Recruiting Rick
Here is a story I wrote on UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel and how he spent the few weeks after the season ended. Also, here is a notebook that includes an update on defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker.
One thing I didn't use in the story on Neuheisel was this quote:
"There's only five (bowl-eligibile) teams in the Pac-10," "Neuheisel said. "When you play nine conference games and you're down, you're in harm's way. Assuming everyone schedules a win, there's two more teams in our conference going to a bowl game. It's a tougher road to hoe."
There will be a few things, but I don't anticipate anything major.
I had a weird dream that since both UCLA and Washington are alone this bowling season, they scheduled to play their own "bowl game" just for kicks. Didn't really realize this didn't happen until I read this blog :P
Brian-
Evidently, Randall Carroll did NOT show up for his in-house visit with Coach Neuheisel. In your article, you make this clear by stating, "On the same night, Neuheisel also spent time with family members of receiver Randall Carroll of Los Angeles Cathedral High."
Why didn't Carroll show up for the visit? It sounds as though he's not very interested in UCLA if he blows off the head coach.
What's up with this?
Sometimes kids are not there for in-home visits. They know the coaches well and the in-home visits are a way for the coaches and the family members to get together and get to know each other better.
I've heard different reasons as to why Carroll wasn't there, but I'm not comfortable reporting any of them at this time. In the future, perhaps that will change.
Does anyone here speak Neu-glish?
I'm having trouble understanding what Neu is trying to say here:
"There's only five (bowl-eligibile) teams in the Pac-10," "Neuheisel said. "When you play nine conference games and you're down, you're in harm's way. Assuming everyone schedules a win, there's two more teams in our conference going to a bowl game. It's a tougher road to hoe."
What is his point?
(I guess I can see why BD didn't use the quote in the paper...which begs the Q, why share it on his blog?)
Maybe in New Jersey they say "tougher road to hoe," but the rest of the world says, "tougher row to hoe."
This may be a little late, but i am with you, Nacho Nazi!! I don't understand it and i have read it around 5 times. I get the fact that something is harder than normal.
Brian, if possible do you think you could elaborate on the numbers of games and whatever else Coach Neu is talking about? "Everyone else schedules a win?" Please help us illiterate folk!!!
My take is that Neu is simply stating the obvious. A Pac-10 school should schedule 3 'easy-beat' non-conference patsies for definite wins. Schools like Tulane, Temple, or any team coached by Ty Willignham. That means you only have to win 3 out of 9 conference games to theoretically become bowl eligible. Or maybe he's saying that if you're 'down' in conference play, it's going to be hard to qualify for a post-season bowl game. Yep. I'd agree with that. Or maybe he means that you're in harm's way if you've got a piss-poor team and are losing big time like we did this year. Or maybe...heck...the more I read the statement, the less sense it makes to me.
Go Bruins.