Rick Neuheisel Calls His Shot: "The Football Monopoly in Los Angeles Is Officially Over"

Well, at least, those are somebody's words, and he's in the picture doing that Urban Meyer pointy thing. At right is what appeared in yesterday's Los Angeles Times. Notice the big, bold, capital OVER. Now technically this isn't so much a shot across the bow as a call to an end to USC's hegemonic grip on football success in Los Angeles. But we all know the other message implied here: I'm coming for you, USC. Cue the High Noon audio.

Bold. And idiotic. Pete Carroll being Pete Carroll, he'll laugh this off in public and promptly save it for bulletin board material at suitable leisure. It's not that the ad is wrong in anyway, as the mandate for any football coach at UCLA is to achieve parity with and if possible exceed USC. But one can't laugh at how ridiculous it sounds given the position USC is in, having gone places UCLA simply can only imagine in its football history.

As a USC alum it is assumed I should be typing the obligatory IT.IS.ON. But that's not how we roll, UCLA's the irritating kid brother when it comes to football. This is quiet reflection and amusement time. Then its off to the memory hole to be recalled sometime around early December before the ritual stomping. At least, we hope.

(Orange County Register via WildWest)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-26-2008 @ 3:03PM

stompaberdeen said...

As a USC alum...

My respect level for you just went from 75% to 100%.

8-26-2008 @ 3:17PM

RealWorld said...

"This guy is pathetic, his father is/was a Senator from Arizona and he himself has a law degree"

Wow, you're right, that is pathetic. You could only dream of being that pathetic.

You can throw all the stones you want, Nueheisel will wave to you in his rear view mirror. It's ridiculous and laughable to claim UW and CU current conditions are because of Rick. CU has had continual lack of institutional control for decades; a season doesn't go by withouth another lawsuit or sex scandal or recruiting violations, but he left Boulder in 1998. UW has a constant string of poor decisions and worse hires throughout the entire athletic department. Yeah, blame that on Rick. He's responsible for all their bad decisions for the entire 6 years since he's been gone. He's such a poor coach he took the Huskies to a 10-1 record and a Rose Bowl win. 3 out of 4 years in Seattle they finished no lower than 2nd in the Pac-10. Dude obviously can't coach. Hold your breath as he blows past Belloti.

8-26-2008 @ 9:30PM

greg said...

Disclosure: I'm a CU grad (thus I understand pathos) and did grad school at USC (whose team I dislike as much as the interbreeding and cyclical propagation of offspring of Orange Co. docs, lawyers and assorted patricians which is the raison d'etre for its existence). That being said, I posit that the Rick is 90% faceman/recruiter and 10% coach. Based upon my observations of his performance at CU, I predict that for every big game he wins there will be a couple of losses to lesser opponents in which his team will characteristically lose focus. He is therefore the consummate choice as a coach in LA where flash routinely out-values substance.

9-01-2008 @ 3:04AM

Ashley said...

Wow. The kind of extreme arrogance and overblown sense of superiority blatantly apparent in this article is exactly what got USC beat in December '06. And USC kids wonder why everyone hates their school... (hint: its because those belonging to the institution act like this d-bag). Maybe USC should concentrate on trying NOT to pay their athletes instead of making ridiculously overblown statements about their own greatness. Although.. at least this ignoramus "writer" had the forethought to add "in football" to all his asinine comments... Because let's face it, in basketball, and in sports overall, UCLA is the "big brother" in the relationship.

9-01-2008 @ 8:43AM

rick said...

neb,,,,just kicked his ass for years

9-03-2008 @ 4:09PM

Big K from LA said...

USC= one-peaters

For those of you from Rio Linda, the is the term that is most befitting the so-called USC 'dynasty' from '03-'05, in which USC only actually won 1 national title. So, when Texas beat them in '05, they were actually trying to 3-peat. Thus, USC is a
one-peater.

Big K in LA

9-03-2008 @ 4:20PM

USC= one peaters

There was no dynasty from '03-'05...you only won 1 nat'l title... you were not trying to 3-peat in '05. You are one-peaters.

Big K from LA

9-03-2008 @ 4:22PM