Comments on: UCLA Football Keys to Success: Ditch Spring Practice http://larrybrownsports.com/college-football/ucla-football-shows-win-ditches-practice/1483 Brown Bag it, Baby Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:11:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Gene http://larrybrownsports.com/college-football/ucla-football-shows-win-ditches-practice/1483#comment-115179 Gene Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:05:37 +0000 http://larrybrownsports.com/college-football/ucla-football-shows-win-ditches-practice/#comment-115179 Nice try, Erik. What is missing from your argument is: 1) Toledo also led the Bruins to some great seasons in the late 1990's, which included wins over USC and a Cotton Bowl win and Rose Bowl appearance. 2) There were high school coaches and recruits present. They came to watch a Bruin practice. Maybe they were deterred from attending our fine campus in Westwood by that ridiculous display by the team. 3) The tradition was for an "over the wall" escape. This year's team was either too lazy or not athletic enough to scale the wall. They left through an open door. 4) Maybe a team with the same coaching staff returning intact could afford a day off. This team, unlike most of the previous ditching teams, had a new head coach and offensive coordinator and could ill afford to miss even one day of spring practice. If you know your Bruin history, all of the "over the wall" episodes took place under Terry Donohue and Karl Dorrell. There were no other leadership changes, if you leave Toledo out of the mix. Nice try, Erik. What is missing from your argument is:

1) Toledo also led the Bruins to some great seasons in the late 1990’s, which included wins over USC and a Cotton Bowl win and Rose Bowl appearance.

2) There were high school coaches and recruits present. They came to watch a Bruin practice. Maybe they were deterred from attending our fine campus in Westwood by that ridiculous display by the team.

3) The tradition was for an “over the wall” escape. This year’s team was either too lazy or not athletic enough to scale the wall. They left through an open door.

4) Maybe a team with the same coaching staff returning intact could afford a day off. This team, unlike most of the previous ditching teams, had a new head coach and offensive coordinator and could ill afford to miss even one day of spring practice. If you know your Bruin history, all of the “over the wall” episodes took place under Terry Donohue and Karl Dorrell. There were no other leadership changes, if you leave Toledo out of the mix.

]]> By: Erik http://larrybrownsports.com/college-football/ucla-football-shows-win-ditches-practice/1483#comment-115156 Erik Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:49:42 +0000 http://larrybrownsports.com/college-football/ucla-football-shows-win-ditches-practice/#comment-115156 I think that article is a waste of time. The others writing about this are wasting their time as well. As a matter of fact, so am I. But, it is now 136 days before the first game. Let me just mention a coach who made a comment in the LA Times article. The coach and former player for Fresno State said "Let me put it this way, they wouldn't have done that at Fresno State." During this coach's career at FSU, they had I believe a 23 and 24 record. Although they had a winning record in his final year, they lost to a 4 and 7 UCLA team coached by Bob Toledo who suspended the tradition. So in the end, we have a bunch of people who have no right to make comments still making these comments because there is nothing better to write about in sports right now. I think that article is a waste of time. The others writing about this are wasting their time as well. As a matter of fact, so am I. But, it is now 136 days before the first game. Let me just mention a coach who made a comment in the LA Times article. The coach and former player for Fresno State said “Let me put it this way, they wouldn’t have done that at Fresno State.” During this coach’s career at FSU, they had I believe a 23 and 24 record. Although they had a winning record in his final year, they lost to a 4 and 7 UCLA team coached by Bob Toledo who suspended the tradition. So in the end, we have a bunch of people who have no right to make comments still making these comments because there is nothing better to write about in sports right now.

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