You Tweeted What?
A UCLA player learns what not to tweet.
By JONATHAN LLOYD
Updated 9:49 AM PST, Mon, Oct 26, 2009
A winless record in Pac 10 play can make you tweet some crazy things.
Such was the case for UCLA freshman wide receiver Randall Carroll.
"I was frustrated, tired of losing," Carroll told the LA Times. "I wasn't trying (to) disrespect (offensive coordinator) Norm Chow in any away... He was one of the reasons I came here. I was just saying I didn't feel like he trusted us, because we are such a young bunch. I wasn't downgrading his coaching."
What Carroll did was use the "n" word in reference to Chow -- who is of Chinese and native Hawaiian descent -- in a Twitter message. An Oct. 22 message sent to La Canada St. Francis running back Dietrich Riley read:
"man oregon, stanford and cal should have been easy wins ,, but (expletive) thys (racial slur) norm chow dnt be trustin us ,, so it is what it is."
Stanford and Cal, maybe. But at 6-1 overall, 4-0 in the Pac 10, Oregon is legit.
As for the comments about Chow, Coach Rick Neuheisel said Carroll, who is black, apologized for his abuse of technology. Neuheisel said Sunday Carroll would not be disciplined.
"He and Norm talked and cleared the air," Neuheisel said. "Randall has already said to me that he didn't mean it. We have to educate our guys how to use the technology."
Apparently, they already know how to remove a Twitter account. Randall's account is no longer available.
Later, the coach learned there was a derogatory term in the message.
"It has come to my attention that there was a derogatory word used that, unfortunately, is used too often in today's culture. It is absolutely unacceptable and I will speak to Randall on the flight home," he said after Saturday's 27-13 loss at Arizona.
Chow came to UCLA two years ago after coaching the Tennessee Titans in the NFL. Before that, he coached for 32 years at the collegiate level, and three of his teams won national titles -- Brigham Young in 1984 and USC in 2003 and 2004. He has coached three Heisman Trophy winners -- quarterbacks Ty Detmer, Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart -- as well as former NFL quarterbacks Steve Young and Jim McMahon, and three times was named national assistant coach of the year.
The Bruins have lost their last four games and the offense has failed to score a touchdown in two of the last three games.
First Published: Oct 26, 2009 8:21 AM PST
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