Bruin Bites: DeShaun Returns, Howland vs. Dixon, and More Tonedeaf Chianti Dan Comments

Blah. It's Monday morning, so that means it's once again time to go back to turn away from watching UCLA get fall football camp underway and/or leading virtual Brett Hundley to a virtual Heisman on the ol' PS3, and time to head back to work. So, let's get this work week started with the round-up of the various bits and pieces of news from around the UCLA-iverse:

• Starting with, duh, football, in case you missed it, Miguel Melendez is covering UCLA's fall camp at CSUSB for the Los Angeles Daily News. His opening take after the first day of fall camp can be read, in full, here. He followed up his first day coverage with some very solid work covering the second day of practice (complete with a couple of interviews). Keep an eye on Melendez, because he's shaping up to be a very good beat writer on UCLA football (unlike a certain Trojan hack who works for the Los Angeles Times).
  
• Sticking to fall camp at San Bernardino, The Press-Enterprise covered the logistical aspect of moving an entire football program from Westwood to CSUSB, a distance of approximately 80 miles. What made the story particularly notable was the following laugh-out-loud quote from Chianti Dan: "Our job as administrators is to support your coaches and do what they feel is necessary to be successful." Apparently, that doesn't apply if your name is John Savage, since Jackie Robinson Stadium is just one of a handful of woefully inadequate UCLA athletics facilities. What a total joke.

• In case you missed it, former UCLA great (and should-have-been Heisman winner) DeShaun Foster has returned to Westwood to finish his UCLA degree and work as a volunteer with the football team (let's hope some of that college greatness rubs off on Jet Ski and Co.). The official site has a Q&A with the former Bruin running back, where he discussed why he returned to finish his degree, his foundation to help youth, and working with the football program.
• Recently, Athlon Sports came out with a ranking of the top college basketball coaches, with Tom Izzo topping Coach K for the top spot (followed by, in order, Calipari, Self, Boeheim, Pitino, Roy Williams, Billy Donovan, Bo Ryan, with Butler's Brad Stevens rounding out the top-10). The top Pac-12 coach? Not Ben Howland. Nope. As Nestor has been repeating until he's been blue in the face, it's Cal's Mike Montgomery (at #11 overall); hell, Howland isn't even second in the conference (that honor falls to Arizona's Sean Miller at #15). And, as our SBN colleagues at Pitt's Cardiac Hill took note, Jaime Dixon (#13) finished well ahead of his mentor, Ben Howland (#22). And people call us haters for not groveling at Howland's feet for the three Final Fours (how quickly standards have dropped in Westwood, where once upon a time, anything less than a NCAA title was deemed a sub-par year).

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