Did you know I still write about sports?

Me neither. Another bout of laziness. Anyway, I got a not from one of my most loyal readers, Anonymous, about the upcoming slaughter at the Rose Bowl. Specifically, he asks about this item about Pete Carroll deciding to go with U$C's red jerseys this weekend, an NCAA no-no.

I doubt I have to explain it, but the short version is that when both teams played at the Coliseum, UCLA and U$C used to wear their colors (home uniforms), since they were really both at their home stadium. Sometime thereafter, the NCAA passed a rule that says one team must wear white under penalty of one timeout per half.

Over the years, the idea of having both UCLA and U$C wear their home jerseys has been discussed, but nobody ever wanted to go through with it. There was talk of the actual home team burning a timeout per half to even things up, but it never came to pass.

But the era of two teams in home jerseys is back. Carroll will bring the trojans out in their red unis. The NCAA has since caved (a bit), and will now penalize the visiting team only one time out. Rick Neuheisel has announced that he'll use a timeout early in the first half to level the playing field. And

Really, they could probably take away all of U$C's time-outs and give UCLA about 15 per half and it wouldn't make a difference. As long as your offense scores 28 points for the other team, it probably doesn't matter how many time-outs you have, or how many your opponent doesn't have. I know the game from a few years ago should give me hope, but I just can't see the Bruins being competitive on Saturday (and no, the basketball team doesn't play on Saturday). And is this case of Pete Carroll saying "we don't need time-outs to beat UCLA"? Sure it is. But he's kind of a dick, so it's not surprising. That doesn't mean that he isn't right.

Personally, I think it's dumb rule. Who cares if one team is wearing white? Sure, it's a problem if two teams have similar colors, but just make a rule that says a team has to wear an alternate color when they share a primary color with the home team. There's really nothing holding this rule in place aside from the NCAA not wanting to spend time granting schools waivers. A couple years ago, Illinois wore their orange basketball jerseys at the Hall against Wisconsin, and with the small, not so great T.V.s at the Parkway (R.I.P. - man, that was a great bar) it was hard to tell the teams apart. So just don't let them do that when the colors are similar. Problem solved.

I think under different circumstances, it would be fun. Unfortunately, I don't this game will be very fun.

Norm Chow to UCLA

Well, that takes some sting out of the performance by the basketball team, doesn't it?

UCLA now has arguably two of the most coveted coordinators in college football, to go along with what is currently a top ten recruiting class. Next year may be a tad rough, but the future looks very bright. Weird to think that I'll have two fairly decent college football teams to root for in the near future.

On Rick Neuheisel

At the start of the coaching search, he probably wasn't my first choice. But whether it's rationalization, or the acquisition of new information, I've gotten to like the idea, and I'm glad that UCLA made that hire. Nothing he's said since has dissuaded me from that view.

I'm not worried about the past trangressions. Despite their volume, they were very minor, and I think he's probably learned his lesson.

I'm not worried about the gambling thing. And any of you who want to bitch about that, well, if you've never participated in an NCAA basketball pool, have at it.

I'm not worried about him lying about interviewing for other jobs. He's not leaving UCLA unless he's asked to leave. This has always been the job that he wanted.

I'm not worried about Walker leaving. Dissolution of the recruiting class would be unfortunate, but I don't think recruiting will be a problem long term. And at this point, I'm not sure Walker would be comfortable working under Neuheisel. And let's be honest, the DC will have to work under Neuheisel. He's not an equal, he's an assistant. And if this class is loyal to Walker, and Walker isn't loyal to the head coach, that could mean big problems down the road. But if Walker is willing to maintain that position, and agree to work under RN, then all the better.

But ulimately, he's not Karl Dorrell. He's not wedded to the West Coast Offense, which does not work in college football, nor is it philosophically the right offense to play in college. He's been successful during his two stops as a head coach. He's got pro experience as a coordinator. He knows what he has to do to keep his nose clean. I like the hire, and I think UCLA is a better program because of it.

Ilinois 17 - thUg$C 49; Thoughts on the Rose Bowl

• There's no question which team is better, just as there wasn't before the game. That said, I think Illinois would beat $C probably 10-20% of the time, and experience was a big factor. Maybe the mood was different on TV, but there was a real sense of momentum in stadium when Illinois was driving to make the score 21-17.
  
