Slick Rick in Action

Rick Neuheisel made an appearance Saturday during halftime of UCLA's basketball game against Arizona. ("We're just getting started!")

Although he introduced defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker and offensive coordinator Norm Chow, one has to think he was merely in the house to scout the Bruins and Wildcats so he can properly seed the teams in his NCAA tournament pool.

Given the rock star status Slick Rick has at the moment, it's clear no one in Pauley Pavilion had read the Seattle Times' gripping four-part series, "Victory and Ruins," which detailed Neuheisel's 2000 Washington team.

Timing is everything in this world. Had this series been published six weeks ago, it would be difficult to imagine that Slick would have been named the Bruin coach. Wrote Bob Rickert of the Oregonian:

"Rarely am I this direct. And I have to say, I kind of like Coach Neuheisel and I have great respect for UCLA. I like UCLA. I used to work so close to the campus that I had lunch with a lot of the Bruin basketball players at In-N Out.

"Great school, beautiful, and probably on probation in 2012. There's no way I'd let my son play football for him. Because I know he probably won't be in 4 years."