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Bruins can’t be choosers with
invites
PRO: UCLA in no position to turn down lesser bowl
games, will give exposure to NFL-bound
 Mike Maloney Maloney wants to thank one
of those girls from his high school for saying "yes" ““ he
owes her one. E-mail him at [email protected]. Click
Here for more articles by Mike Maloney
There was a group of girls at my high school that had this rule
when it came to school dances. If someone asked them to go, and
they didn’t already have a date, they had to say
“yes.” It didn’t matter if the guy had the social
skills of a rabid squirrel or bad breath that even a gallon of
Listerine couldn’t help. They said “yes” because
it was the honorable thing to do.
The same etiquette applies to a college football team that has
been extended a bowl game invitation. If a bowl offers you a spot,
you must accept. And it doesn’t matter if it’s the
Crucial.com Humanitarian Bowl or the Silicon Valley Classic ““
i.e., the acne-ridden of the bowl community.
If in the coming weeks UCLA is lucky enough to receive a bowl
bid, there should be no second thoughts ““ the only acceptable
answer is “yes.”
Let’s face it, after four straight losses and a
catastrophic tumble from the Top 25, UCLA isn’t exactly the
belle of the ball anymore. Now is certainly not the time for Bob
Toledo and his boys to fashion a superiority complex and turn up
their noses at a lesser bowl.
Can you imagine? “Yeah, I know we’re 6-4,
we’ve lost our marquee player and are in the bottom half of
the conference standings. But you know what? We’re too great
a program for such a nothing bowl.” What kind of message
would that send?
But there’s more than just etiquette involved here.
Playing in a bowl game, be it in Pasadena or Barstow, offers
innumerable advantages, especially when the alternative is watching
one on TV.
In extending their season, a bowl team not only adds another
game to their schedule, they’re also able to practice for an
extra few weeks, thereby getting a jump on spring practice.
That’s two or three more weeks of reps for all the players
redshirting in the program and another game for Akil Harris and
Manuel White to build the bridge from the DeShaun Foster era in the
backfield.
And don’t forget about the outgoing seniors. A bowl game
offers NFL-bound players like Robert Thomas one more opportunity to
showcase their skills for pro scouts. And even for those players,
who don’t have a future playing on Sundays, it’s a good
bet none of them wants to end his career with a meaningless
match-up against Arizona State.
Participation in a bowl game also generates large amounts of
revenue for the program. Sluggish finish or not, there are still
plenty of Bruin faithful willing to shell out the cash necessary to
root on their team one more time this season.
Which brings us to the simple notion of exposure. By playing in
a bowl game, UCLA football will extend coverage of their season by
nearly a month. That’s three or four more weeks of what is
essentially free publicity that could very well help in
recruiting.
But bottom line, the Bruins should accept a lesser bowl
invitation for the same reason those girls at my high school never
turned down a male suitor. If nothing else, at least they get to
dance.Â
UCLA doesn’t deserve to go bowling
CON: Bruins fail to show heart after 6-0 start;
shady activities of Paus, Foster embarrassed school
 Diamond Leung Leung believes that the
gutless little Bruins would be 7-point underdogs to the Daily Bruin
football team. You wanna bet? E-mail him at [email protected].
Click Here for more articles by Diamond Leung
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. There’ll
be much mistletoeing and teams will be bowling when loved ones are
near.
And it’s a time of the year that the UCLA football team
has no business being a part of. If the team were to get an
invitation to a bowl, it should politely decline it.
Bowl games are awarded to teams for having great seasons. They
are awarded to teams who have worked hard for the entire year. Bowl
games allow teams to represent their university in front of the
entire nation.
The gutless little Bruins don’t deserve any of that. After
starting off the season 6-0, they laid down and died. They will
finish in the bottom half of the Pac-10. They wasted the time and
money of the UCLA faithful who went out to support them against
USC. Cory Paus and DeShaun Foster have embarrassed themselves along
with the rest of the UCLA community.
It’s not that I’m against mediocrity. I don’t
sit alone in my room like some kind of curmudgeon muttering,
“Rose Bowl or bust.” All I ask of the Bruins is a good
effort week in and week out.
They haven’t done that and don’t deserve any
postseason game. At this point, Cal deserves to go to a bowl game
more than UCLA does. At least the Bears overachieved by actually
winning a game, beating Rutgers on Friday. You didn’t see
them give up.
UCLA should be more like Notre Dame. For one, the players should
all play with half the heart that Rudy did. Also, they should make
like the Fighting Irish and turn down invitations to second-tier
bowl games.
Let’s take a look at the two scenarios:
First there’s the Silicon Valley Bowl. There’s no
reason to go in and get WACked by a Fresno State. Besides, the game
makes for an ugly road trip. I can see it now. The football team
“borrows” DeShaun Foster’s SUV for the ride up
north. Of course, Paus needs a designated driver. But don’t
toss the keys to Brian Poli-Dixon. He’ll just drop
’em.
Then there’s the Crucial.com Humanitarian Bowl.
Humanitarian? There’s nothing humanitarian about being in
Boise, Idaho on New Year’s Eve. And no, playing on blue Astro
Turf is not cool. It’s crucial that the Bruins stay out of
this one.
OK, maybe, just maybe, I’m being a little too harsh. The
Bruins had a great first half. They were in contention for the Rose
Bowl. UCLA is still a good team.
But good teams that give up on themselves don’t deserve to
go bowling.
For the holidays, curl up by the fireplace with your Sun Bowl
jackets on. Cut your losses. See ya next year.