Here is the ninth set:
You mentioned before that you didn’t think Manti Te’o would commit to UCLA. Having some teammates aboard the UCLA train does increase the odds a few percentage points doesn’t it?
I could see a a few percentage points, but not many. So, if I thought it was a 20 percent he would attend UCLA, maybe now it’s 30 percent. Still, not very good odds.
How is Craft handling all the scrutiny lately? Were all the interceptions his fault?
Craft is handling it gracefully and with great character, and I think he should be applauded for that. He doesn’t complain, and doesn’t point fingers and hang his head. He stands there and takes the criticism. And in this case against Cal, I was told they were all his fault.
I don’t like to hear the talk of lowering academic standards to get more football players in. UCLA needs to excel on and off the field. Do you agree? What about the coaches, especially Neuheisel who is an alum?
I don’t really care which way UCLA goes on the academic vs. football front, but I think the administration should be open about it. As for the coaches, the object is to win football games at UCLA. If it were about getting great students and nice kids, Karl Dorrell would still be the coach, so I think the staff wants admissions to no longer be an issue.
Who do you thinks Howland’s favorite player to coach over the last 5 years has been?
I don’t like putting words in his mouth. That would be unfair. I do know he talked with great affinity about Arron Afflalo and Russell Westbrook and Alfred Aboya and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, and I’m sure there are others he really liked that I left out.
Who has been your favorite UCLA basketball player to cover since you’ve been covering UCLA?
Arron Afflalo. A great kid with class and very little ego. He was always willing to blame himself for a loss.
Can you see neuheisel ever giving eric scott another shot at UCLA? The guy is such a dominant recruiter, somebody would be dumb not to give him one.
I am not sure. I think in a few year’s time it could happen, and I think it should happen. I didn’t like the whole way Scott’s departure from UCLA happened.
Chow is such a calm guy when talking with the media, is he that calm at practice too?
Most times he is calm, but he has the ability to jump all over a player who makes a mistake. Just ask the quarterbacks.
Do you feel chow is recruiting more this year at UCLA than he ever did at USC?
I don’t know how much recruiting he did at USC, but he is not doing a bundle of it at UCLA. However, he is doing more than I thought he would.
Percentage chance D Walker takes a head coaching job after the season?
Depends if one gets offered. Right now I would say 50 perecnt.
For home football attendance , does UCLA use the payed count , or the actual people that show up ?
The actual people that show up. So on high school band day, all those band members count toward attendance.