Better know a conference foe: UCLA

Welcome to this weeks' edition of "Better know".  Today we'll profile UCLA.

Wikipedia facts:

• Nobel laureates: 14 (CU has 8)
• Astronauts: 6 (CU has 18)
• Football National Championships:  1 - in 1954 (CU has 1)
• Heisman Trophies: 1 - Gary Beban, 1967 (CU has 1)
• Basketball National Championships: 11! (CU has 0)
• Skiing National Championships: 0 (CU has SEVENTEEN)

Famous alums:

Vint Cerf (the Father of the Internet, have you heard of it?), Jack Black (Nacho Libre), Francis Ford Coppola (director of the Godfather franchise, Apocalypse Now), James Dean (brooding cool guy), Rob Reiner (Director) Anthony Keidis (Red Hot Chili Pepper), Jim Morrison, Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Jackie Robinson, Jimmy Connors, Bill Walton,  Arthur Ashe

"I invented the Internet.  I trust you're using it wisely?"

Apocalypse Now was a prequel to the Neuheisel era

Went to the same school as Vint Cerf (!?)

The Jim Morrison of Funk

The Jim Morrison

Jackie

Lew

Wow.  Way to represent, Bruins!  Except in the astronaut and skiing category where you obviously suck.  It's OK, most schools do.


Now let's talk about football.  Football!


I know we have all been riding the high of the first ever Pac-12 victory by the Buffs (high five!).  But the truth is that the Buffs have struggled mightily in recent years.  It's been frustrating, it's been painful.  One might be tempted to ask the big questions:


"Is there a god?  And if so, why does he hate the Buffs?"


To which I answer:


"Maybe.  And something to do with Rick Neuheisel."


You see the great Buff decline began when Rick took over a dominant CU Buffs program upon the abrupt retirement of Bill McCartney.  Neu was an unqualified lackey who was handed the keys to one of the hottest vehicles in all of college football.  Four years later, he departed for Washington leaving behind NCAA violations and a program in a downward spiral.  We never really recovered.  Not yet anyway.


And off he went to Washington (while declaring Colorado a "have-not") where, after some brief success, left amidst NCAA violations and a declining football program.  After a few years in the wilderness Washington has begun to recover - as the Buffs saw up close earlier this season. 


And yet, Neu got hired again.  This time for his dream job - to coach his alma mater, UCLA.  He has broken the Colorado/Washington pattern this time, however.  It seems that he has skipped the "be good at first" part and gone straight to the "sucking later" part.  UCLA is not good and it seems the wolves are at Rick's door - a fan base calling for change in LA.


And such is the poetry of the moment.  The great circle of life unfolding before our eyes.  In a singular great moment in Pasadena, our 2011 Buffs have the possibility of :

1. reversing their own fortunes and embarking upon the path back to competence (and eventual greatness)
2. ending a 22 game road losing streak
3. being the final straw that get's Neuheisel fired 

The sweetness of the moment would be divine and I feel it's indeed what the universe demands.  So bask in it, Buff Nation, for in it lies your own rebirth.  


Amen.

The end