09-12-2010, 02:24 PM
as Los Angeles Times\' writer Bill Plaschke took time to highlight. Take another little piece of UCLA\'s heart, why don\'t you Bill?
"He stood on a box surrounded by nobody. He spoke to a Rose Bowl that had been nearly emptied.
When Rick Neuheisel gave his traditional postgame pep talk to the UCLA football fans from the sidelines Saturday night, I was walking down through the opposite stands, but I stopped to listen, because he sounded so futile and he seemed so alone.
I only heard half of it. The rest was drowned out by boos.
"We will get (booooo). ... We will (booooo). You can\'t get any farther down than (booooo). ..."
The legendary charm is wearing thin. The resilient smile is fooling nobody. The few folks who stayed until the end of the Bruins\' 35-0 loss to Stanford had seen enough, and could hear no more."
I admit to being of two minds about this. This is artful, cutting writing. Neuheisel\'s weasel-yness has yet to be fully exorcised. I mainline Schadenfreude. Addict, actually. And Plaschke\'s drumbeat on USC\'s athletic program scandals warmed me to him. BUT...is there a thing about, maybe, too much Schadenfreude. ? Plaschke did such a good job describing the scene, you kind of feel for Neuheisel.
And then, there\'s this: Maybe Stanford is better off with a UCLA program in turmoil than we are with a new guy who fixes things.
"He stood on a box surrounded by nobody. He spoke to a Rose Bowl that had been nearly emptied.
When Rick Neuheisel gave his traditional postgame pep talk to the UCLA football fans from the sidelines Saturday night, I was walking down through the opposite stands, but I stopped to listen, because he sounded so futile and he seemed so alone.
I only heard half of it. The rest was drowned out by boos.
"We will get (booooo). ... We will (booooo). You can\'t get any farther down than (booooo). ..."
The legendary charm is wearing thin. The resilient smile is fooling nobody. The few folks who stayed until the end of the Bruins\' 35-0 loss to Stanford had seen enough, and could hear no more."
I admit to being of two minds about this. This is artful, cutting writing. Neuheisel\'s weasel-yness has yet to be fully exorcised. I mainline Schadenfreude. Addict, actually. And Plaschke\'s drumbeat on USC\'s athletic program scandals warmed me to him. BUT...is there a thing about, maybe, too much Schadenfreude. ? Plaschke did such a good job describing the scene, you kind of feel for Neuheisel.
And then, there\'s this: Maybe Stanford is better off with a UCLA program in turmoil than we are with a new guy who fixes things.