Hello,

Like I said in the earlier post, thank you for all your kindness and support in my short time on the blog and covering the team. It has been a joy and an honor to work with you.

And that is what this blog means, to me. While in the print edition, without the ability to interact, I serve as a conduit between the team and the reader, I consider the blog to be 100 percent interactive. This has no value if not for your reads and reactions. I have come to learn the value of such give-and-take during the past few weeks while I have been working the beat, and it is not something I take lightly.

I have big plans for this beat and my role at the paper, and this blog is chief among them. The incredible amount of views that the Inside UCLA blog gets is a direct result of Brian Dohn’s hard work and your incredible passion, and I will strive to continue his legacy, if you will.

My immediate goals are to begin regular blog features, which I hope eventually become weekly hotspots. Some of the ideas are:
Movie Monday – The best UCLA-related YouTube clips I can find.
Westwood Wednesday – A feature on something related to the UCLA campus (perhaps professor interviews, fan interviews, local joints, you tell me?)
Throwback Thursday – A Q&A with a former Bruin.
Future Friday – A Q&A with a future Bruin.
Tailgate Saturday – My boy, and avid UCLA supporter, Ryan, will generate a new tailgate recipe for gamedays.

And, starting next week – well, once I figure out how to do it – the weekly marathon chats.

Now, this is all new to me, as well, so there will be some bumps along the way. I cannot promise you Troy Aikman will answer his phone on a Thursday morning. But I will try. I cannot promise you that I will find an interesting YouTube clip every week. But I will try. I cannot promise that you will enjoy Ryan’s recipes. But…no I won’t try. That’s on him.

But that’s the flavor I want this blog to take. Friendly, funny, talkative. I will continue with my daily practice reports, with a little Jill Painter sprinkled in – and again, AWESOME Christian Ramirez column – and I will do my best to conquer the recruiting world, which is completely new to me.

Additionally, I have started a Daily News Inside UCLA Twitter Page – DNJGInsideUCLA – and I would love to use that as a tool to disseminate information. A Facebook group will come soon, too.

I don’t mind sharing personal information, but I wasn’t sure how that would be received. Just know this: I grew up in Southern California without any college sports allegiances (my heart only belongs to the Denver Broncos, but that began to fade with Olandis Gary), but I have followed both UCLA and USC for much of my 25 years.

Thank you for coming along on this ride, and I hope to keep a clean driving record.
Jon Gold