Letters: UCLA basketball joins football in fans’ cross hairs

With the recent ups and downs of the UCLA football team, the casual fan might think that nothing is more volatile than Bruins football. However, over the last decade-plus, there has emerged an entirely predictable pattern to the program, best described by the words of their own fans. The only variable is the time between each phase:

Phase 1: “We’ve finally found the guy. This is the coach whose hiring finally shows the school’s commitment to being a football power.”

Phase 2: “We have a great coach!”

Phase 3: “We have a good coach.”

Phase 4: “We have a good coach, but those admissions standards are an absolute killer.”

Phase 5: “Did I mention the admissions standards?”

Phase 6: “OK, so this guy isn’t the greatest coach. But nobody can win with those admissions standards.”

Phase 7: “How many years are left on this guy’s contract?”

Phase 8: “What’s this guy’s buyout?”

Phase 8a: “Have we finished paying off the last guy?”

Return to Phase 1. Rinse and repeat.

Mark Backstrom

Inglewood

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If UCLA football’s current mediocre season goes as expected, the Bruins will beat Colorado, lose to USC, then meet a fellow mediocre team in a mediocre bowl. There is a mediocre chance that they will win that bowl game, ending up with a mediocre 7-6 record.

There is a saying, “Good is the enemy of the great.” In UCLA football’s case, mediocrity is the enemy of the good.

Paul Jeong

Beaumont

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Rick Neuheisel is quoted in Sunday’s LAT as saying “I’ve done it,” as in he thinks he’s been a winning coach. Let’s see. He took a top-10 Colorado program coming off an 11-win season and within three years turned them into a 5-6 team. At Washington, he inherited Marques Tuiasosopo and rode him to an 11-win inaugural season before falling to 8-4 and 7-6 in the two subsequent years, his last. Toss in a history of ethical lapses, greedy demands, slipperiness, lame excuses, delusional self-promotion and abject phoniness, and I can agree. Rick Neuheisel has indeed “done it.”

Lynn T. Wood

Huntington Beach

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Dan Guerrero has done a great job finding coaches for the Bruins’ water polo, volleyball, soccer and softball teams. If only he could find good coaches in football and basketball. While he’s at it maybe he could find a new job for himself.

R.J. Mendelson

Playa del Rey

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Arguably the best offensive coordinator in college football history, Norm Chow’s reputation was tarnished during his three years at UCLA. It’s ironic that Chow’s reputation was again elevated to genius levels — once he faced Rick Neuheisel’s Bruins.

Jack Wolf

Westwood

Then there’s Ben

Ben Howland: Then and now

Then: His center was hungry for wins.

Now: His center is hungry for food.

Then: His players were decorated with awards.

Now: His players are decorated with tattoos.

Then: He recruited point guards who end up in the NBA.

Now: He recruits point guards who end up at other schools.

Then: His guards made three-pointers.

Now: His guards make three points.

Then: Had players with sweet jump shots.

Now: Has players who tweet dumb thoughts.

Then: His teams lost games in the Final Four.

Now: His teams lose games in the first four.

Then: His players played like John Wooden.

Now: His players play like John Wooden’s great-grandson.

Then: His teams didn’t play any zone defense.

Now: His teams don’t play any defense.

Then: He replaced Steve Lavin as coach.

Now: Sometimes it’s hard to tell.

Bennett Beebe

Westwood

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I read with disgust UCLA sophomore Joshua Smith’s complaint about playing basketball in the Sports Arena. While many of Mr. Smith’s classmates struggle to pay rising tuition fees, $136 million is being spent to renovate Pauley Pavilion for his team. With his sense of entitlement in this time of austerity, Mr. Smith is clearly ready to make the jump into the NBA.

William Enger

San Marino

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So I guess not a lot of fans will be spending that $16 for that bus ride from Westwood to the Sports Arena?

Fred Wallin

Westlake Village

Locked out

I am so tired of reading all the letters to the editor about minor stupid issues when there are important things happening in our world. I’m talking about the NBA strike. All these poor men facing a year without million-dollar paychecks, nowhere to go to stay out of trouble, lap dancers facing greatly reduced income in NBA cities all over America, and don’t forget the children (and I’m just talking about the ones they admit are their own). Makes your problems seem minor by comparison.

