UCLA football

C'mon, really? There are no UCLA football fans out there?

All I have to say is that with the right coach even UNC football is now ranked.

It will show if UCLA has the right coaches in the near future even if they don't ever beat USC.

I couldn't watch the game yesterday as it was neither on tv in the bay area or on espn 360. I'm excited to see how we look against Tennessee next week though. Honestly I don't think we will have a great season this year, probably between 5-7 wins but I think we will be at the top of the pack-10 in 2-3 years. Neuheisel is a great recruiter and he knows how to hire a good staff.

True enough, but they hire coaches at UCLA specifically TO beat USC. A 1-11 season with a win over USC is a success. Seriously though, a bowl appearance, even with a mediocre record, and a win over the cross-town rival ON A CONSISTENT basis will give a coach job security for a LONG time, even if they are never a national contender.

It's kind of like, as much as I would like the CU Buffs to return to the glory days circa 1990, I'm still ok with them as long as they beat CSU and Nebraska. 2-10 with those two victories is the minimum requirement for a successful season.

Sagarin wrote:

C'mon, really? There are no UCLA football fans out there?

What's wrong, Sagarin? Were you actually going out of your way to be antagonistic, and now you're disappointed because nobody took the bait?

I sincerely hope that's not the case. I thought you were better than that.

UCLA FAN wrote:

Neuheisel is a great recruiter and he knows how to hire a good staff.

That's what I'm sayin'. With the caveat that he stays out of trouble. Norm Chow will take this guy a long way. Neuheisel can recruit, meet and greet, and even involve himself with the QBs if he feels the need, AS LONG AS he stays away from the x's and o's. But, I believe UCLA will become a juggernaut in a few short years with their recruiting "pool." Let's just hope that Neuweasel doesn't do to the Bruins what he started at CU.

Seriously??? wrote:

What's wrong, Sagarin? Were you actually going out of your way to be antagonistic, and now you're disappointed because nobody took the bait?

I sincerely hope that's not the case. I thought you were better than that.

Ok Flagpole imposter, you still don't get that I didn't ATTEND USC. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate a DAMN FINE football team. I will even throw props OSU's way, just as soon as they earn it, I mean really earn it. They have their best chance in years here with their next game.

Sagarin wrote:

Ok Flagpole imposter... blah, blah, blah...

Wow! I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Sagarin. If every Pac-10 and Big-10 football team were to disappear overnight, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. However, please don't let that put an end to your paranoid rant!

Looks like I am going to need to seriously reconsider the compliments that I have previously posted on your behalf with my registered screen name. You seem to have some lingering interpersonal communication issues.

Ok, I obviously glanced too quickly over your post, and I apologize if I misconstrued your sarcasm. But, for the record, I would hope that you would feel equally comfortable commending me or criticizing me, merited or not. That's what this forum's all about. I'm sorry if I offended you. I'm just curious why you would join a football thread if you couldn't care less whether the Pac-10 and Big Ten disappeared altogether (actually, I couldn't care less either until these conferences add teams and play a conference championship like every other major conference so that we can finally have parity).

Now, back to football.

[quote]Sagarin wrote:

UCLA is put on probation due to Neuheisel's "integrity" in 3-2-1....

By the way Seriously???, I mistook your point because of the sentence you specifically replied to. Had you replied to something in the original post, I would've been on the same page I believe. But even though I've now made this thread about me, let's get back to talking about the Bruins...

Sagarin wrote:

By the way Seriously???, I mistook your point because of the sentence you specifically replied to.

I'm sorry, but based upon the overt paranoia that you displayed in your reply, I'm fairly certain that your response would have been both self-centered and self-righteous regardless of the other factors.

It's a shame, Saragin. For several years I have held the belief that you could actually engage in a reasonably intelligent conversation on the LetsRun boards without turning into a raving maniac. Needless to say, this won't be the last time I've been mistaken about an inhabitant of the LetsRun message boards.

Ok, you're making this about us again. Perhaps I made a "quantum" leap in my original assumptions. And I am quite possibly making another one in that I disagree with your assertion.

You are aware of the good-natured jab-fest between Flagpole and myself, are you not, regarding football and politics?

Sagarin wrote:

Ok, you're making this about us again.

Not intentionally, but quite frankly, you should have simply let the issue die with your first reply where you were man enough to apologize. Instead, you created another post trying to explain the thought process behind your irrational behavior.

And yes, I am familiar with what you label "the good-natured jab-fest" between you and Flagpole. That being said, if the dialogue between the two of you has evolved to the point where you have now become overly sensitive and bordering on paranoid, it sounds like the situation has deteriorated well beyond anything that most people would deem to be good-natured.

My initial inclination is to reply with your actual moniker used here. But I will merely say that our good-natured dialogue deteriorated a long time ago. But it's still good, old-fashioned ribbing nonetheless. You can respect and even like the people you disagree with but still vehemently DISAGREE with them. I think you mistook my ill-conceived analogy, but, again, I apologize for any offense (well, not USC's offense).

You have to admit that the Bruin is a pretty cool mascot. It's better than a donkey or an elephant.

No offense, but from my perspective, you seem to have let Flagpole drag you down into the depths with him.

For many years, I have viewed Flagpole as a relatively harmless participant within the LetsRun community. However, he also seems to have a tendency to go out of his way to something antagonistic and/or controversial in order to illicit a reaction from the studio audience. That's amusing in small doses, but I grew weary of his methodologies long ago.

In contrast, you usually seemed to be rational, knowledgeable, and level-headed within the non-running sports threads. Considering the sheer number of anonymous trolls on the LetsRun boards, your contributions were normally one of the highlights in any given thread. But as time goes by, you seem to emulate some of Flagpole's more unsavory characteristics much more often.

Sorry old friend, that's just one man's opinion, but I willing to venture that I'm not the only one who has noticed.

Duly noted. Look, we are all overzealous from time to time. I am far from a flawless human being, as are you. And yet, I, as I'm sure is true of you, do have worthy opinions that aren't just pulled out of thin air. Where you need to check yourself is with comments like, "I thought you were better than that, " or "It's a shame," or "needless to say, this won't be the last time I've been mistaken..." They wreak of, at best, condescension, and at worst, their own version of self-righteousness, hypocrisy, and antagonism.

Anyhow, you can take some solace in the fact that I'm off to see my CU Buffs beat up on the Rams tonight in Boulder. And I am yearning for the cross-town rivalry that used to be USC-UCLA. Kind of like I'm yearning for the rivalry that used to be CU-Nebraska, when they were both perennially top-ten. It's good for the game.

Thanks for the "old friend" comment though... good day sir.

Sagarin wrote:

you need to check yourself... condescension... self-righteousness, hypocrisy, and antagonism.

Nice touch. To utilize your own words, "duty noted." However, one of the old cliches that I often emphasize to my proteges simply states that "If you're the one who lights the fuse, don't start acting indignant when the bomb goes off!"

Of course, you are more than welcome to become overly defensive regarding my observations. You were the one who started out antagonistic from the very beginning, and it's readily apparent that every positive spin that I authored in regard to your behavior has gone in one ear and out the other. I'll sleep just fine tonight, thank you!

Take care, Sagarin. When you have some time to spare, dig up some old threads from 3-4 years ago (or more) and see how you used to act and react. I think that you might be surprised with what you see.