November 19, 2007
Keep Lavin And Keep Us Posted
The fallout from Kurt Streeter's race-baiting tabloid column in the LAT on keeping Dorrell, "Keep Dorrell and keep me posted," has been widespread. Bruins all over the internet have eviscerated every claim made in Streeter's destructive piece. Most die-hard Dorrell supporters even called for Dorrell to distance himself from what Streeter wrote, including Dorrell's own ungrateful quotes. Bruin Nation has made it very clear that Dorrell cannot get away with playing the race card at UCLA. Dorrell's decision to spend an hour with Streeter Sunday posing with his middle finger at UCLA, deflecting focus from and not preparing "hard" for the Oregon game, has completely backfired.
Here is a sampling of the fallout:
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People ripping Randy Pfund didn't hate his whiteness and those ripping Magic Johnson's coaching didn't hate him for being black. People excoriating Steve Lavin with a vitriol still not yet served to Coach Dorrell didn't hate him for being white. THe people already screaming about Guerrero are NOT doing so because he is of latino heritage. I'd love to see this write take on somone who wants Dorrell fired and Chow hired. Does this writer hate Asian Mormons!!!!
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I truly believed that KD had enough integrity to not play the card — or to not act in complicity with an accomplice who did. I thought the last vestige of KD's dignity would be saved by his forgoing the play. Today, in my eyes, he lost that last vestige of dignity. I've said often that I'll not gloat or be happy when KD is fired. I would be sobered by the "lost opportunity". But, that was yesterday and this is today. I cannot feel sorry for a man who allows his name to be used in a racist attack on my alma mater and on all of the people who have carefully crafted fact based arguments on why he should be fired. Good riddance.
- In terms of coaching, if the race card is used successfully to save a mediocre coach, or to bring public opinion or media pressure onto an AD, what lesson will be learned by others? What if 3 years from now, the Athletic Director at another major D-1A school faces an otherwise tough decision between 2 coaches who he believes to have equal chances of success, one of whom being of color. Think of the possibility that after a 5-7 or 6-7 season, an underachieving coach (guess who?) was able to save his job because of the threat of a wave of bad press, even cries of racism? Or that this coach was fired in spite of a slash and burn pr campaign criticizing the decision as racially motivated. If you are this future AD, who would you hire?
- IF TRUE that KD has brought his skin color into this issue in any way shape or form - he should be gone today - period. Racism IS alive and well in many ways in all walks of life - on BOTH SIDES of the fence. But for KD to try to save himself with this garbage is disgusting. IF he had actually made these comments, he's proven that the only racist in this equation is himself. And he should be gone.
7 Comments on Keep Lavin And Keep Us Posted
November 19, 2007
Corn Radington @ 1:08 pm:
Dear Kurt,
I was very disappointed with your comments… Karl is obviously a personal friend of yours. To become emotional and lose your professionalism as a writer in support of a friendship is understandable, thought, as a loyal latimes.com reader- not acceptable! Your argument has more holes than a block of aged Swiss cheese and, frankly, it stunk much worse. What made me really sick was this comment: “Over time, Dorrell’s teams have won nearly six of every 10 games — pretty much the standard Bruins clip”. This, sir, is exactly why Mr. Dorrell needs to be shown the door! This acceptance of mediocrity has go to stop… Many including myself felt Karl was the answer. Sadly, he is not and will never be. I was also troubled by the comment that Karl feels he has not been “… given a fair shake…” because he is a black man. Wrong again. If Karl would have lived up to expectations, we as Bruin fans, would have supported him in a run for mayor. It’s all about winning at this level, Kurt. I am happy that Dorrell has developed a bunch of good citizens but that is expected… why should we give him kudos for something that is a given? Duh! You should be ashamed of your self for stooping to the level of in-house flaky and your editor is also on the hook for allowing you to pad your “good deed for a good guy” account. “Self serving” is an understatement for that piece of work. Your article did NOTHING good for the city (my home town) and your readership and I will forever look at your stuff with a wary eye.
Conrad Rios
conrad.rios@uniontrib.com
TommyBruin @ 3:11 pm:
What DOOFUS playing the race card really shows is just how clueless he is. Who’s going to take seriously this millionaire’s claim that UCLA, who gave him the chance of a lifetime, hasn’t given him a fair shake? Maybe his deluded buddy Kurt Streeter from Berkeley, but nobody with any ability at critical reasoning.
What he’s really doing with this “scorched earth policy” of calling UCLA and its fans (at least the ones that can see that the Emperor is wearing no clothes) racists is ensuring that nobody else will ever hire him, at least not as a head coach. Maybe as assistant to the secretary in charge of the water bucket. Maybe he figures, “Oh well, with my record, who’d hire me anyway?” If he’ll turn on UCLA, after the chance they’ve given him (and continue to give him), he’ll obviously turn on anybody. Loyalty means nothing to DOOFUS.
Which leads to the other consequence of The Thinker’s scorched earth policy. He will not be remembered by the Bruin faithful as only a bad football coach. His legacy will be that all true Bruins will regard him as the lowest of the low, the scum of the Earth, the one who was given every chance to succeed and gave UCLA and all of us the finger on his way out the door after he had failed miserably.
What all this shows is that DOOFUS is just as clueless in playing the PR game as he is in the game of football. He just punted on 4th and inches on the Notre Dame 35 yard line again. This time what he lost was not a football game, but the respect of all the Bruin faithful.
Diego @ 8:22 pm:
Editor’s Note: This comment has been edited for privacy. Phone numbers have been x’ed out.
The following are emails that I exchanged with Kurt Streeter. Clearly this man is too close to Karl Dorrell and his own personal issues to have sound perspective on the firing of KD. I have not responded to the last email, because I just read it. I will be responding, of course. How embarrassing that Kurt would comport himself in this fashion.
