Welcome back to school.
In case you missed it, UCLA football is winning again. The Bruins finally have a quarterback and before last weekend, there was even some Heisman buzz for redshirt senior running back Johnathan “Jet Ski” Franklin.
But in the first loss of the season Saturday ““ a 27-20 defeat against unranked Oregon State ““ Jet Ski sputtered to just 45 yards on the ground.
A young offensive line that played surprisingly well to start the season flopped without its redshirt senior “glue guy” Jeff Baca. Baca hasn’t played since injuring his …
I gotta go.
Sorry, I’m back. Walking out on the conversation after 25 seconds has become the standard reaction to hearing the word “injury” in any form. USC coach Lane Kiffin started the trend, abruptly ending a post-practice interview session after being asked about an injury to one of his players. Kiffin also attempted to ban a USC beat reporter for, well, reporting on an injury.
The paranoia doesn’t stop across town. The entire Pac-12 is alive with near-McCarthyistic mania. Wednesday in Westwood, coach Jim Mora threw media members out of practice because a camera crew got too close to the action. After seven years of a laissez-faire injury policy at Utah, Kyle Whittingham opted to not talk about injuries unless they were season-ending. Washington’s Steve Sarkisian followed suit.
The media has fired back. The LA Times no longer sends its reporters to practice, deeming it a useless endeavor if injuries are off the table.
Coming from the NFL, which requires its teams to distribute injury reports, Mora was surprised and delighted that he didn’t have to do the same at the college level, even if he caught on a little late.
“I didn’t know until a few weeks ago,” Mora told the media at last week’s press conference. “That’s why I was feeding you guys all that injury info early on.”
It makes sense. No coach wants to give the other a leg up. Some close practice to the media entirely. Others, like Mora, allow reporters to attend practice but place restrictions on what they are allowed to report. Injuries are not on the list of what’s acceptable.
But that’s the ridiculous part of this whole ordeal. This sort of information isn’t going to win or lose you a game. And if we see a player hobbling off the field on Saturday, are we really to believe he’s going to be back at 100 percent in a week or less?
Rarely are the advantages of knowing whether a player will suit up enough to change a game. Take last week for example. Oregon State’s Mike Riley not only welcomes the media with open arms, he invites the good citizens of Corvallis, Ore. to wander over to the practice field anytime.
Opposing coaches know exactly what they are going to see from the Beavers and they still haven’t managed to stop it. Conference teams that have open practices of any sort are 12-5 so far this season.
After watching Saturday’s game, it’s clear Riley’s kumbaya attitude didn’t put him at any sort of disadvantage. Oregon State’s defensive linemen dominated UCLA’s last week because they played with the same discipline and physicality that helped them beat a good Wisconsin team ““ not because they knew Baca was injured.
The Pac-12’s coaches need to lighten up. Every second devoted to worrying about what the press will report takes time away from game planning. How about focusing attention on the field, not off?
As he usually does, conference commissioner Larry Scott may have a solution. He plans to discuss the prospect of requiring weekly injury reports with member schools’ athletic directors at a meeting next month. Several coaches, including Mora, have said they wouldn’t oppose such a policy as long as it’s enforced uniformly. At Arizona, Rich Rodriguez already issues weekly reports. Former UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel did the same late last season.
Everyone needs to be on the same page. The ongoing cat and mouse game between coaches and media members is tired and the season is barely four weeks old. We’re counting on you, Larry.
Whew, all of this injury talk is making my head hurt.
Just don’t tell anyone.
Pull a hammy in the Wooden Center? Don’t keep it to yourself, email Sam Strong at
sstrong@media.ucla.edu