Weekly Answers, Pt. 1

Check out the first batch of weekly answers…

1) Is ucla basketball fan friendly? – Anonymous
Interesting question…In some ways yes, in some ways no. I know that’s a bush-league answer, but there are so many procedural things in place at UCLA that just don’t seem to exist at other schools. Of course, I cover UCLA, and have covered SDSU, and not other schools, so I can only judge based on what I’ve seen. But given the amount of red-tape needed for some things, and some personality issues at some positions, and there are times that things could be much improved.

2) If ucla football were a stock, would you rate…buy, sell, or hold? On the verge of being de-listed, penny stocks, or a falling knife? Has the football program submitted for federal bailout? If so, I think they need an extension to repay TARP funds since returns are lower than expected (worse than revised forecast). – my mamma
Umm, I’ve only seen Wall Street a few times, and definitely not the new one with the old Michael Douglas and Shia LaDouche, but I think I’ll say hold. I wouldn’t say it’s a penny stock because a lot of people still have faith. But even after the big win over Oregon State, there are still flaws. That being said, I enjoy Boiler Room a lot?

3) Noticed the crowd at the Arizona game was spending a good portion of the game sitting quietly and waiting for a reason to cheer. For a football team, UCLA in particular, and especially the defense… does the crowd noise matter? Does more actually help? Does it get in their heads that the home crowd doesn’t bother to get loud until 3rd and short? – Might
Of course it matter. It matters a lot, not so much for what it does to the defense – I think the idea of “hype” is overrated – but it definitely screws with an offense at times. Anything that adds any extra sensory overload is a good things.

4) Has there been any interest shown in the QB out of Corona Centennial HS, Michael Eubank? He’s big, fast, and has a strong arm. He’d be a great fit for our Pistol (if we continue to stick with it). I know we have a verbal from the AZ kid, but this Eubank’s from a consistently winning program in our own backyard, and we’ve let their last 2 QBs slip away (Matt Scott, who looked good against us Saturday), and Taylor Martinez (now at Nebraska). Eubank seems to be the best of the bunch of these recent Centennial QBs. Go Bruins!! – Anonymous
I would say there is cursory interest in him, but the verbal commitment of Brett Hundley kind of changes things. If Hundley weren’t so highly regarded, perhaps you go for two quarterbacks, including taking a flier on a kid like Eubank, but with a top recruit coming in, I doubt it. But the Eubank kid is very talented, yes.

5) Why do we throw to slow-stone hands Harkey so much on 3rd and sometimes 4th downs over guys like Embree (our best wr) or Fauria (a huge target with better hands) or even or any of our RB’s? – ET
Fauria has been a liability in the blocking game and it’s been tough on the coaches to increase his playing time, but Harkey has been reliable, and you can’t just ignore a viable receiver, even one who has struggled.