Dan Guerrero & Kim Jung Il

UCLA wants a great football program like North Korea wants world peace.

Those words are from Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio this past Friday morning, before yesterday’s embarrassment at Washington. We quote Colin’s words here because, well, they crack us up, are prophetic and right on the mark. We have to ask ourselves as alums, as fans, as UCLA Football lovers, do we really want to be a great football school? That is the question that it all boils down to.

When we hire a wide-receivers coach to take on one of the marquee programs in the country, if that’s what we think it is, we have to question the hiring. When we put talented players on the field and get embarrassed, we have to question the coaching. When we lose the recruiting battles year in year out, and experience decline in our talent over the span of four years, we have to question the recruiting. When we allow poor coaching and recruiting to build a culture of mediocrity in Bruins Nation we have to question the judgment and motivation of our Athletic Director.

It appears that Dan Guerrero is going to let Coach Dorrell turn our football program into a second-rate program for as long as Toledo and Lavin, or worse. We just don’t get it. At least Lavin gave us some big-time wins, even if they came seemingly without any strategy whatsoever. Are Dan Guerrero and Morgan Center lying to us? Are we really trying to establish a top-notch football program, worthy of the pride, tradition and strength of the UCLA community? If not, stop blowing smoke up our a##! Tell alums that football is not a top priority. Tell them so that they dont spend their money buying season tickets and going to games and supporting the program unwittingly; at least tell the alums who expect more.

Colin Cowherd got it right, when it comes to football UCLA is like North Korea. And Dan Guerrero is like Kim Jung Il (we know we are stretching it … we have a sense of humor after all). The North Korean despot is lying to his people. He is telling them they are great when they all know they are not. He is telling them they can beat the giants, when they all know they can’t. He is telling them they are on the right path, when they all know they are on the wrong path. And, he is maintaining the status quo as their situation continues to deteriorate. Kind of sounds familiar.

We would have more respect for the program, even if we did disagree, if Morgan Center, Dan Guerrero, the Chancellor, anyone, just came out and said, “hey, football is not a priority.” Ok, ok. Thanks for the info. Then we could be like Harvard rather than North Korea. We could still root for the Blue and Gold, go to the Rose Bowl, and gamely talk up and bet on our boys, against all odds. “The boys played tough today, eh?!” we could say, as we got hammered by Southern Cal once again. That is better than the charade DG and KD are putting on now. Seriously.

There aren’t just streaks to continue, there are standards to uphold, traditions to maintain.

This quote comes from JA Adande of the LA Times. He is not talking about UCLA Football, of course. He is talking about Southern Cal Football. Those are words that speak loudly to their community, across the nation, to recruits and foes alike, that Southern Cal takes what they do in football seriously. It may only be football, but as with anything in life one should try to perform the best they know how, and that is what they are doing.

So what are we doing?? Are we putting the best that UCLA can put on the field in football?? If we are, then we need changes, and that couldn’t be more obvious now than after Rice, Wyoming, Fresno State, Arizona, Southern Cal … and on and on. If we are not, then lets stop with the charade, Kim Jung … Guerrero.

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