Pac-12 Media Day: The Unofficial Start of Football Season is Tomorrow

I like to think of media day as the unofficial start of football season. Maybe it is because that is the beginning of intense media coverage and previewing of the upcoming season or maybe it is because that is the only way to possibly get excited about a bunch of coaches answering a bunch of bland questions with coach speak.

Tomorrow, the football season unofficially starts with Pac-12 media day. It will be Jim Mora's first media day, but it's unlikely that he will be flustered by the event -- we have already seen him handle the media well and this will pale in comparison to what he faced from the media before NFL playoff games.

It's not as if words really matter at this point either. UCLA has had the blandest of media men in Karl Dorrell and the most enthusiastic in Rick Neuheisel and the results were largely the same. At this point it is all about getting wins and at last check, you can't get a W on media day.

Still, we get excited. Football season is here and on schedule alone, the Bruins should win at least eight, if not nine games. That starts tomorrow (kind of, not really, but let's pretend it does because it makes things more fun).

The bulk of the questions for Mora will probably be about his quarterback, which he will respond to by saying that he really likes all of our potential signal callers, he doesn't have a leader to win the job and he can't wait to see the competition in camp. Despite giving that answer once, twice and probably three times, someone will probably ask him that question a fourth time.

When not being asked about the quarterback position, Mora will probably be asked about his inexperience at the college level. While a legitimate concern, and one we have, he will respond the only way he can, "I've prepared and studied for the transition and I have a great group of coaches to help me out". What, did you think he'd say that he couldn't get it done and would be out of his depth? Nice question.

In addition, people will ask about his offense, which he will be intentionally vague about, and then he will praise his defensive line in talking about the switch to the 3-4. It's really riveting stuff.

On the players' end, Johnathan Franklin will answer endless questions about fumbles and someone will coax Tevin McDonald into saying how many interceptions he's gunning for. Then the two will talk about how excited they are for their new coaches and schemes.

Basically, media day is pretty boring, but there is a way to make it more fun. Asking these questions to the various coaches would do the trick:

• Coach Shaw, do you think it was entirely your fault that you lost the Fiesta Bowl last year or just 95% your fault?
• Coach Tedford, admit it, you kind of want to punch Tosh Lutui in the face.
• Coach Graham, remember when you criticized coaches for being "mercenaries"? That was cute.
• Coach Embree, I know you weren't coaching the Buffs three years ago, but take a guess -- how does being irrelevant in the Pac-12 compare to being irrelevant in the Big 12?
• Coach Kiffin, Wikpedia describes your wife as "smokin' hot" so be honest, was that you who wrote that?