Bruin Bites: Rappers' Sons' U, Ramogi Huma on BCS Playoffs, Brain Injury Research Developments

It's another Monday morning, which means it's time to climb back in the car, hit the highway, head to the office, but it's also time to get our work week started with the Monday morning round-up of the various bits and pieces of news from around the UCLA-iverse. This week's opening post (with more to follow on Thursday) will be quick and dirty, so let's get right to this morning's Bruin Bites:

• Following up on Nestor's earlier poster re: Cordell Broadus' scholarship offer, Snoop Dogg's son is listed by Scout at 6'1" and 185 pounds, which as a sophomore, is pretty good size (if accurate). The snark we saw from Larry Brown Sports seems to be part of a wider trend, with USA Today ("[t]his is shaping up to be one musically-talented defensive backfield") and CBS Sports ("if all goes according to plan, in a couple of years his team should be capable of shooting an outstanding hip-hop video") joining in. The Sporting News, on the other hand, decided to lump Broadus is with Justin Combs and bring up the stale, logically-flawed criticisms of Combs accepting his football scholarship.
• The talk of college football, obviously, has been the word that the BCS commissioners have agreed to a four-team playoff model. If you haven't had a chance to read alpha1906's takes on it and the discussion on the BCS playoff at BN, check it out here. Interestingly, no one has really talked about how, if at all, this will impact the kids playing the game. Former UCLA linebacker and National College Players Association president Ramogi Huma, however, had some very interesting thoughts noted by Jon Solomon at the Birmingham News. Obviously, with more games, comes an increased risk of injury and head trauma (more on that in a bit), which has spurred discussion of limiting contact drills, much as the NFL has done.

• Speaking of head injuries, Ryan Lovelace at The Daily Caller took note of an interesting piece by Deadspin writer Kyle Wagner, noting that UCLA has new research that uncovered a method for identifying a protein responsible for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the progressive degenerative disease commonly found in the autopsies of former football players with a history of concussions. To see the full piece at Deadspin, click here.
• While UCLA is working on saving football from itself, UCLA's Anderson School of Business is projecting that California's housing market may be on the verge of a turnaround, but not until 2013. Let's hope that proves to be true, since our state's ailing economy needs a desperate shot in the arm.

Alright folks, those are your Bruin Bites to start the work week with. Fire away with your thoughts, takes, and additions in the comments thread.

GO BRUINS