Mind healing
When UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel met with his players Sunday, he said the "Kids were attentive, they were hurt and disappointed by the loss,'' but he believed they would respond well.
I asked him if he was more of a psychologist rather than a strategist at this point.
"I leave the x's and o's to the assistants, but I talked about, 'We're the caretakers of the UCLA football program right now,' " Neuheisel said. "In trying to build a culture, we've got to make sure everybody is in, all in, got a committed group, and the attitude is correct.
"Now, we're going to check our responsibilities and make sure everybody is accountable to one another."
I also asked him about the Bruins' psyche.
"It's a fine line in how much hurt you feel, and then how quickly you can let it go and focus on the next week," Neuheisel said. "You don't want it to be too easy. You want it to be a certain amount of pain because then that is an indication of the investment.
But the pain cannot become the negative, where you're afraid of failure, you're afraid of what might happen in lieu of excitement about another chance to compete. So therein lies the fine line, but I think we're right in line with where you'd hope the team to be."
2 Comments
Leave a comment
About Inside UCLA
This is Brian Dohn's sixth season covering UCLA after spending 4 1/2 years covering the Dodgers for the Daily News and other Los Angeles Newspaper Group papers. He graduated from Rutgers, where the first college football game was played in 1869. Sure, the Scarlet Knights suffered for a long time, but now RU is doing what Jerseyans always thought was possible. Winning at Rutgers also proves winning is possible everywhere else in the nation, so underachieving coaches better be careful. Now, if only men's hoops can turn it around.
I thought the "All In" comment was a bit funny.
Let's bounce back this week with a huge win against AZ.
Go Bruins!
Neu sounds like he knows his stuff. I am not a psychologist, although married to one, but I have never advocated the idea of visiting and churning hurtful moments. It seems it would only make matters worse to continue to rehash them. Of course, there is no denying a very bad loss has occurred, but much as in tennis or boxing, there can be poor match-ups, and certainly BYU was one of those.
And I disagree with all these "F" grades for this team's players. An F would be if there were no effort, which is not the case here.
When my favorite team loses I am depressed and think I will never attend a game for the rest of my life. But by Wednesday I have shaken off most of the negativity, and by Saturday and I am ready to go to a new game, ready for a new beginning.
And do not forget that Arizona had an upset loss, is no great Pac-10 shake, and a victory at the Rose Bowl will erase most of the bitter feelings from last Saturday.