Interwebs Chatter: Highest Form of Flattery?

by norcald503 on Sep 2, 2008 9:11 PM PDT Comment 25 comments

Right now, the MSM is just loving the whole "gutty little Bruins upseting big, bad, heavily favored SEC powerhouse Tennessee to start the Rick Neuheisel returning home era" story. WWL, Fox Sports, SI, etc. are all running some variation of this story (which you can check out here, here, here, here, here, here, and here)

Got to love the national exposure. Hopefully it translates into better recruiting returns, which in turn, hopefully leads to this program returning to its rightful place of national prominence.

But, what I find particularly amusing isn't the MSM exposure and hype after our big win over the Vols. What I find really amusing is that so many of the haters out there can't seem to stop talking about UCLA and our Bruins. Now, I'll admit I was a bit curious to see what our fellow SBN blogs were saying in the wake of the MSM love-fest for our upset win. I started over at Rocky Top Talk (by the way, Vols fans, you have been a class act in defeat, which, unfortunately UCLA fans don't get to see very often, having to play certain teams with a**hole fanbases) to see what they saw from their side (I like to get a balanced look at a game when possible). I eventually made by way to some of the haters' blogs, and boy, was I bit shocked by what I found.

The folks over at California Golden Blogs just can't get enough of UCLA. And, well, many of them are so taken with our good looks, beautiful blue jerseys, etc. that they couldn't wait for us to upset the Vols: they had to talk about us before the game.

In sum, you can catch our cocky (yet secretly envious) 'big brothers' discussing UCLA, the Bruins, or our program here, here, here, and here. Sure, they take their shots at Neuheisel or our Bruins, but it makes one wonder, why so much talk about a team they dismiss out of hand, hmm? Perhaps a few Bears, while loathe to admit it, secretly house a secret crush on UCLA.

No worries CGB guys. I don't blame you. After all, you guys have to look at this:

Image Credit: KTVU

Meanwhile, those of us who are fortunate enough to be Bruins, get to see this on a regular basis:

Image Credit: UCLA Dance Team

The folks over at Conquest Chronicles, on the other hand, don't share the Bears' envy of UCLA. Which isn't too much of a surprise, because, while I hate to admit it, the trOJans actually win once and a while. But, while they don't share the Bears' figurative penis envy of the Bruins, they, like the folks in the People's Republic of Berkeley, can't help but talk about the Bruins, as in here, here, and here.

Not that I mind the chatter. We hear a lot of snide jibes about the recent LA Times ad where a picture of Neuheisel bodly declares the football monopoly in LA is over. Yet, despite U$C jumping Georgia in the polls to take the top spot, everyone can't stop talking about the "gutty little Bruins."

Monopolies aren't just measured in wins and losses, folks, and CRN is already showing how these Bruins are going to start loosening the absolute stranglehold U$C had on LA the last few years.

Love the coverage from all corners of the interwebs, even from those out there who proclaim to not have any love for the greatest university in the world.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

1 recs | Comment 25 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Nice

People’s Republic of Berkeley. Classic!

by bruinbrah on Sep 2, 2008 9:25 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Norcal is showing his age

The People’s Republic of Berkeley goes back to my student days. To put that in perspective, the history books were only half as thick in those days. (You justsc people, find a Bruin to explain what that means.)

by Fox 71 on Sep 2, 2008 9:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really feel like I should be defending my birthplace...

…nah, what can I really say about that?

by bruinhoo on Sep 3, 2008 2:29 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Surprisingly...

…I was born during the Reagan Administration. But when one (i) grows up in the Bay Area and (ii) comes from a big Cal family (I’m the sole Bruin), you learn all of the fun labels, both new and old. :)

by norcald503 on Sep 3, 2008 6:06 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

NICE

Nice post. I think the Trojays are a bit more classy about it over there on CC. They’ve got a few level-headed and informed posters over there that enjoy the game of football.

I think the Cal guys are just batshit crazy but nevertheless they are pretty funny to read. Still don’t understand the hate of UCLA but that’s okay. Ragnarok and a few others are worth paying attention to. Fun read but the UCLA hate is pervasive over there. I don’t mind it too much because watching a large angry mentally retarded person flail about at the world for no apparent reason is sometimes amusing to watch. No offense to non-Cal people who are actually retarded.

Again nice post.

P.S. I’ve heard it referred to as the People’s Republic before. My wife refers to it in that matter as well. Some good old labels never die.

by Bruins102NCAA on Sep 2, 2008 9:53 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

matter = manner

God I’m dumb :)

by Bruins102NCAA on Sep 2, 2008 10:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Funniest post I saw on Rocky Top Talk

Was this one.

by bruinbabe2000 on Sep 3, 2008 2:09 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

My favorite line

And then Rick Neuheisel pee’d in my cheerios

by lil eg not cs on Sep 3, 2008 3:39 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

I Am Finding

the unmitigated, unending hatred of all things UCLA by the Cal Bears pointless and tiresome. They’ve turned into a one-note song over there.

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Sep 3, 2008 11:04 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Who really cares what Cal people think?