From: Streeter, Kurt
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 3:36 PM
To: Diego
Subject: RE:
Oh yeah, race. You’re right, race has no part in this. None. Matter of fact, race is not a problem in the United States and never has been. And after all, race was the entire point of the column. I mean, it was all about race, from the very first line. Race, race, race. The whole thing — all of it was an excuse for Dorrell because Dorrell is black. I mean, just look at the what that nasty Kurt Streeter wrote: I’m convinced that race plays a role in what some of you critics are saying. To think otherwise would be plain foolish. Some of you just don’t know what to make of a coach who does not fit into your convenient stereotypes. Unbelievable. He thinks some of the critics just might have a hard time accepting Dorrell. Some of them just don’t know what to make of him. Oh, that just hurts so bad I can’t stomach it. I mean, he wrote that all of this is is about race, didn’t he? He said all of us are racist, right? Streeter should be ashamed. I need a good cliché for what he did…lemme see…uh, how about this? “He played the race card.” Yes, that is highly original and I think I will write to tell him that. Oh, that mean Kurt Streeter, he should be so embarrassed. I mean, doesn’t he know what a football powerhouse UCLA has always been? They won their last national title just yesterday, in 1954, and since then it’s been nothing but 10 win seasons until that Karl Dorrell got his hands on the program. Any coach with a lesser record should be tossed straight off the Santa Monica Pier. Fed to the sharks! Now look at the Bruins. 7 wins. 6 wins…yeah, I know, there’s one 10 win season there but that was all luck. Just pure luck. It had nothing to do with coaching. Those comebacks were a sign of terrible coaching because the Bruins should never be behind in the first place. But those losses, those losses had everything to do with coaching. EVERYTHING. And then there’s that injury thing. What a weak excuse. I mean, good God, any coach worth his salt can figure out how to win with third stringers and walk-ons. Oh, you want proof? Just look at SC and how they whupped up on Stanford this year…oh…wait, maybe not. Ok, didn’t you see what Oregon did against Arizona? The second best team in all of the land marches into Tucson, loses their starting quarterback and voila…uh, oh, wait, they got pummeled? Oh, never mind. But I still think injuries play no part in this.
Why that Karl Dorrell is the worst coach in history and Kurt Streeter is defending him. He should be embarrassed.
Kurt Streeter
Columnist
Los Angeles Times
202 West First St.
Los Angeles, Ca. 90012
w - xxxxx
c - xxxx
—–Original Message—–
From: Diego
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 2:23 PM
To: Streeter, Kurt
Subject: RE:
I’m sorry, but I don’t carry the embarrassment. That is done entirely by your unsubstantiated claims, your obtuse perspective and your irresponsible playing of the race card. I understand that Karl Dorrell walked in to your trap, but setting that trap bares a lack of ethics. I suppose you’ve achieved your goal: To take a contrarian position in an effort to attract readership. I didn’t realize you were this lacking in attention. Clearly, though, your position is unfounded. Further, you may have just advanced our position with regards to firing Dorrell. You see, his integrity is about all that he has proven sound at UCLA. Playing the race card by saying he hasn’t been given a fair shake after 5 !!!! years of opportunity is damning to his integrity.
Thank you for helping advance his termination
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From: Streeter, Kurt
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 1:50 PM
To: Diego
Subject: RE:
I’m sorry you are embarrassed. That’s really too bad.
Kurt Streeter
Columnist
Los Angeles Times
202 West First St.
Los Angeles, Ca. 90012
w - xxxxxx
c - xxxxx
—–Original Message—–
From: Diego
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 1:38 PM
To:
Subject:
To say that your column was embarrassing, is to say the best that can possibly be said.
DumpDorrell @ 8:35 pm:
Diego, wow … can you forward to us the email tree? You have our email.
yooklafan @ 8:46 pm:
I couldn’t wait to get on the site after reading that article over the weekend, wow what a load of shiznit that was. The sad part is that this schmuck didn’t present any evidence of his claim whatsoever, just polarized the whole bruin nation as being racist, hey I will be the first to admit that race is in play today no fng sh!@ but your accussing the least racist university in the least racist state in the US, attacking the mold breakers, and on top of it offers nothing that KD has done well, just says six wins a season is par for UCLA. What a frigging moron, jesus I wasnt even angry with KD’s statement, obvious rope a dope… but this writer what a frigging R tard. KD sux as a coach period…I doubt he meant to do anyharm and he will be gone or UCLA doesnt win ever black, white, mollato, asian, martian, swedish crossdresser hermaphrodite porn star…dont matter a loser as a coach a great guy. And this Kurt Beater has pushed me over the edge GO DUCKS!!!
Diego @ 10:40 pm:
DD- I sent them to your email.
I was truly surprised he engaged this much, but he did.
What’s on this site is the full string, but in the email i sent you are the originals that contain my email address, as well as his.
November 20, 2007
WHP '68 @ 6:56 am:
Diego,
You did more than you can imagine with that exchange. Apparently, you caught Streeter at the precise moment of frustration where he needed to lash out at an opponent. It is probably because of the sound denunciation his column received on that blog posting. In any event, your exchange with him laid bare his agenda which was sadly different than Dorrell’s.
It is apparent that Dorrell is merely interested in self-preservation; Streeter has a race-baiting axe to grind.
Either way, this little foray of Dorrell’s into this swamp makes him more of an embarrassment for Dan Guerrero and, therefore, he becomes less desirable to cintinue on in his present position.
..and your exchange with Streeter was brilliant! You stuck to the facts; he lost it. Good job!