BRUINS PUT THE HURT ON ‘ZONA, CARROLL PUTS THE DIRT ON SANCHEZ

Bitter trojan Coach bemoans his QB’s early departure, then UCLA forces the early departure of Wildcat fans from Pauley in 83-60 blowout

[COMMENTS NOW ENABLED] 

Hey High School Football Recruits:  If you want to play for a Coach who won’t support you, and won’t have your back, but WILL spitefully cost you millions and millions of dollars, come to usc.

Mark Sanchez announced his intentions to declare for the NFL Draft yesterday, which means that he will skip his last year at usc.  Apparently, this does not sit well with Head Coach Pete Carroll.  Of course not — What Coach would want to see his star player blow off a year of games?  But at every Press Conference you see, the Coach is always supportive of his departing player.  Until yesterday.  AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE, Pete got up and decried Sanchez’ decision.  He went on for several minutes, raining on the young man’s parade, citing stat after stat about WHY the decision sucked.

The impression he left was that Sanchez was not ready for the Pro’s.  What that stunning lack of support could do is actually LOWER Sanchez’ stock in the Draft.  If he doesn’t get picked high in the Draft, his contract will be millions and millions of dollars smaller than if Carroll had just kept his mouth shut.  But instead, Carroll went on and on about how early-leaver QB’s do NOT succeed in the NFL, and that Sanchez would be no different.  And then, he stormed out of the Press Conference.  For real.  He didn’t stick around for the rest of Sanchez’ final moment as the sc QB.  Instead, as an “f. u.” statement, he DEPARTED EARLY.  Classic?  Maybe.  Class?  Definitely not.

Another reason why this whole scenario is absurd, is that sc will have four QB’s on their roster next year, all of whom are already capable of leading the trojans to an undefeated season.  With all the talent there, Mitch Mustain definitely and most likely the other three would all slide right in and continue the trend.  So why Carroll is acting up over the decision is unknown.  Sounds like nothing more than a control freak on a power trip, who cannot stand being defied.

Not being defied lately are the Basketball Bruins, who crushed Arizona last night, 83-60.  UCLA pulled away behind the zone-busting outside shooting of Nikola Dragovic and Michael Roll.  Darren Collison had success as well, but he got his by penetrating the zone, drawing fouls, and dishing out assists.  The Bruins were well-prepared for the Zone, finding a weakness around the foul line.  And the Bruins were strong inside, thanks especially to Alfred Aboya, who notched a Double-Double.

The UCLA Defense was the difference, making the Arizona Offense look disjointed and out of sync.  Predictably, the 23-point loss was the Wildcats’ worst of the year.  UCLA should get a tougher test up next, as ASU comes into Pauley angry, off a come-from-ahead loss at the Galen Center.  The Sun Devils choked away a 10-point lead at sc, while dreaming about playing in Pauley Pavilion.

And speaking of dreamy…