How does UCLA's facilities compare to those the best athletic departments in the country have? UCLA doesn't have a football stadium of their own, but is the Acosta Center and their practice facilities up to par? Pauley is on track to be renovated, but are their training facilities and locker rooms up with the best in the country?
I don’t know about facilities across the country, but in talking with former assistant coaches and recruits, I do not get the idea UCLA’s facilities are anything special. The weight room is small, and while the Acosta Center is very nice, nothing compares to what Oregon offers. Yes, Pauley is going to be renovated, but that may be four years down the line, and there is a reason part of the renovation plans include practice courts and new locker rooms.

Who, among of the incoming class of 2008, (football) will have the biggest impact on current positions of need and weakness?
Who the heck knows? Who is qualified? Who stays on board? Who is coaching UCLA? So on and so on.

Looking at the hoops schedule, is it correct that ESPN gameday will be coming to Pauley for the Arizona game? And how did this occur...I thought FSN had exclusive cable rights for Pac-10 hoops?
I don’t know. I’ll check.

Based on your interaction with the coaches, players and recruits,etc... how much attention do they really pay to web sites such Bruins Nation, Bruin Report, etc...?
Very little, to none. The coaches read the newspapers, and some pay attention to the recruiting, but the coaches already know what’s going on in most instances. When it comes to message boards, I think more and more families are staying away because often it is nothing but pure venom spewed at their kid, or the program they are supporting. That is just what some of the parents tell me.

Do you know why it took so long for him to heal? When he is back, how do you see this impacting the offense? Lastly, do you think Moline will fit in without a hitch next year when Pitre is gone?
Pitre took so long to come back because he had a bone bruise, which is very painful. He needed to be cleared by doctors, and he is still not pain free but he wants to play badly. I don’t know about Moline because he wants to play tailback.

what's up in your opinion with the passing D this year? I have my theory, which is DeWalker is adjusting to the spread with more blitzes, which are consistently getting stuffed. Carter seemed to blame it on over-focussing on the run. Your thoughts?
Rodney Van and Alterraun Verner have had trouble in coverage, UCLA’s safeties are not great coverage guys and the linebackers are getting smoked by running backs and tight ends. Teams had all offseason to look at UCLA’s defense and see how to attack it, and now it is time to either adjust, or just get better personnel.

Brian, a few weeks ago you mentioned that aside from a core group of die-hard fans, most Bruin fans are apathetic. I think this can be generalized to include most fans who live in the Los Angeles area. Why is this the case and what can be done by us, the die-hard fans, and the university to change this attitude?
Short of a miracle, I see nothing. How do you change decades of apathy? The beauty in the diversity of L.A. means having to live with the laid-back, front-runner attitude. L.A. is about being seen at the hot sporting event, so I don’t see changing the mindset of millions of people an easy task, nor one that I could even begin to tackle.

Do you think Renardo Sidney will eventually get a scholarship offer from UCLA?
No.

What did you think of the Blade's pass and did you know it was going to be run against Wash?
Breazell’s pass, if you want a critique, was thrown too close to the sideline, which forced Terrence Austin to make the catch, then have to stop so he didn’t go out of bounds. A better thrown ball and Austin scores. I had no idea when it was coming since UCLA was practicing it for three weeks.

was there any truth to the rumor last year about UCLA/Dan Guerrero contacting Steve Marriuci through some backchannels? If not, do you know where that rumor originated from?
I was told there was no truth to it by UCLA’s administration. I heard about it from another blog associated with the Daily News, and was skeptical about it since it contradicted everything I heard in relation to the program.