Jim Alexander: First order of business today is a question to UCLA football fans. Are you mad at Chip Kelly for what his inaction did to the Bruins the past six seasons? Or are you happy that he finally got out of the way, leaving Westwood to take a demotion of sorts as offensive coordinator at soon-to-be conference rival Ohio State?
(Or are you happy that he left but mad that he took his own sweet time to do so, thus hampering the effort of new coach DeShaun Foster to build his own staff?)
Our friend Ben Bolch at the other paper in town came right out and accused Kelly of “quiet quitting,” basically doing the bare minimum in his role as CEO of the program. Substack columnist John Canzano, who knows Kelly from his days as Oregon coach (when Canzano was lead columnist for the Oregonian) and who seems to have maintained a good working relationship with him (far better than Kelly had with the media corps who cover UCLA), responded with a column headlined: “Chip Kelly is smiling … why does that make people unhappy?”
Basically, it can be broken down this way: Kelly had much the same distaste for schmoozing boosters and fundraising and promoting his program at Oregon as he did here. The difference: He won, big, at Oregon. (He also had Nike’s Phil Knight in his corner, which was a pretty good advantage). He was one game above .500 at UCLA, and that thanks to two victories over FCS squads. As I’ve noted before, the Bruins thought they were getting the Oregon Kelly but were actually getting the NFL Kelly, who was way less than a success with the Eagles and 49ers.
What say you, Mirjam?
Mirjam Swanson: I saw those dueling pieces this week … gotta love it.
Look, I’m not a huge fan of Kelly’s, but I’m also not as offended by him as others. I certainly didn’t cover him day in or day out, but generally, whenever I went out to practices or games, I found him to be much more forthcoming (and funny?) than his reputation led me to expect. For whatever that’s worth.
That he didn’t want to deal with all the extra CEO stuff that’s required of head coaches – now more than ever – I kinda get it. Granted, no one ever offered to pay me what he was making to be a manager, but the times I’ve been in managerial positions, I never really liked the extra stuff. The schmoozing and politicking and budgeting and whatnot. I just like the journalism, the work. So the man prefers to focus on football? Well … now he is.
As far as him taking his time exiting, he clearly was TRYING to get out of town. He had, what, three? four? interviews for head coaching positions that we know about. And it’s also pretty evident why he’d want to leave … he wasn’t wanted here any longer by too many people. Wasn’t a secret. And so now he’s gone and it’s DeShaun Foster’s show and, whether or not this is the coaching staff that makes the most sense, it could work out fine – especially with the hiring of Eric Bieniemy at offensive coordinator. Let’s see what they can do in the Big Ten.
I struck up a conversation with a former UCLA athlete (not a football player… or basketball player) at the Genesis Open a couple weeks ago and asked if he was excited about Foster getting the head coaching job. Sure, he said. What else he said: UCLA isn’t really a football school. They’ve had good years, and those are fun, but, to him, if the Bruins are succeeding at all the other sports, it shouldn’t be the end of the world if the football team isn’t jockeying for national championships year in and year out.
Hoops, though …
Jim: It’s a dynamic in this town that will never change, it seems: USC as the football school, UCLA as the basketball school. That said, attendance for home games at the Rose Bowl plunged perceptibly after Kelly took over for Jim Mora, yet even with that evidence athletic director Martin Jarmond kept giving him contract extensions. Maybe Chip felt like he was being held hostage.
Meanwhile, we were reminded emphatically over the last few days that soccer is not a bad weather sport. LAFC lost to Real Salt Lake in a snow game last weekend that coach Steve Cherundolo called a “disgrace” and “one of the worst professional sporting events I’ve ever seen in my life.” (And this is a guy who played professionally in Germany, where it’s not exactly 80 and sunny consistently during the Bundesliga season). For being honest, Cherundolo was socked with a $10,000 fine by MLS, which isn’t surprising.
Then on Wednesday night, the U.S. and Canada went out for their CONCACAF Gold Cup W semifinal in San Diego to a field that resembled a swamp, full of puddles after a torrential downpour. Even though it was unplayable – and directly affected play on several occasions – the decision to keep going was in the hands of referee Katia García of Mexico. Nobody that I know of has been fined yet, but somebody needs to speak up.