To me, Cal football and its fans are not particularly relevant. They exist. Their mothers probably love them. The team fills a spot on our schedule. The have a good team at times. But are they relevant? Do they have meaning in my life? Nah. Once a year they’re an opponent, and all year long they are an example of a what happens when narcissism gets carried to an extreme. Let them bleat about whatever they want to bleat about. I prefer to live my life in the real world. They can save everything, including some trees with whom they are bonding.

Frankly, the weirdness that is Berkeley will soon self-destruct. They are so wedded to causes, it won’t be long before the People’s Republic starves to death. First, all meat-serving restaurants will be banned for murdering animals. Then meat-eating becomes a capital offense. Then someone shouts down from the tree-tops that plants have souls, too, So eating vegetables will be banned. Mowing lawns will be banned. The cells of one’s own body will not be allowed to be harmed, so no antibiotics will be allowed. After a few months of eating dirt (with all potential life forms removed), the People’s Republic will fade from memory. Except for the activiists up in the trees, who stocked up on beef jerky and candy bars.

by Fox 71 on Sep 4, 2008 4:23 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

NoCal people

are taught to hate SoCal people from birth. They think they’re superior because their city is nicer and their air is cleaner. By projection, therefore, they think they, themselves, are superior.

In reality, though, the root of their smugness is insecurity, born of envy. Giants fans cannot stand that they have exactly zero championships in S.F., to the Dodgers’ several. They try to process this information, along with their self-proclaimed superiority, in their little orange brains, and neural overload ensues. Does not compute. So, they lash out.

Same with NBA basketball, Warriors and Lakers. Same with college sports, Cal and UCLA. If it weren’t for rugby, they’d have no reason to live.

The funny thing is, their stridency is often met by SoCal folks with nonchalance. Where Cal people see intense hatred, UCLA people see “Whatever.” Dodger fans do not have the perspective that the entirety of S.F. Giants’ highlights consists of times when they knocked the Dodgers out of the playoffs. It must really piss of NoCal folks that the one sport in which they could have claimed uncontested superiority, NFL football, has no team in L.A.

As usual, Fox has it right. Narcissists, particularly the tree-hugging kind, mask their insecurity with bleating. Be kind to our self-absorbed brethren. Do not feed them, unless you have some organic, free-range, shade-grown granola on you.

by Bruinut on Sep 4, 2008 12:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Or maybe they hate UCLA

because of the way we beat them at basketball last year :)

I love it!

by tasser10 on Sep 4, 2008 12:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's probably the best explanation we are going to get

The funny thing is that in my sorority, the majority of my Norcal sisters stayed in the LA area after graduation. I have nothing against Norcal and if Mr. BB end up there after he finishes grad school, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. Sure, the Giants fans would get on my nerves, but everyone else I can deal with.

I exchanged emails with an old friend of mine from high school who is a Cal alum a few weeks ago, and all of his hatred is place on South Central (and rightfully so). I guess he is the exception because he is a SoCal alum.

by bruinbabe2000 on Sep 4, 2008 12:41 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Alum supposed to be native

by bruinbabe2000 on Sep 4, 2008 4:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not the only one

Who notices that people from Nocal have chips on their shoulders regarding Socal. Similarly, people who go to Cal have an irrational hatred of UCLA, even those who grew up in Socal but went to UC Berkeley for school. A little anecdote about the latter: I met up with some high school acquaintances at Universal City Walk and walked by the UCLA Extension there. The immediate response they had was “UCLA? Psh, who cares?” It took a bit of restraint on my part not to stoop to their level and trash Cal.

I had some jackass roommates from Nocal during sophomore year who shit on the Lakers when they were playing the Kings (this was back in ‘99-00) and proceeded to insult me even though I didn’t care about the NBA.

by JWongUCLA on Sep 4, 2008 2:39 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

A bit of a generalization, don't you think?

I’m a NorCal Bruin who hardly thinks that way at all. Okay, maybe the “whatever” part about Cal. lol

Bay Area Warriors fan currently at UCLA.

by Yoyo on Sep 4, 2008 3:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Also

My friend who goes to Cal places his hatred on South Central, not here – he actually wants us to do well. I’m sure some NorCal people are insecure, but I would hesitate to generalize so widely.

Bay Area Warriors fan currently at UCLA.

by Yoyo on Sep 4, 2008 3:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Of course

it’s a ridiculous generalization. Obviously, I’m not as good at this humor thing as Fox is.

I don’t claim that all Cal folks have blind hatred toward UCLA. Only that those who do, as Norcald muses, are operating from a base of envy.

by Bruinut on Sep 4, 2008 11:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We've walked this path before

This discussion has been hashed out on here before. And I 100% agree with Yoyo on this point. While I recognize many of you are SoCal Bruins, let’s not forget, many of us, myself included (as if the moniker didn’t give it away) are NorCal Bruins and don’t have this myopic NorCal-SoCal rivalry hatred thing going on.

Like I’ve said before (here, here, and http://www.bruinsnation.com/2008/7/1/562386/berkeley-musings#7177087), I love both NorCal and SoCal. I think both SF and LA are great cities with some pretty cool places and people.

