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Thursday, December 30, 2021

Cancel Culture

And not just gymnastics:

UCLA ‘lied,’ N.C. State coach claims after Bruins out of Holiday Bowl before kickoff

Ben Bolch, LA Times,12-28-21

SAN DIEGO — They got to feed beluga whales, tour a naval aircraft carrier and see the end zone in a baseball stadium painted in team colors. They did not get to play football. About five hours before kickoff, the UCLA Bruins learned their Holiday Bowl matchup against No. 18 North Carolina State on Tuesday evening at Petco Park would not be played because of worsening COVID-19 issues with the Bruins. Bowl officials later said they did not want to cancel the game until exhausting every opportunity to find a replacement for the Bruins.

The late notice touched off anger and conspiracy theories among the Wolfpack, with coach Dave Doeren describing a lack of communication from UCLA regarding the possibility that the Bruins would be unable to play. “Felt lied to, to be honest,” Doeren told reporters at the team hotel. “We felt like UCLA probably knew something was going on, didn’t tell anybody on our side. We had no clue they were up against that. I don’t feel like it was very well handled from their university. It would have been great to have had a heads-up so two or three days ago we could have found a Plan B. Disappointing.”

UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond posted on Twitter the team had been in position to play until Tuesday, when new testing results prompted the Bruins’ medical staff to determine that going forward with the game would be unsafe. “I am truly disappointed for everyone who was involved with this game,” Jarmond wrote...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/story/2021-12-28/ucla-holiday-bowl-game-north-carolina-state-canceled-covid-issues.

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