Bruins Nation: FanPosts

The Big Red Signs Off

2009-11-06T20:33:13Z

Missed this bit of news from earlier this week. The Big Red is not coming back to WWL this season. From the AP wire:

"As I return after a grueling multi-year, life-threatening, life-changing ordeal with back problems, it is time to dedicate the rest of my life to service. It is great to be back in the game. Thanks everybody -- for everything."

As Dan Levy noted in the Sports News, his retirement statement was vintage Walton:

Even the statement is vintage Walton, overtly congenial while explaining he’ll be dedicating his life to the somewhat amorphous ‘service’ yet not forgetting to mention his back problems were both ‘life-threatening’ and ‘life-changing’. First, obviously, you hope Walton gets and remains healthy, and can avoid the chronic injuries a man of his size undoubtedly gets stricken with throughout life, especially as he gets older.

Second, while Walton’s commentary during a basketball game is somewhat of an acquired taste – Walton, like many color analysts, often seemed more focused on being the game than commenting on it – there are few who can claim to be a better radio interview. Listening to Walton on the ESPN Radio shows ramble on about basketball and life and tremendousness and tales of transcendental journeys that always ended up with him on stage with Jerry Garcia ... well, in a way, I’ll miss those, tremendously. And this statement is not to say that Walton is going away forever. Heck, without the rigors of the NBA season, he’d have more time for interviews or podcasting on his own or whatever road by which his life twists.

There is also a piece on the Big Red in the NY Post that is worth reading.

I have met the Big Red multiple times over the years. Got his autograph couple of times during my student days when he used to broadcast UCLA games for Prime Ticket. I went down to his broadcasting table right before the game from the student section (now the Den) and asked for his John Hancock and he would sign it and say hello with graciousness worthy of a classic disciple of Coach Wooden.

My favorite memory of the Big Red though was running into him at the Copley Mall in Boston about two days after UCLA had lost to Detroit Mercy back in 99. I think Walton was in town for a Celtics game. When I went up to him and said hello and introduced myself as a Bruin alum he just yelled out to, "can you believe about our Bruins?!! That was disgraceful!" It was EPIC.

The Big Red is of course always epic whenever he is talking about our Bruins:

Gotta (Kevin) Love Bill Walton (via bbtre13)

I hope we get to hear from him time to time chiming in on our Ben Ball warriors. He will always be with us. For now, I will just end with the following lines from his favorite band:

You're sick of hangin' around and you'd like to travel;
Get tired of travelin' and you want to settle down.
I guess they can't revoke your soul for tryin',
Get out of the door and light out and look all around.

Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me, What a long, strange trip it's been.

Truckin', I'm a goin' home. Whoa whoa baby, back where I belong,
Back home, sit down and patch my bones, and get back truckin' on.

What ever he does next, he will always be truckin' on with the spirit of Bruin Nation.

We love you Bill.

GO BRUINS.

Pre-Game Guesses: Oregon State Results

2009-11-06T04:34:52Z

I know we lost last week, but I still feel good about this team. I also feel good about the game against Washington. Why? Because I'll be flying out to Los Angeles tomorrow morning to attend the game. The last time I went to a UCLA football game was the homecoming game against Stanford last year...and we all know how that turned out. Hopefully I (and a bunch of other alumni) will bring good mojo. Anyway, I'm a notorious procrastinator and I still need to pack, so I'll make this short and sweet. Here are the results:

1. How many passes will Brehaut attempt? 0

2. T or F: Knox will get 3 or more carries. False

3. Who will be winning after the 3rd quarter? Oregon State

The only person who got all three right was DigDog. Congrats...most people assumed that Brehaut would get at least a few pass attempts in. Coachspeak can't be trusted, I guess.

Here are your leaders:

1. Nars (17)

2. mdjohns4 (16)

3. Centric (13)

4. MexiBruin (12)

4. Harsha (12)

4. Bellerophon (12)

4. jaffa (12)

4. matiasucla (12)

9. dproduct (11)

9. 84 (11)

9. wizardofoc (11)

9. bruinscv (11)

9. YRLBruin (11)

13-9’s Tidbits: Washington Edition

2009-11-06T04:31:27Z

Just trying to keep the trend of consistency, I’ve been merging my blogs in the past together, and decided to go public with this week, and I’m trying to make a tradition out of it. (I still keep that blog moving aside from BN)

These tidbits are fairly random and don’t have any correlation or order so just read casually... no hidden messages in the transitions.