• Three plays were the difference in the game. The Jacob Willis fumble was the first, but I actually think the Illini could have recovered if they had been able to get a defensive stop. They blew an opportunity to do that when $C converted a 3rd and 12, which was followed by the lateral that bounced into Joe McKnight's hands for a 64 yard run. That took the wind out of the Illini sales, and the game was effectively over right there.
• I thought the play calling in the first half was atrocious. It was the same uninspired run, run, screen, run, run, run, run, screen, etc. that they ran against Iowa. No deception. No play action. Just the same crap over and over until they decided to throw at the end of the first half. Lo and behold, things opened up, they started to move the ball, and Mendenhall got off. If they had done that a quarter earlier, that Mendenhall score may have made the game a lot closer.
  
• Temple City High School has had very few athletes ever make noise on national level, but I was embarrassed to be a Ram after Temple City grad Desmond Reed showboated his way into the end zone. It would have served him right if he had torn up his knee again while doing it.
• The thUg$C band is as undisciplined as the football team, but it was great to see the 3 in 1 again, even without the Chief.
• It's a lot different going to the game and having good seats than it is having the crappy seats I used to get when I worked the game every year.
• Rashard Mendenhall is a freaking stud. I haven't seen many guys who blend his power and speed. He may have run his way into the first round today.
• Illinois looks to be pretty good next year. If they can replace Mendenhall, and if Juice can learn to throw a little better, the offense will be improved. The defense will be a bit of question mark, though.
• The game was a good experience, and I'm glad I went, even with the score the way it was. It was nice to be around so many fellow alums.
  

Illinois Is Going to the Rose Bowl!!

Well, it's taken a while, but the Illini are headed to Pasadena for a bowl game, and hopefully the game will be more exciting than the last trip the Illini took to Pasadena. I'm talking about the regular season matchup in 2003 that finished with UCLA winning 6-3. Don't let the score fool you, the game was even more boring than it sounds.

I will, naturally, be in town for the game, as I'm usually home at that time anyway. I was planning on heading back to Chicago for New Years this year, but the Illini have thrown a monkey wrench into those plans.

Early pick: I think the Illini will get killed, but that's what I thought about the Ohio State game, too. And U$C has had problems with scrambling quarterbacks. Of course, most of that struggling came against Dennis Dixon, who is a lot better than Juice. But still, it's a reason for some sliver of optimism.

Party at my parents' house!

UCLA slaughtered by U$C

The nice thing about this game being on national television is that the whole country has a chance to see what a shitty coach Karl Dorrel is. Here we are in December and his players can't execute a simple hand off with regularity. And when your defense makes a big stop, and your opponent might have to settle for a field goal, it's not really a good idea to give them another third down, even if they're ten yards further back.

It's a testament to how down U$C is this year that they aren't going to win this game by 50. UCLA has given them opportunity after opportunity, turnover after turnover, bad decision after bad decision, and they're still only up by 17 points.

So long Karl. You really won't be missed. I'm sure Karl is a good guy, but he's simply been in over his head. He is not a good football head coach. Hopefully, the athletic department will make the right decision next time.

Thank goodness it's basketball season.

Do You Believe in Unlikelihoods?!

You make the call. What's more unlikely:

1. Illinois goes into Columbus and beats the number 1 Ohio State Buckeyes;
2. Juice Williams throws for four touchdowns; or
3. the Kings, trailing 4-0, get five goals against Dallas in the final seven minutes and win 6-5 in overtime?

Welcome home, pal.

All Kinds of Stuff

Just to catch up, I thought I'd throw a bunch of different subjects into one post. I gotta admit, the fact that I'm on some blogrolls kind of increases the pressure to catch up once in a while, and I've been slacking, so I'll do this in the order of importance.

UCLA Football

Honestly, it's gotten so bad lately that I've started to head toward the worst possible dimension of fandom: Apathy. Any other season and I would have been at a bar watching Saturday's game. But this week I had a played in a golf tournament on Saturday morning, checked the score on the way home, commiserated with my dad, and really had no interest in keeping track of the finish.

