Jim Mora Is An Asshole

When UCLA football coach Jim Mora kicked the media out of Wednesday's practice, he explained his actions by saying he had "some issues" with the school's sports information office after a couple of camera crews set up in what was supposed to be a restricted area.

"I'm not going to jeopardize what we're doing as a football team because of the incompetence of some people," Mora said.

UCLA prohibits the media from reporting on anything that goes on at practices. But it's not alone. Crosstown rival USC has been similarly testy about such things this season; a couple of weeks back, the Trojans threatened to ban a reporter for two weeks just for mentioning a player's injury. Such increased restrictions led the Los Angeles Times to pull its coverage of USC and UCLA practices, a decision made the day before Mora flipped his shit.

But Mora didn't just embarrass the help with what he said to the media. Best to let T.J. Simers explain:

He berated an unassuming sports information assistant in front of the whole team for allowing a TV cameraman to stand in the wrong place.

In doing so, he gave the sports information assistant an earful of some very impressive obscenities, which of course the young players would expect from their demanding leader.

Then Mora forced the guy to make the walk of humiliation off the practice field.

Simers found out who that sports information assistant was. He asked Nick Ammazzalorso, that assistant's boss, whether he considered him to be incompetent.

"No," he said.

So is he saying Mora was wrong?

"I'm not answering that one," said Ammazzalorso, and apparently everyone at UCLA is afraid the coach might yell at them.

Congratulations, Jim Mora You've coached five games and you've already convinced people in LA you're as much of a prick as Lane Kiffin.

[ Los Angeles Times]