Here's A Thought, Rick Neuheisel: Don't Call a Timeout

You know, I have some dubious plays from the players donning Green and White in Calgary, but even more of a head-scratcher is Rick Neuheisel deciding, "Okay, I am going to literally give up seven more points by calling a timeout when the fate of my UCLA Bruins is already sealed down at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Happy Thanksgiving, Pete Carroll."

This has to go down as a brain cramp. Why call a timeout instead of letting Matt Barkley take a knee and make it a 21—7 win?

"I was trying to make them punt, and maybe if they run, we cause a fumble," Neuheisel said. "They have their take on it, but I was trying to get the ball back. People can make their own conclusions. ... I don't blame them for doing it."

Nice try at an excuse, but I won't buy it. It's not going to make a difference whether you call a timeout or not, Neuheisel. And Carroll made you pay for the act of stupidity by letting Matt Barkley hurl an 48—yard insurance touchdown pass to Damien Williams to make it 28—7.

"It is just the heart of a competitor, just battling," Carroll said after game, putting the match in pespective. "We just wanted to win the game and have fun. When the moment was there, it wasn't thinking about what [others] might be thinking. You are either competing, or you're not."

You UCLA fans will say it was unsportsmanlike till the day you lay six feet under the grass. This proud Trojan program has seen it all and heard it all. But come on, Neuheisel, just give up and let the clock run out.

Not only would the score read 21-7, but there would be handshakes and no threats to spoil for a fight before the next kickoff.

"They can't disrespect us like that," Barkley said after the game. By taking a knee, he made it easy for you. Done with, finished, kaput.

But once again, I ask the question, what is the point of calling a timeout when the game's outcome is set in stone?

"I don't forget much," said Neuheisel after the game.

You don't forget much, huh? Well guess what, Rick? The bell's staying in Troy once again. And you might as well erase from your head the fact that you paid the price for delaying the inevitable in the 2009 Battle for the Victory Bell.