This is a team with 20 returning starters, all recruited by Dorrell, and they are going to fail to get to a bowl game. Think about that for a minute. A team that started the year ranked 11th, with 20 starters back, and they aren't even going to get to a bowl game. And they haven't even played the tough part of their schedule yet. They've played one good team (and beat them). They've lost to Utah, Arizona, Washington State, and the coup de grace, arguably the worst Notre Dame team in history. I'm not quite sure what it takes for the Athletic Department to realize that a new direction is needed, but it seems like Dorrell's record should speak for itself.

I really can't see them winning any of their last three games. Maybe ASU if they get lucky, but that's a stretch. The only real drama remaining is when Dan Guerrero is going to announce Dorrell's dismissal, and who will be tabbed to replace him. Brace yourself for disappointment on that second front. The financial realities at a public university in California dictate that UCLA won't be able to spend top dollar. I'm not quite sure what that leaves. Perhaps an up and comer with whom they can catch lightning in a bottle. But personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Norm Chow take over.

UCLA Basketball

It's early, and some guys are nursing injuries, but hey, they look like they're going to be pretty good, huh? Honestly, I don't have much to say on them at this point, since every bit of information I get is second hand. I'll have more to say once they start to show up on my TEEVEE.

That said, I'm not particularly concerned about the early injuries, especially the injury to Collison. UCLA is back to a position where March is what matters, and while I don't want anyone to get hurt, the worst part about a Collison injury is less wear and tear on Darren, and more experience for Russell Westbrook. That seems to me like a pretty good silver lining. They're as deep this year as they've ever been. Mike Roll's injury will provide more experience for Nikola Dragovic, and that depth is going to be paramount throughout a tough conference season. Any team that can only roll six or seven guys during conference season this year is going to be in big trouble in the Tournament. There will be very little left in their tank.

Illinois Basketball

I have even less to say about the Illini hoops team than I did about UCLA. We're going to be OK, not great, and probably a bubble team at best. But Bruce Weber always gets everything out of his talent, and because of that, I'd say they're also a bubble team at worst. They'll be competitive every night. A lot of new faces will be getting minutes. How many of those minutes I'll see is open question, since Comcast and the Big Ten Network are still duking it out.

Kings Hockey

These guys are fun to watch. They're young, skilled, and over the last few weeks, they've really been competitive. Hopefully they're getting a little confidence that can carry them through to at least a position to contend for a playoff spot. The new faces, save for Brad Stuart (who has kind of sucked so far) seem to be melding nicely, and Mike Cammalleri has been awesome so far. But no one comes here to read about the Kings.

Angels

To A-Rod, or not to A-Rod? I guess it all depends on what he's asking for and if there's any team out there who is likely to give it to him. There's not much question that he would fill a need which may or not be filled by a healthy Dallas McPherson. Obviously the levels of production are hugely disparate, but so are the salaries involved. It's not my money, so I guess Arte can spend it or not spend it however he wants. I'm not going to be heartbroken if the Angels don't reel him in.

Now that I think about it

Maybe the offense doesn't work better with Pat Cowan. They're about to accomplish nothing against arguably the worst team in the Pac 10.

UCLA flat out sucks. They have no heart, they have very little talent, and they have no idea how to use what little talent they have. They are being outplayed in every single facet of the game. Pat Cowan has just thrown his 14th incomplete pass in his last 20 attempts.

Firing Karl Dorrell won't be a sure fire cure, but damn it it won't be a step in the right direction.

Only one word describes this team: Pathetic. Everyone associated with UCLA football ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Looks like the Thinker will have to fire a few more coordinators, because that's been really successful over the last few years. All the best teams have new offensive defensive coordinators every year.

