New Bruin Head Coach Rick Neuheisel makes it clear at the Press Conference: He only has ‘Heis for U (CLA), and it brings tears to our ‘Heis
A Sports discussion, that wasn’t about anyone freshly dead, and it still brought tears to people’s eyes. The overwhelmingly sincere emotion in the room was palpable, as the Bruins’ Prodigal Son made his triumphant return to Westwood yesterday, to nothing but open arms and watery eyes.
Rick Neuheisel was STIRRING, as he recounted his days as a Walk-On at UCLA in the 80’s, and how much it means to him to be back. His HUMOR was sharp — It was like “A Night at the Improv.” He had the audience laughing out loud, when they weren’t almost crying. He commented that when he first came out as QB, he was playing catch with Rick Sharp, who threw a much better spiral than he did…and…”Sharp was a Tight End!”
Neuheisel stressed the importance of Family, and was accompanied by his on the “stage.” He was funny while referring to his Wife as the boss, when it comes to non-Football decisions. His kids showed lots of energy and exuberance, but when they needed to get by us, they were very polite and well-mannered. If it’s any indication of “upbringing,” then it’s nice to know that the Bruins will continue to act with manners and Class in public, as they did under Karl Dorrell.
And speaking of Dorrell, Neuheisel showed some Class of his own by saying, basically, that he will NOT CONDONE any bad-mouthing of Karl Dorrell around him. He said that Dorrell did many good things, but that they didn’t always show up on the scoreboard. He added that he intends to carry on the Dorrell Legacy (of competing with character and class). At this point, yours truly started what immediately became the loudest, most sustained ovation of the entire event. Nice to see the Bruin fans and Media embrace the anti-KD-hater sentiment.
Bruin Quarterback Pat Cowan was in the crowd, along with a handful of his teammates. Of course, without jerseys, it’s not that easy to identify who’s who, but we did NOT see Ben Olson.
DeWayne Walker also was not there, and last night, various sources were claiming opposite news on whether Walker will be the D.C. for Washington or UCLA next year. Neuheisel reiterated at the Press Conference that he truly covets Walker, and would try to get him as soon as Walker is ready. Neuheisel said that he didn’t want to rush anything, but hinted that by the end of the week, the future should be clearing up.
Speaking of clearing up, Neuheisel showed incredible restraint and patience, after a Press MEMBER basically REPEATED the SAME old question about what Rick has learned from his prior troubles. There was no way to answer without completely repeating, for the THIRD time, including the original speech before the Q & A, the same explanation of maturity and understanding.
Rick said all the right things, without notes, and seems on the level, but what really matters is this: He now KNOWS that he can NOT get away with ANYTHING. Therefore, since crime won’t pay, he won’t even be tempted to cheat. It’s like he’s scared straight by the Shick Center for Minor Violations. A losing record he can survive; New NCAA troubles would spell the quick and permanent end to his Dream Job. He knows it, and he won’t allow it. Amazingly, he is even maintaining a great sense of humor about it, twice making jokes to the Media yesterday about his cramming for the Violations Exam that he’s going to take soon.
During the Q & A, questions were limited to the “REAL Media,” so we’ll have to wait for another time to ask him our burning question: “WHY in Hell would you choose usc Law School?!?”
Below are a few photos from the “Presser,” [oooh, what a hip term!]. The lighting was so low, that 180 of our 200 photos came out blurry, so we were thrilled to see that the photo that the Official UCLA Website used as their Headline photo was blurrier than any of the six here (and THOSE guys have tripods, expensive equipment, and are sitting right in front!). Hopefully, Rick will strike up a relationship with Mollie (not that they’re available, but boy would they have cute blonde offspring), and he will insist on a Bruin Cheerleader presence at all UCLA Football functions, including Press Conferences, besides just Geoffrey Strand.
[Editor’s Note: By the way, Lea B., if you’re still around, feel free to write me for anything that I can do for you, as you set up a new Office (??)].
And FINALLY: Happy New Year to all non-trOJans. Go Illini (yeah, right).
