The Wiz of Odds

Cal's Perfect 10

It's gone from bad to worse for UCLA. California plays defense with only 10 men and manages to score on an interception return. Thanks to Bruins Nation.

Just Another Friday Night on the Town for Slick Rick

"There is nothing like Friday night football in this city," Slick Rick Neuheisel tells Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times.

Neuheisel, who started using a helicopter to attend high school games in the L.A. area last year, has continued traveling by whirlybird this season. His goal is to see as many games as possible, catch the attention of top recruits and build his street cred. It's working.

Last Friday night, Plaschke writes, the helicopter landed at the Compton airport. The driver didn't show on time, so Neuheisel started walking down Alondra Boulevard toward Compton High, one of four stops he would make that night.

A father wearing a Compton jersey spotted Neuheisel, pulled over and drove him to the game.

"What a tremendous night," Neuheisel said.

UCLA

Rick Neuheisel's second season as Bruin coach got off to a successful start with a 33-14 victory against San Diego State. Now comes the tough part — a trip Saturday to Tennessee to play a Volunteer team set on revenge. UCLA won last season's matchup at the Rose Bowl, 27-24, and that game helped send Tennessee into a tailspin that resulted in Phil Fulmer being ousted as coach after a 5-7 season. Thanks to Jana!

New Kid On the Block Says He's 'Ticked' at Carroll

The Pacific 10 Conference doesn't allow anybody younger than 18 from being on the sideline during a game. Like a lot of rules, Rick Neuheisel doesn't like it.

In an attempt to get the rule tossed out, the UCLA coach recently took his case to other Pac-10 coaches, and they voted, 9-1, in favor of Neuheisel's proposal. Unfortunately, it takes a vote of 10-0 to get anything done.

So who was the coach who voted against it? Neuheisel, speaking to a booster gathering last month, makes no secret that it was USC's Pete Carroll.

While Neuheisel's proposal would seem to make sense, the attorney in him should know better. There are liability issues involved and having a bunch of kids running around the sideline only creates the possibility of something very bad happening. Don't believe it? Check out the video after the jump.

Not a Memorable Moment for McNown

Cade McNown never lived up to his billing as an NFL quarterback, but he was always known for his toughness at UCLA, including rebounding from this embarrassing moment in a 1998 game against Oregon.

McNown throws up on the Bruin 48-yard line and everybody in the Rose Bowl sees it, leading to announcer Brent Musburger's remark, "You could hear the collective groan in the crowd." Analyst Dan Fouts adds, "And I'm not sure that we need to, ah, show a replay, just take your word for it."

McNown returned after one play and the Bruins won in overtime, 41-38.

A Day in L.A.

There's not many places where you can attend two spring scrimmages in one day. But if you happened to be in the City of Angels on Saturday, it was the day to pull off this rarest of feats.

USC staged its spring finale at 1 p.m. at the Coliseum and UCLA started its festivities at 7 p.m. at the Rose Bowl. The two venues are only 17 miles apart, but there is risk involved — namely congested freeways.