why do you think SC fans like ONLYTHETRUTH, booty11, LAWYER JOHN, etc., feel the compensatory need to come to a UCLA blog and leave negative comments criticizing UCLA while acting like they are of higher moral character and ground?
Because they have too much free time, and little care for what others consider fun or important and find tweaking people enjoyable. My suggestion is to ignore them, rather than play into their hands.

do you know why Mata-Real only played 7 minutes in the loss to Washington this past Sunday? Was he hurt from the fall he took?
Because he does not match up well with their size and speed and because UCLA has better players to give more minutes to.

During my years as a student at UCLA in the early 90s, we played Notre Dame regularly in basketball. But I vaguely remember reading something in the Daily Bruin that UCLA discontinued playing them because the Irish scheduled their games against us early Saturday mornings, which didn’t allow the Bruins enough time to be ready after a long trip to South Bend. Do you know if that was the case? And if so, has that issue been addressed in the recent talks to renew the series?
The games were designed to be played whenever television wanted them to be played. If need be, UCLA could have gone to South Bend, Ind., a day earlier to adjust to the time, like it did under Howland a few years ago. The time issue is not a concern with the new contract. How much each school gets from the game being on network television is the biggest factor.

Would you ask Coach Howland why he is so against using a 2-3 Zone sometimes. I think had they used a Zone against Texas they might have won. DC was not in shape to chase DA around the whole game it was his first game back. When Coach Howland was at UCSB the used a 2-3 Zone against UNLV & NMST to deal with a short bench. Coach Howland would call out the defenses for UCSB.
He does not believe in zone defenses. He despises playing zone defenses because there are always holes in a zone. I watched him play zone in parts of his first season at UCLA, and he always talked about hating it because there are holes in zones.

Can we expect Jrue Holiday to be as good as Bayless/Gordon etc in his 1st (or only) year?
Got me. But I expect Holiday to be really good.

Based upon what you have seen from other programs, what do you think of the work ethic of the UCLA football players (outside of scheduled practices)? Do you think UCLA comes in below, average or above average with respect to their work ethic? Also, based upon early observations, do you think that the new coaching staff will demand the players to work harder than they did under the previous regime?
Let’s see. I don’t know other programs as intimately as UCLA, so I cannot specifically comment how the Bruins compare to other programs. I do think UCLA’s players work hard, and much harder than when I began covering the school in 2003. If I had to guess, I would say the work ethic is average, but that comes from talking to other coaches and reading stories.
It is far too early for me to judge whether UCLA will work harder under Rick Neuheisel than it did under Karl Dorrell. I am concern, though, that the offensive playbook is not in yet, so there isn’t much throwing and seven-on-seven stuff going on.

Do you know if the players read your blog and do they ever comment about it?
I know some pay attention to it, but it is more their families reading it and forwarding any information to the players.

Do you follow the NBA? What is your favorite team? Do you have a favorite bruin in the NBA?
I despite the NBA. It is unwatchable for me. I do hope Arron Afflalo does well. He’s a great guy.

Who do you think will be the impact freshmen in college basketball next season (not just ucla)? Do any of the 4 recruits really stand out to you?
I don’t know about the rest of the nation, but I expect big things from Jrue Holiday. I know some folks that believe he could be a one-year player at UCLA, and two years at the maximum.

You mentioned in your Pauley article that the reason HOK was fired was because their plans cost $200 million and UCLA wanted to spend roughly $100 million. Was the huge difference in price a matter of HOK just going overboard or UCLA asking for so many things that it couldn't be done for $100 million and UCLA was just being unrealistic?
UCLA told HOK how much it wanted to spent, but HOK came in with a much higher price. HOK did the same thing at the University of Washington. I was told the belief is HOK does that in hopes of convincing a prospective client of spending more than it wants to by overwhelming the client with a grandiose plan that is so magnificent, the client cannot say no.

Also, for those of us that follow UCLA baseball, we're constantly disappointed at how slowly the stadium renovations are going despite having such a good program that's on the upswing. Besides find a couple big donors willing to shell out big money, how would you recommend the average fan trying to put pressure on the Morgan Center to get a major stadium upgrade?
I really don’t know. The only things that come to mind are stage rallies, boycott something, write letters to the chancellor and vice chancellor, ect.