And yes, I know that the football that the rest of the world plays has much the same ethic as the type that we play in this country: When the game is scheduled, you play, period. But when and where do the quality of play and player safety become part of the discussion?
Mirjam: Yeah, I’ve covered some sports – freestyle motocross – where I’m almost watching with my hands in front of my face, fearful for what might happen if someone makes one wrong move, one slight slip … but knowing that’s a huge part of the appeal to start with. That’s the deal.
Ain’t nobody watching the beautiful game because of its inherent danger or out of a carnal sense of thrill-seeking.
But both of those matches brought those feelings to the forefront, most of us, I imagine, more concerned with the athletes’ safety than the run of play. When our main rooting interest is: “Please, don’t get hurt” … and not the desire to see someone do something thrilling with the ball, that’s no good.
The spot-on quotes this morning from Canadian coach Bev Priestman: “It’s obvious that the game was unplayable.” And I liked how our Times’ compatriot Kevin Baxter described the match, which the United States won dramatically in penalty kicks: “The most memorable game that never should have been played.” Hear, hear. Hit the pause button, play it tomorrow. It might not be ideal, but it would be OK … better than the players on the pitch possibly not being OK.
Jim: Unfortunately, the two entities in charge, MLS and CONCACAF, seem the least likely to make choices with player safety in mind, since money is always at the forefront of every decision. And maybe it’s just a soccer issue in total, because that mindset permeates everything FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his minions do.
Last item of the day: The Dodgers seem to be entrusting shortstop to someone who has trouble making the throw across the diamond accurately. Gavin Lux, who came up as a shortstop but had been playing mainly second base before last spring’s gruesome knee injury, is the assumed starter at short but has been making life way too interesting for Dodgers first basemen this spring. Dave Roberts had to tell the media “nothing to see here” in response to the issue.
But the Dodgers have dealt with this before, and maybe Roberts should have a serious sitdown with Lux. Or maybe it should be the Ghost of Tommy Lasorda.
Remember Steve Sax? Rookie of the Year in 1982 at second base, but at the start of the 1983 season he literally couldn’t make the easiest throw on the diamond. He’d hesitate, double-clutch and either throw it away or force the first baseman (by then Greg Brock) to extend himself to catch it. Sax had 30 errors that season, 28 of them by Aug. 5, and most of them throwing errors. One day in St. Louis, Lasorda took him for a walk around Busch Stadium, reminding him that not everyone could be a big-leaguer, fewer than that could be a Rookie of the Year or hit .280, but (voice rising and expletives flying), everybody could throw the ball to first base. Problem solved.
Yeah, that was in a book on Dodger history. Page 155, to be exact. (I never pass up a chance to give it a plug.)
Bottom line: It’s springtime, and we do tend to make too much of small things during the spring (like, for example, whether Yoshinobu Yamamoto might be tipping his pitches). Fans and pundits need their spring training, too.
Mirjam: Ha. I love that notion – we all need spring training. All of us. We should all get built-in breaks and then instead of just plunging back Monday morning after vacation (if we’re lucky enough to get vacation), a couple weeks to ramp up too, whether we’re bank tellers or sports columnists. Seems healthy, if not as productive as our bosses might like.
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But, yes, outside of Ohtani madness, there’s a bit of a theme developing in the Dodgers’ camp:
“Dodgers not concerned about Yoshinobu Yamamoto tipping pitches” (the Athletic)
“Dodgers’ Dave Roberts ‘not worried’ about Gavin Lux’s defensive issues” (the Orange County Register)
There’s a lot of worrying not happening, apparently. And, yes, it’s totally spring training, and these guys will probably be fine, Yamamoto especially. But also … there’s a wee bit of pressure on the Dodgers this season. The ability to brush things off, to avoid the tension that comes with such great expectations, that’ll be paramount. And it’ll be fascinating to see how worry-free the club can remain.
Jim: Don’t worry. They’ll be concerned by June and worried by August. They just won’t admit it.