  But can you blame him?  I mean, who in their right mind would keep Neuheisel after that game, and after the last 4 years?  Anyway, N used Guerrerror's comments in his post, and I was still looking for something to go with.  Anyone else I can copy from?

Here are some numbers that appeared on BRO last night.  In 2008, the Bruins lost 3 games by 25 points or more (BYU, OSU, ASU).  In 2010, with Rick's players, there were 3 more (Stanford, Cal, Oregon).  This year, we have already had 5 (Texas, Stanford, Arizona, Utah, *$c), and there is a good chance at a 6th next week in Oregon.  That's 11 losses by 25 points in 4 years.  By comparison, Dorrell and Toledo combined for 10 blowouts total over 11 years.

But I'm not worried about Rick.  Honestly, I think Rick's firing is a foregone conclusion.  With each successive ass-kicking, more and more have gotten on board and recognized that he is not turning this program around. Hell, he just got completely owned by Lane Kiffin.  If that doesn't disqualify you for a D-1 coaching job, then only pedophilia will.  

My bigger concern, and has been for some time, is replacing Chianti Dan.  The decline of U.C.L.A. football has happened under his watch.  Basketball currently looks to be on the same path.  The comments we are hearing from those close to the athletics program confirm what we all suspect - that Dan is a bureaucrat who is more concerned with maintaining the status quo and not making waves or doing anything progressive.  Unfortunately, his attempts to not make waves are actually swamping the athletics programs.  I am more afraid of him making another football hire, or basketball hire if we go that way, or women's basketball hire, or uniform decision, or construction project.  Hell, look what happened when he was tasked to make something as simple as a seating chart.

Chiant Dan is the biggest failure and biggest flaw in our Athletic Department.  He probably thinks that he can get out of this mess by throwing Neuheisel under the bus (where he indeed belongs).  But we can't let him get out of this.  The problems go far beyond football.  I noticed this great comment by s.riley last night in the post game thread:  

Dan Guerrero is the 16th highest paid public school AD.

UCLA FB under him: 64-61 (.512, 0 Rose Bowl appearances, 0 notable bowl wins). 
The 20 yrs before: 149-79 (.654 - 3 Rose Bowl wins, 5 appearances).

...and if you're interested in the BB #s:

UCLA BB under Dan: 200-102 (.662) 
The 20 yrs before: 444-185 (.706, this includes the Lavin and Hazzard #s...as well as 2/3 of Larry Farmer!)

So for those who think this is just about Neuheisel, think again.  See those basketball numbers?  That storied program is on life support under Chianti's reign of error.  The Bruins are now 1-17 during big hoops/basketball games for Thanksgiving week in last 4 years, with that one win coming over D II Chaminade last week.  U.C.L.A. is considered to have the worst facilities in the Pac-12.  Dan's impotence has already cost us a conversation with Bob Davies and Rich Rodriguez.  Urban Meyer may already be gone.  Petersen is talking with UNC.  Leach is being courted by WSU.  He'd elevate them from a 4th tier school for sure.  Fundraising is down.  Attendance at games is down. Fan faith is at an all-time low.  And that's all on the boss of the athletic department.

Chianti Dan's incompetence and mismanagement have been well chronicled here on BN.  He is making over $600K of California taxpayer's money.  Is there anyone who thinks that he is worth this amount?  It's time to take a page from the Ole Miss alumni playbook, and for the alums and donors and fans and students to stand together and demand that Chancellor Block bring in a new athletic director who will make U.C.L.A. a premier athletics program again.

Chancellor Block:  Phone: 310-825-2151 
E-mail: chancellor@ucla.edu

Nothing will happen if we sit by quietly and wait for something to happen, and for someone else to do it.  Which is really what I was writing about in the first place.  Last night, *$c dominated us in passing, running, defense, and attire.  That's not acceptable, and it's time we got the Chancellor to do something about it.   Hammer his office with calls and emails. Let him know exactly how Bruins fans feel about things.

So now where am I?  Oh yeah.  About 2 hours from leaving for hockey, and starting over right back where I began on this thing.  Well, at least this is a little bit better than an all-nighter at work.  But this is still a painful morning, indeed.