Interesting opening line of the New York Times preview of ucla.

Is U.C.L.A.’s hiring of Rick Neuheisel an act of desperation for a program, due to the success of rival Southern California, on the brink of irrelevance in its own city? Neuheisel is well-known (infamous may be a better word) in the Pac-10 for his successful string at Washington (33-16 from 1999-2002), a tenure that ended with his dismissal for engaging in an illegal gambling pool.

I will concede that Neuheisel's firing was handled in the wrong way and that the NCAA/UW rightfully paid a hefty price. But right or wrong, no matter where Slick Rick goes his previous actions will follow him.

More important, I didn't have a problem with his being involved in a basketball pool but where Neuheisel should be chastised and held accountable is for the fact that he lied about it. He also lied about his talks with the 49er's and that is what what led to his firing. For all the noise we hear on the various bruin boards about character I find it interesting that very few if any haven't called Neuheisel out on this. The silence is deafening.

The NYT is hardly a bastion of sports reporting but this is a pretty solid write-up. I doubt you could even hold them accountable for having an east coast bias but when they lead their preview with that opening line you have to take note.