UC Berkely 21; UCLA 29

Thought I'd get some thoughts down on this one before I get too drunk to remember what happened:

• UCLA won this game despite both the coaching staff and the officiating. Every decision Karl Dorrell makes is the wrong decision. He's simply in over his head as a game coach. How on earth do you burn a timeout to set up a fourth and one play, then run the crappy "try to draw them off" BS that they ended up running? The man is not a good head coach, and he should have been fired right after that play.
• The officials were awful. First they needed 10 minutes to review a play that never should have been reviewed in the first place. They called UCLA for an offensive pass interference call that even the guys in the truck couldn't find on a replay. They handed Berkeley a touchdown on a play where Desean Jackson never actually caught the ball. And somehow six referees didn't see a trip in full speed that a million viewers did. It was the most obvious trip call I've ever seen. It cost UCLA a first down, possibly a touchdown, and almost the game.
• The run defense was awesome. They dominated Justin Forsett for the majority of the game, and Berkeley really only ran the ball well out of the shutgun. The run defense was one of the major difference makers today.
• There's something about Pat Cowan that just makes the team play better. I can't explain it. Apparently it doesn't come through in practice. It may have nothing to do with his physical ability, but there's something about the way the team plays when he's in the game that works better than when Ben Olson is in the game. I really like Ben Olson, and I was jazzed when he committed to UCLA, but the team simply moves the ball better with Cowan. And it's probably just coincidence, but the defense seems to have played better when Cowan's been in there as well.
• Berkeley is a very good team, but they run a pro-style offense, which the Bruins can handle. It's the tricky stuff that gets them, and today, the defense won the game. Although the turnover battle was relatively even, Berkeley's were bigger, and obviously the ATV interception return at the end was the difference. The Horton pick was nice, but unnecessary.
  
• I don't have the numbers in front of me, but it seems that one big difference today from what we've seen lately were negative plays, or a lack thereof. Cowan excelled today in two key areas: he didn't turn the ball over with ill-advised throws, or tipped passes that become picks, and at worst, he got the ball back to the line of scrimmage. It's a little thing, often overlooked, but there's a big difference between 2nd and 10 and 2nd and 15, especially with their limitations when it comes to gaining yards in chunks. Cowan gets the ball back the line of scrimmage, and that makes a big difference.
• Like or not, the Bruins are 4-0 in conference, though they close with their three toughest games. I'd love for them to win the Pac 10 and go to the Rose Bowl, but it probably means Dorrell will come back. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I mean, I want him gone, but I can't root for the Bruins to lose. Maybe they'll face the Illini, who will then kill UCLA and get Dorrell fired. That may be the best possible end to the season. I could live with that.
  

Embarrassing

Karl Dorrell should be fired before the team gets on the plane home. This football program is an embarrassment. I've been easier on him than a lot of people, but this is pretty much the last straw.

If this is the best they can do with 20 returning starters, he has to go. And he should go now.

So....

...Is Stanford that bad or UCLA that good? I'm guessing a little bit of both. The offense looked very good. Indeed, Ben Olson threw for five touchdowns, and if his 289 yards sounds less than impressive, it probably because as a team, the Bruins ran for 338 yards, 195 of which were accumulated by Khalil Bell. They were extremely efficient, averaging about eight yards per play. Olson found nine different receivers, none of whom were Osaar Rashaan.

On the other side of the ball, for the first few drives that I saw, I was left unimpressed. Of course, I happened to miss a good first quarter, and tuned in during the lackluster second quarter - or rather, Comcast pre-empted the beginning of the game to bring us Cubs post-game. The line wasn't getting a ton of pressure, and Trey Brown made some nice break-ups that were borderline interference, which isn't to say he was lucky they weren't called. Rather, the point is that college officials, especially Pac Ten officials, suck, and they'll often call interference on those plays.

But in the second half, the defense really picked up. Stanford never got anything going on the ground, finishing with only 52 yards for the game. T.J. Ostrander had Bruins in his face for much of the game, and his 330 yards passing were more a function of one big play, and a UCLA offense that put enough points on the board to force Stanford into a game of catch-up.

Ultimately, it's an excellent start. It's hard to judge just how good a team is before they play a few games, at which point we can evaluate their opponents as well. And with Michigan's huge blunder, and Notre Dame's embarrassment, the Bruins aren't likely to make a splash in the media. But they'll move up in the polls, and they've done nothing to show that they are somewhere other than where they belong. The defense faces a sterner test next week against BYU at the Rose Bowl.