UCLA seeing red (white and blue)
Rick Neuheisel was left seeing red after his UCLA football team fell to Kansas State, 31-22, in the teams' season-opener last Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
He'll see red when the Stanford Cardinal venture to the Rose Bowl.
And he'll see red when he looks down, for the first time ever.
To commemorate Sept. 11, the UCLA coaching staff and non-performing players will wear specialized Adidas game shirts on Saturday, with the "U" and "C" on the breastplate in blue with white stars, and the "L" and "A" with red and white stripes.
It is the first time a UCLA coach has worn red during a game.
"That trumps all. The idea of paying tribute the fallen brave folks who perished in the tragedy is important," Neuheisel said. "It's important that we remember, and that we pay tribute, not only to them but to the families who've given so much.
"Red, white and blue is the first team we're on."
For a program that has such a keen hatred of all things red - or is it just cardinal and maroon? - it would take a day with the significance of Sept. 11 to bring about the temporary change.
"We're going to focus on the fact that this is a great honor, to be able in some small way to pay tribute to those heroes," Neuheisel said. "When it comes time to play, we're going to be pumping some blue and gold blood, raring to go."
Andy O'Grady, captain of the UCLA Men's swim team, class of '91 (I think) and killed on 9/11, would be proud.
BRAVO!
I'm not sure this is necessary. We already have Veterans Day and Memorial Day.
how does that address the deaths of non-military folks who weren't signed up for anything but another day at the office?
Agree. Big difference between veterans and victims, those who volunteered and those who fell. Not everyone is a hero.
Jon, where are the photos of these jerseys?
It's about being proud to be an American and also the anniversary of the cowardly attacks on both the military and civilians alike.
There were MANY civilian hero's on 9-11 who both perished and assisted during and after the attacks.
Because they were civilian makes them no less of a hero, why do some of you have to turn something positive into a negative?
Nowhere in the story does it say "military hero's" or "veteran hero's". Anyone who either perished or assisted on 9-11 is a hero (other than the cowardly suicide hijackers).
Talk all the nonsense you want about the football program or the season, but if you don't have anything positive to say about this story then STFU!
GO BRUINS!!!
for the sake of clarity, my second post was in response to the anon post just prior, not Jon's story.
Anyone know if UCLA will be selling these shirts? I'd definitely buy one, probably two. B2BB
I was in NYC on business that sunny morning 9/11/01, albeit in midtown. My brother, a doc who works with the homeless in Manhattan, was downtown in the vicinity of site. In fact one of his patients said, “Hey Doc, a plane just crashed into the tall building over there,” pointing towards the World Trade Center (WTC). Considering the mental issues many of the homeless have, Dave had heard claims even more bizarre while he’s been doctoring on the streets.
Yet, he stuck his head out of the medical van in time to see the second plane hit. Immediately packing up, he had the driver head across town. Since the cell towers were on the WTC buildings he was incommunicado with his agency, me, and his wife and daughter. Eventually, he was able to make a short call home on an abandoned hard-line phone in one of the close-by buildings around 5:00pm. He let us know he was OK, but was going to stay as long as he thought he was needed. He finally arrived home around 11 pm that night, covered with that eerie grey dust.
I went into the city with him the next day and saw nothing but civilians pouring over the debris. As former military, I consider police and fire personnel civilians. Therefore, at least in NYC, the vast majority of the people doing the true heavily lifting after that disaster were civilians, not military.
Offering homage on a football uniform is a noble gesture to honor those people, professionals and other, who lent their services to finding victims, especially considering such service is not honored as is that of the military on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
I can hardly wait to see those jerseys!!
Can't honesty say that I think of 9/11 whenever SC comes charging out of the coliseum tunnel in its near-red jerseys, but I have always been inspired and loved the color.
Nice to see bruins admit liking the color and being able to put down their biases, if but for a day.
LAWYER JOHN
Man! I love my school! Go Bruins!!!
Heroes are those fallen soldiers that have fought for our freedoms...9/11 victims are just that, victims of those bastard terrorists.
dictionary.com defines hero as 'a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities'. To BruinRob: If you think the firefighters, police, EMTs, urban rescue teams, and erstwhile ordinary citizens who helped countless people out of the towers before they fell, and those who selflessly lost their lives while going back into the inferno were not heroes, then you are an absolute asshole. That day made heroes out of many. See Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911" and tell the first responders who are sick and dying from the poison they inhaled that day that they are not heroes. Bullshit.
Not that anybody asked me, or would listen to me on any account anyway, but I think some of the comments above, including BruinRob's, are distinguishing those some 3000 poor souls who had no chance, probably did not know what hit them, and died instantly, from the other folks who selflessly and bravely went to the inferno site to lend a helping hand.
Geez Louise, am I now sticking up for BruinRob as if he were my best new pal?
LAWYER JOHN