Diamond Leung Leung was once offered a
drink from a homeless man. He resisted temptation. E-mail Leung
with free offers as well as thoughts about the Foster situation at
[email protected].
DeShaun, DeShaun, DeShaun. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Heisman trophy?
No chance anymore.
Win against Oregon?
Unlikely.
Win against ‘SC?
Without Foster, even that’s debatable.
And it’s all because of an alleged shiny new Ford
Expedition.
The senior tailback was declared ineligible by the UCLA
Wednesday for a possible “extra benefits” violation. In
layman’s terms, he may have gotten the hook-ups because
he’s an athlete.
Surprise, surprise.
“I just know personally that if someone tries to give you
something for free, it’s hard not to take anything,”
defensive end Kenyon Coleman said. “I don’t know what
happened to DeShaun, but it’s just unfortunate.”
What’s unfortunate is that players can’t resist the
temptation and, consequently, cause scandal. The list goes on.
Peter Warrick. JaRon Rush. Kristee Porter.
And it’s sad. Fans care about Foster and his 12
touchdowns. They care about the nation’s third-leading rusher
trying to lead UCLA to the national championship.
They don’t care about an SUV that Foster may or may not
have driven.
Football is entertainment. NCAA violations are not. But now,
they often become a bigger deal than the games themselves.
It can only hurt the athletes. Foster, arguably the most
recognizable Bruin to the sports world, has to sit out simply
because he just couldn’t resist.
Still, life goes on. On Thursday, the band played on, practicing
at the North Athletic Field for Saturday’s football game.
Students strolled down Bruin Walk, sporting UCLA across their
chests.
The football team was also back to normal, or at least trying.
Somehow, someway, the Bruins had to avoid the distraction.
There was seemingly nothing out of the ordinary at practice. The
players stretched. Punter Nate Fikse kicked the ball around. The
offense ran its practice plays.
And when wide receiver Brian Poli-Dixon was dogging it on a
drill, it didn’t go unnoticed.
“C’mon now, Brian. Tuck the ball away,” wide
receivers coach Ron Caragher said.
Poli-Dixon did for the remainder of the drill, but later
proceeded to drop a perfectly-placed pass from quarterback Cory
Paus.
Nothing new here. It’s the same old Bruins. They win some,
they lose some. An occasional scandal.
Only this time, it forced unproven tailbacks Akil Harris and
Manuel White into action, as the tandem got reps with the
first-team in practice.
That’s because Foster, the leader of the team, let his
team down. He may have already played his last game as a Bruin.
Too bad ““ for everyone.