UCLA official resigns after ‘inappropriate conduct’ allegations

Former UCLA associate athletic director Michael Sondheimer resigned last Thursday after allegedly trying to engage children in sexual online chats.

He had worked at the university for 36 years and was most recently involved in admissions and on-campus recruiting.

CBS 2 first reported that Sondheimer was featured on a website called “Operation Riptide,” a sting operation in which adults posed as minors to catch online predators. The site alleges that Sondheimer attempted to engage children in “sexual chats involving humiliation and degradation.” Continue reading “UCLA official resigns after ‘inappropriate conduct’ allegations” »

UCLA wins Capital One Cup, finishes third in Director’s Cup

Helped significantly by a baseball championship, UCLA men’s athletics secured its first-ever Capital One Cup yesterday.

Awarded annually to the top men’s and women’s Division I programs in the country, the prize comes with $200,000 worth of scholarships and will be presented at the ESPY Awards on July 17. The Bruin men scored 92 points to place ahead of Indiana and Texas A&M (88 points each), Florida (86) and Duke (82). The baseball title secured 60 points.

UCLA also placed third in the Director’s Cup, which Stanford won for the 19th consecutive season. The Bruins now have back-to-back third-place finishes, and have landed in the top-five in eight of the past 10 years.

Per his contract, athletic director Dan Guerrero will receive a $30,000 bonus for the Bruins’ top-10 placement in the Director’s Cup.

Bruins steady in latest APR rankings

The NCAA released its annual Academic Progress Rate reports this morning, which means anyone can go fiddle with the somewhat-cumbersome search engine and figure out which rivals they can mock for their classroom failures. While certainly imperfect, the APR — which factors in eligibility and retention — is still the only college athletics’ only comprehensive academic metric.

Here are the rankings for Pac-12 football, which average out the four academic years through 2011-12:

1. Stanford, 978
2. UCLA, 966
3. Utah, 963
4. Oregon St, 957
5. Arizona, 956
6. Washington, 954
7. Oregon, 951
8. Colorado, 946
9. USC, 945
10. Washington St, 942
11. Arizona St, 937
12. Cal, 935 Continue reading “Bruins steady in latest APR rankings” »

Jim Mora, Brett Hundley appear in UCLA’s ‘You Can Play’ video

Of the more than 10,000 men playing major college football, none have yet come out as gay. UCLA football coach Jim Mora did his part to try and pave the way, appearing in the school’s “You Can Play” video this week.

Mora shows up at 0:20, while star quarterback Brett Hundley and defensive back Librado Barocio join in at 1:35. Women’s gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos Field and women’s basketball coach Cori Close open the video, which also features athletes from numerous other UCLA teams. Continue reading “Jim Mora, Brett Hundley appear in UCLA’s ‘You Can Play’ video” »