And What About Those Off-Field Escapades?

If Karl Dorrell is to succeed at UCLA, he is going about it the wrong way when it comes to gaining respect from fans and players. Bob Toledo failed by treating his players like employees with union representation. Coach Dorrell is doing the same with players Marcus Cassel and John Sciarra.

What should be done: Set an example and boot them off the team. Drink, drive and crash your car or drink and cause a public nuisance, should mean you don’t belong at UCLA. I would have more respect for the “business of UCLA football” and their new coach if he did that. As it stands now, this is nothing more than a Pop Warner team with pampered kids who know nothing of consequences.

Ralph Morones

La Canada

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Another week, another revelation that another UCLA football player had been arrested. USC is known as “Tailback U” because of its great running backs. At this rate, UCLA will be known as “Mug Shot U.”

Willis Barton

Los Angeles

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Perhaps Dan Guerrero should make the following mandatory as a condition of UCLA football scholarships, at least for quarterbacks:

1. Turn in your driver’s license for the term of your scholarship at UCLA.

2. Weekly attendance at AA meetings.

Daniel Dunn

Northridge

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Now, was that story [“UCLA’s Sciarra Was Arrested”] front-page sports news? I thought the article was extremely petty and unfair to the UCLA football program. This is an example of how the media tend to bring people down. Credit should be given to UCLA for hiring Karl Dorrell and making every effort to clean up their program. Let’s give them a longer grace period.

Patty Rozema

Woodland Hills

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Ironic that alongside Bill Plaschke’s column suggesting a disparity between how USC and UCLA reprimand their student athletes [“Lack of Good Will Haunting Bruins”] ran a story about the Trojans’ Marcell Allmond, a starting wide receiver at the time, who was suspended from school for an entire semester because of his involvement in a series of violent off-the-field incidents. It is gratifying to see how Allmond bounced back to become a leader of the Trojans’ vaunted defensive unit.

Yes, Bill, the programs are playing under different rules. It’s apparent one program demonstrates the proper institutional control while the other perpetuates a renegade mentality by suspending backup players from meaningless, nonconference games.

I’ll take Cardinal & Quiet any day.

Steve Ross

Sherman Oaks