Answers, Part IV

Former UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker is not at New Mexico State, but his footprint remains firmly in the Southland. Here is something I wrote about Walker remaining tied to SoCal.
Also, here is the fourth set of answers:

Aside from making your job as a reporter easier, is there any benefit for a team like UCLA to have basketball practices open to reporters?
It gives me a better understanding of the team, and would allow me to report with more knowledge, and get UCLA’s message out better. It would also keep UCLA in the papers and on radio more, and exposure is a good thing.

I have heard that the new DC is a high energy guys, would he be on the same parallel intensity wise as Ed Ogeron?
AND..what limitations will lake be under due to his lack of experience?
I don’t know about Ogeron’s intensity because I never covered him. I’ve only heard stories. And from what I’ve heard Ogeron is much more volatile. Chuck Bullough is a serious, intense football coach but he’s not into the yelling. At least, not as a linebacker’s coach. As for Lake, he’s a rookie coach, so everything he does will be new to him.

Favorite Zeppelin ‘album’/CD? Song? Does your wife appreciate their work?
Houses of the Holy, Too many songs to name, but Stairway to Heaven is probably the top. Yes, my wife appreciates them, although not the level I do.

Is there any particular state you feel UCLA should target more with regards to football? A major site of prospects like Texas or maybe a place with less prospects, but closer to home such as Arizona?
I think UCLA should focus on Southern California, and use a lot of its energy there. Going into Texas is fine, but only for players that actually have an interest in going to UCLA.

Yo Dohn, you think Benitez keeps his job if Liverpool continues to falter the way they are?
I think he does because he is working on an extension and the fans love him, but my goodness, that was a brutal tie against Wigan.

ESPN rated UCLA has the 16th highest profile football program of all time. Why do you think there is a perception that UCLA does not have a significant football tradition? Is football a victim of the B-ball program’s national dominance in the 60’s/70’s?
I don’t know how that list was done, but the perception is UCLA is a basketball school. I don’t think it helps UCLA only has one national title in football, and that was a shared title more than 50 years ago.

Can you now reveal who the “mind blowing” DC candidate was?
No, I cannot. My sources will not want that revealed.

Reggie Moore , he gets no mention in recruiting or during the season , what is your opinion of him and his 1st year as Bruin (WR) coach ?
I know he is a guy who is learning to coach at the Pac-10 level, and the receivers like him. They think they get good instruction, but I don’t know what to make out of his recruiting. I know he was involved with some of the commitments, but players usually only talk about the coordinators.

Do Ivy league teams recruit basketball players…or simply go with whomever happens to enroll? If they do recruit, how much at all are the academic standards relaxed?
Yes, the Ivies recruit. I covered Princeton and Yale, so I know what goes into it. The academic standards are not relaxed very much, but they are a little bit. For a while, when Penn was winning the basketball title every year, some folks at other schools referred to Penn as a pseudo-Ivy school because the belief was the admissions standards were markedly lower there than at the other seven Ivies. And I remember doing stories on Yale football, and how supporters of the program said a change had to be made in academics for Yale to be more competitive. (Does that sound familiar?)