Mentally soft or tough?
Is UCLA's up-and-down play on the field is a matter of mental toughness or weakness? Well, here's a story I wrote about that subject in today's paper, along with the notebook by Jill Painter off Wednesday's practice.
As a side note, the up-and-down syndrome is not something only UCLA deals with, according to one of the most visible sports psychologists in the nation.
"The history of football is up-and-down, up-and-down," Dr. John Murray said. "UCLA may do that more than other teams. Maybe it's because they're in the spotlight of Southern California. Maybe it's the California attitude. But the point in team's have to prepare week-in and week-out.
"Jimmy Johnson was the best at keeping his teams focused on his road. He had an incredible record during his college career on the road. That's all mental. The difference between winning on the road and at home is mental."
Actually, we were down 21-0 to Northwestern in the Sun Bowl.
Student stabbed and killed at usc, check out link.
http://www.dailynews.com/ci_10497491?source=rss_viewed
What was he doing walking around off campus at 2:10am??? I know it was only a block or two, but still.
So sad...
Eight hours after a human being is murdered and PUSC is taking pleasure in posting in a number of threads to "check out link"
Where was pleasure taken in PUSC's post? This might not be the best forum to link that story, but it was the first I saw of it. Leave the USC/UCLA b.s. out of it - this is a sad story for the entire community.
Back to the topic at hand, the jury's still out on UCLA's toughness. Verdict should be in around 4pm Saturday...
I would agree it's mostly mental, but that's not the whole story. The crowd noise is a definite factor in away games. I can remember games on the road being the tailback, and our offense had to switch to a silent snap count because the crowd noise was deefening. Having 3 or 4 5 yard false start penalties in a game can make the difference from winning and losing, due to converting for a 1st down. Those penalties are drive killers. Great teams can overcome and mental toughness is really a big part of the puzzle.
Winning a football game on the road is "all mental?" No percentage alloted for the physical? And recall that those Miami teams were pretty good, certainly the team of the 1980s (4 nationals, I believe).
I bet the good doctor never donned a football helmet
Anonymous:
show me where i took pleasure in the posting of that student's death? don't bother, because i didn't. i have two cousins that go to usc, one of them is a girl that takes a monday/wednesday class that gets out at 10pm. she's the one that sent me the link.
They're kids and kids are inconsistent--especially when their coaches and expectations change each year. Give them time to come around and get some consistency. Even kids in a more stable environment can have letdowns--remember Stanford-USC last year? "Toughness" has little to do with it.
PLleasssse! Mental Toughness? UCLA demonstrated anything but in the drubbing to BYU. There is no "On-Off" switch to mental toughness. Where did you drum up those sports psychobabblists? Mental toughness, IMO, is primarily the result of SUSTAINED effort. You don't get to pull it off the shelf after an embarrassing loss. Over time, I beleive our new coaches will BUILD mental toughness with the FB team. It will feed off of itself and create a culture (there is that word) of winning.
"Is UCLA's up-and-down play on the field is a matter of mental toughness or weakness?"
I didn't see any "up" play this past weekend. 59-0!! Ouch!
This is a no brainer. I've been saying it all along. The last few years this team has no mental toughness on the road. Agreed, that physical ability and execution determines the overall performance of a team, but weak mental toughness can lead to the lapses we've seen on the field. How else do you explain 59-0, 44-6, losses to bad Washington State games on the road. Team plays well at home against Tennesse. No fans plus hostile environment plus = 59-0. When the times get tough, you have to suck it up, stay composed, focus and execute. UCLA panics, shrivels up into a ball, and lays down.
who knows about mental toughness when you have such a poor roster. Going 1 and 1 to start the season is a credit to the staff, and I think when you see a team that is actually physically able to compete each week, then you can talk about mental toughness. At this point, I don't know how you would define it for them.