The far reaching effects of the Southern California wildfires
caused UCLA football coach Karl Dorrell and his family to evacuate
their home in Stevenson Ranch Tuesday. Though fires were getting
close to the development Monday, it wasn’t until Tuesday
afternoon when the Dorrell family was evacuated, as the fires crept
within a mile from their subdivision. With his family safe in
Westwood by the end of practice, Dorrell demonstrated his usual
calm demeanor despite being notified right before practice.
“We have our health and that’s what counts,” he
said. “We can’t control the other issues. My family is
healthy and they’re here and that’s all that matters.
“I feel worse for the people who lost their homes because
that’s a much bigger tragedy.”
BURGESS ARRESTED: Redshirt-freshman linebacker
Xavier Burgress was arrested Monday evening by the UCLA Police
Department after allegedly verbally threatening a campus parking
attendant. Though the coaching staff is prohibited from discussing
the matter until further investigation has been completed, Dorrell
did say Burgress was in a “situation.” “Those
things are not taken lightly” Dorrell said referring to
incident. When asked to comment about the situation, Evening
Supervisor of Parking Services Ken Herman said he knew nothing
about it. “We are not aware of anything that happened
(Monday) evening, and it’s the kind of thing that I would
have known about,” said Herman, who said he would have been
informed despite not being there Monday evening. Herman noted that
there is a possibility of inaccuracy in the press release,
specifically with the term “Parking Attendant.” Whether
or not Burgess will receive a suspension will be decided after
further investigation.
WARE IMPROVING: Injured cornerback Matt Ware
showed major improvements in Tuesday’s practice after he was
able to take his boot off of his sprained ankle. Though the
improvements are promising, Ware still appears doubtful for
Saturday’s game against Stanford. “I’m making
progress. It feels a lot better, and I’m getting more
strength,” Ware said. But when asked if he felt ready to
play, Ware shook his head with a doubtful look.
NO TIME FRAME FOR LEISLE: Also recovering from
a high sprained ankle, defensive tackle Rodney Leisle is unable to
give a time frame for his return. “It all depends on how much
ice and how much rest you can get,” Leisle said. “It
really depends on person to person.” He did not practice
Tuesday and is highly doubtful for the trip to Stanford and is
doubtful for the road game at Washington State. “I really
can’t give an answer about Washington State,” he said.
“But if I had to say right now, probably not.”
CONDITIONING COACH NAMEDÂ IN CIVIL SUIT:
UCLA Strength and Conditioning coach E.J. “Doc”
Kreis’ name appears in court documents filed in a civil suit
Monday, according to the Rocky Mountain News and The Associated
Press. The suit claims that ex-Colorado football players were
involved in a gang rape of a Colorado University student in 2001,
when Kreis was a strength coach at the university. Â According
to the Rocky Mountain News, investigators believed the story that
players told in police interviews, that the sex was consensual, was
organized before the interviews and that Kreis was involved in
organizing an attempt to get the story straight for all the
players. Attempts at reaching Kreis Tuesday night were
unsuccessful.
With reports from Bruce Tran and Diamond Leung, Bruin Sports
Senior Staff.