So with that in mind, I’d prefer we not take the hatred Cal fans have toward us and project that on to some general, mostly non-existant NorCal-SoCal rivalry (esp. in light of the fact this has been debated here before). Considering how interconnected our state is, I think playing a marginal rivalry like NorCal-SoCal is, well, rather foolish.

by norcald503 on Sep 4, 2008 9:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Funny that you mention it

Yes it’s me again.

Serendipity has brought me to this post tonight. I’m in Colorado. My wife’s family, as a generalization, are gun-totting rednecks who hate all of “librul” California. Most of them are from California originally. A few of them are originally from Nor Cal. One of these in particular is especially hostile to my “librul” leanings and has accused me of being, of all things, a “France lover.”

What surprised me this very night was how the discussion turned towards the topic of So. Cal. From a guy who spouts the lamest, most generalized arguments that even Rush Limbaugh would blush at, his criticism of So. Cal was bland but quite sophisticated in comparison. I heard those same tired old chestnuts: “you steal our water” and “you dominate the state” and “what’s so special about Los Angeles?” Once again I had to hear these arguments that are common currency of any self-respecting So. Cal hater from Northern California. I was only happy to obliged in answering each in turn.

In summation, all of this is just an indication of the pervasive hatred that you say is not very bad and that I say is quite bad. I suppose we will have to agree to disagree my friend.

by Bruins102NCAA on Sep 5, 2008 1:43 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That we shall

Agree to disagree works for me. We simply come from different places with different experiences. Growing up in the Bay Area, being a NorCal Bruin, knowing a lot of folks from both ends of the state, the rivalry doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal (except when the Lakers play the Kings…well, used to; or when the A’s play the Angels…well, not this season; or when the Giants play the Dodgers…although, let’s be honest, both teams suck this year).

Again, as I’ve said before I’ve encountered a good number of SoCal Bears at law school who had no problem looking down at UCLA, which makes me think the Cal hatred of UCLA is something that comes with going to Cal, rather than simply being part of the supposed larger NorCal-SoCal rivalry.

I think where we can agree is that, at the minimum, folks at Cal have some major issues/complex about UCLA. Don’t know why, but it’s sure nice to be envied, isn’t it? ;)

by norcald503 on Sep 5, 2008 7:14 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

correction

the giants suck this year, the dodgers sucked for 2 weeks and are half a game out of first place…
i generally think the ucla-cal rivalry is an amicable one, i think the bitter overtones are the product of the broader norcal disdain for southern california. but ya, this topic has been beaten like a dead horse.
if non-norcal bears hate on los angeles or ucla it’s prolly because they are consistently rated the top-public university in the world and assume no one from ucla was admitted to berkeley, which is retarded; that, or they’re from san diego.
i went to law school right below memorial stadium- i was annoyed by their stupid rugby shirts, their stupid ties, osky, and the fact that their stadium was on-campus (alright that one was jealousy). i give them a pass because they sucked for sooooooo long, all of a sudden they’re relevant in the pac-10 and they dont know how to control themselves; that, and they screwed up sc’s season a few times.

Across The Face

by rb bruin on Sep 6, 2008 10:14 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Like I told a Cal buddy of mine

I don’t care if they win the Pac-10, just beat SC. Period. You can be pretentious little bastards the whole year after that as long as I don’t have to go up to the Bay area and look at them in person. Got to have priorities.

BTW, my wife, myself, and my buddy, all got accepted into Berkeley. All of us went to UCLA. That’s 3 for 3 of the people I know.

by Bruins102NCAA on Sep 7, 2008 1:23 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Naw, the Dodgers still suck despite being in first place

Don’t get me wrong, as an A’s fan, I like the Dodgers (because I hate the Giants). When I’d go to Dodger-Giants games during law school with fellow Hastings folks, I’d wear Dodger blue (I won’t ever pull for the Giants, not as long as they are owned by their current ownership and not as long as they continue to cater to yuppie, sushi-eating, don’t-know-sh*t-about-baseball fans). When I went to UCLA, I went to a couple of games at Dodger Stadium. Cool place to catch a game.

But, I stand by my comment. The Dodgers, even with Manny, still suck. Sure, they’re in first place. In the worst division in baseball. Right now, they’re 72-70. In any other division, they wouldn’t even have a shot. They’d be about 13 games behind in the AL East (Rays are 85-55), 8 games behind in the AL Central (White Sox are 80-61), about 13 games behind in the AL West (Angels are 85-56), 7 games behind in the NL East (Mets are 79-62), and about 13 or 14 games behind in the NL Central (Cubs are 86-56). Finally, if the NL West wasn’t absolutely terrible and the Dodgers weren’t in first and they were in the hunt for the wild card, they’d be 10 games behind there too (Brewers are 82-60).

I’m glad the Dodgers are in first (I am not a big fan of Arizona, although I am a huge Eric Byrnes fan, and I’m still partial to Haren since he was on the A’s last year), but realistically, I do not expect them to make it out of the NLDS. But hey, at least they’ll make it to the playoffs. The f*cking Angels are killing Oakland: another year of being cheap and getting no where. Well, at least we’ll be out of the Coliseum in a few years, I guess.

by norcald503 on Sep 7, 2008 8:11 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs