The Game:

The UW game showed what it meant to be a Bruin. We all disagree about a million things on this board blog, but there’s one common theme. We want UCLA to win, and win big. Regardless of the coach, the AD, and the players, fans came out and cheered for THE BRUINS. There’s something special about that. That’s what it means to be a Bruin – we are in this together. I hope no one on this site ever forgets that. Argue away, we are all smart people. But remember, we are all on the the same team.

Also, it was nice to see CBH on his game. He made some nice second half adjustments that sealed the win. Honestly, one that hasn’t been mentioned so much is putting a Wear on potential Pac-12 POY Tony Wroten. Wroten can’t shoot, but he gets to the rim better than just about anyone. I’m not sure if CBH did this deliberately, or if he had to make the adjustment b/c UW came out in the second half with a smaller lineup. Putting the longer and taller Wears on him really hurt his ability to get to the basket and score Also, I can’t believe Romar went for the three at the end when he had over 20 seconds left on the clock. Especially b/c we’ve been a pretty poor free throw shooting team.

The Sports Arena:

No Bruin likes the Sports Arena. No Bruin likes driving to USC. It was terrible driving back and forth, especially for weekday games, although our team seemed to sack it up most nights (besides CAL) in what is a pretty bad Pac-12. But I must disagree with some about how bad the Sports Arena really is because of one fact, and on fact alone. The Sports Arena has BEER.

I was 6-0 this year in the Rock, Paper, Scissors game that decided which one of the buddies was going to DD. That means I consumed quite a few beers and got to know the great beer serving staff on a personal basis. Many hate the SA, but, I’ll miss it somewhat. It got me, and many of my student buddies, pretty drunk. And we didn’t have to bring flasks. And then we were able to yell at the SPTR in a manner that would make all members of BN proud.

Howland:

As of today, (according to Wiki + Washington Games) CBH is 91-51 (64%) since the last time he went to a Final Four. Correct me if I’m wrong on the numbers, but let’s be honest, that’s mediocre. Worse than this record is the 2008-2009 recruiting and missing the NCAA tournament. The article is terrible press, but it is more of a testament to recruits taking advantage of a lack of authority and unlikely unique across the country. That doesn't matter b/c we have John Wooden. We are better than that. I guess he’s going to get another shot, and I hope he succeeds and we win 10 NCs. If not, we are going to have to start over, which could end up being even worse. Tough times indeed.