Bob Paniagua

Susanville, Calif.

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Can one imagine if the NBA goes on strike what that would do for some college teams that complain that they are losing top players early to the draft, when there is no NBA for a college player to leave school for?

And as I sit here, with NFL football in full swing, with college football getting ready for league championships and bowl games and with college, and high school basketball starting their season, I ask, is anyone really missing the NBA games? And the response I get is a loud and emphatic “No!”

I think that the NBA has radically misjudged the love of the public for the game, given the price to attend a game in a stadium, and it may be the players that have killed the golden goose.

Barry Levy

Hawthorne

Raise your hand if you’re a lifelong, true-blue Los Angeles sports fan who adores the Lakers but deep inside would relish it if the NBA season was totally canceled because it would serve as the hydrogen-bomb example we’ve all been waiting for to demonstrate to the world that greed has totally corrupted sports in this country along with all of Western civilization.

Pete Howard

San Luis Obispo

The scandal

Penn State, long known as “Linebacker U,” sadly has become “Shame on U.”

Joe R. Ponce

Sylmar

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Amen to all that Bill Dwyre said in his Nov. 15 column. Time to shake up the good old boys. But it’s easier said than done, especially when some people’s bread is being buttered by layers of bureaucracy, in-house influence, backroom deals, nepotism and tons of money. Here’s an idea: Shut down all television and radio coverage of NCAA football and basketball for two years for all colleges throughout America. If fans want to see a game, let them buy a ticket and go to the stadium. This will stem the flow of money to programs and make them think carefully about corruption. I agree with Dwyre. Something has to be done.

Chet Chebegia

Long Beach

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The simple truth is that this will be, as always, about money. The NCAA will sweep this under the rug as fast as they can. They’ll maintain it is “an isolated incident” or a “criminal matter left to the courts” and then the money machine that is college football will roll on.

But if we are all honest, we are all to blame. We all clamor for our favorite teams. The Times and ESPN make money covering the people that are responsible for these acts. We all vote for the system every day in the most American of ways, with our dollars. If we didn’t keep supporting the system it would change. We don’t quit and neither will they.

Jeff Heister

Chatsworth

Welcome Matt

Oh, yes, good news. The bankrupt Dodgers (define bankrupt for me?) drop $160 million on future speculations based on, what, their solid track record? And why not? It must be they’ll simply raise already usurious ticket and concession prices on loyal fools — sorry, fans stuck in the mire of a sickly economy — to pay for it.

Michael E. White

Burbank

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A year ago, Matt Kemp was a fat, whiny underachiever who wanted to be traded from the Dodgers. Now, he has signed a $160-million contract? Was Kemp’s 2011 season a one-year fluke or the beginning of his rise as one of baseball’s best players?

David Saw

Diamond Bar

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Frank McCourt seeks redemption for his mea culpa by blaming his ex-wife’s divorce settlement, Commissioner Bud Selig, and Major League Baseball for “the ownership struggle of the last two years.”

While attempting to “take the high road out of town,” Frank McCourt refuses to acknowledge the charge of “looting” $189 million from team revenue. And while currently proceeding to choose a new owner, McCourt facetiously speaks of his and Jamie’s 2004 team commitment to “put everything they have into it.”

Violating that trust and promise just seven years later, the McCourts have instead managed to take everything they could beg, borrow and steal from ever-loyal Los Angeles Dodgers’ fans.

Dan Anzel

Los Angeles

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So Frank McCourt says he plans to stay in Los Angeles. No surprise there. How on Earth could we expect him to leave when he’s required to be in Superior Court seemingly every day?

Jim Meser

Simi Valley

It’s a kick

Of course Tim Leiweke believes that the David Beckham signing was worthwhile, even though the Galaxy has yet to win a trophy with him on the roster. Heck, he probably thinks the Kings are serious Stanley Cup contenders even though they have never advanced past the second round of the playoffs in AEG’s 16 years of ownership. AEG wants to own property, not titles. They care about land, not championships.

No wonder Farmers Field has such an open design; it’s a safety feature for all the hot air emanating from AEG’s offices.

Jonah Tabak

Beverly Hills

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