Something that I found important this week is the idea that Neuheisel and Co. are preparing for Locker... Even if he doesn't play. The Good News is that Ronnie Fouch is their back up, and he isn't on the same level as the past 8 QB's that UCLA has played (Pre-Crompton Rebirth as well). The Bad News is that Locker is one of the biggest playmakers in the Nation; He's a faster Tim Tebow with great mechanics and strength, and he is looking like he is ready to go. The Worse news, Locker is good enough to be a decent pocket passer, so mobility shackles aren't going to get you out of the woods (also, Sark hasn't had the privelage of working with a mobile QB; and his playcalling hasn't helped exploit his strengths to a full degree).
On offense, UCLA seems to be jumping the gun right now, but that's just my opinion. There is no evidence that the Fresh Prince can have any consistency coming in to this week, but I have a feeling that the motto this week was to keep consistent. Sounds like a plan huh?
The UCLA running game will really have to step up their game. They have played some great running defenses, but have shot themselves in the foot time after time. If there was ever a week to get going; it's right here.
The team needs to set the goal of 4-0 to end this season. Unlike seasons past, this cause is definately within reach. All of these teams; IMO are beatable... Even for UCLA. 7-5 not only locks your bowl game down, you get unbelievable momentum going into the recruiting season and post-season.

I decided to Emphasize that last part. I think you know why.

-13-9

Hartman doesnt get it

2009-11-05T21:49:17Z

While we have all have read many post here concerning the blatant biased press and their hit jobs on U.C.L.A., my complaint is directed at the local sports talk. Since espn radio carries suc games, I understand them interviewing Cheaty Petey and various players constantly and very few U.C.L.A. players and coaches. However, 570 radio,which carries the Bruins games, has far fewer interviews with U.C.L.A. players and coaches, mostly with CRN. Being a stay home dad,I listen often to both stations. There have been comments here before, complaining about Hartman.

Today, Hartman and Meyers were talking about the worst and best pro teams and their fans. Hartman then commented on fans who support bad teams. He then said he saw a guy at the car wash "rocking a U.C.L.A. shirt, shorts and cap" he then said" why? doesn't he get it? doesn't he understand?" "They have lost 5 in a row!"

So, are we supposed to put away our gear and have it be our dirty little secret that we are bruins fans? I am sorry if this ran on, but that's just an example of what is put out there. Thanks for listening.

Ben Ball 09-10, Day 1

2009-11-05T07:46:14Z

Well that was fun way to start the season. Everyone's blood going?!? Good. I was going to wait until tomorrow morning to do this, but I had all these thoughts in my head and I figured I might as well get them out now. They are a little scatterbrained, but so was the play tonight, so I think it works. I'm sure Nestor will have a writeup with the stats, which are available here, but I don't think the stats are too important from a game like this.

DC will be sorely missed. I know JA wasn’t in the game, but without ball pressure, CBH’s defensive scheme becomes much weaker. Also, the lack of a definitive leader to throw the ball to at the end of a shot clock is something that will have to be worked out through the course of the season.
JA's groin cant get healed soon enough. Mustafa Abdul-Hamid played as good as can be expected and nailed that clutch 3, but a Pac 10 starting point guard he is not.
ML showed flashes of what we all are hoping for. ML showed off an improved jumper and did a fantastic job penetrating, however he needs to add some more muscle to allow him to finish around the rim better. He still has a tendency to pay out of control and doesn't have the best handle in the world, but with more playing time, I'm sure he will get more comfortable on the floor and play more under control as the season progresses.
DG will be the heart and soul of this team and that is a very good thing. DG showed off an improved offensive repretoire and seemed to gobble up every rebound, especially in the closing minutes. He had an embarassing moment when he got hung up on a dunk, but other than that, he was by far the player of the game.
I was very pleased with JK. Its hard to describe, but he just looks less "stiff" this year than he has in past. He was active on both offensive and defense and played with a confidence that has escaped him in his three previous years. Let's hope JK finally puts it together and becomes the McDonald's All American he was in high school.
JMM walked off the court with a trainer in the second half and it looked like he was holding his lower back. Hopefully there will be more news on this (or no news at all, would be the best news) tomorrow morning. JMM showed off his new body, but he needs to gain some weight now in the form of muscle as he looks a like a middle school kid who lost all his baby fat and now is kinda lanky. He did show a few good post moves and a soft touch which were promising. JMM got the start today, but I fully expect DG to be the starting center once the season starts with JMM being a very capable backup.
ND didn't have a great shooting night, but I still feel like every time he shoots the ball it is going in. What I was very impressed with was his improved playmaking. ND helped bring the ball up the court to break the Concordia press which was killing us and made some good semi-drives and passes in the half court offense that showed signs that ND is finally becoming a complete player.

More thoughts and an analysis of the freshmen, after the jump.

Tyler Honeycutt (TH) and Mike Moser (MM) have a loooooooooooooooong way to go. Both struggled tremendously on defense guarding quicker guards getting burned multiple times and were pushed around both on offense and defense. Their lateral speed just isn't yet up to CBH level defense. Offensively, both were rather lost and struggled with spacing. I'm positive that both will get better over the course of the season, but anyone expecting a Kevin Love or even Jrue Holiday type impact from them should go take a cold shower.
Reeves Nelson (RN) showed a lot of promise. He will be an excellent bruiser and rebounder in the mold of Aboya, but he has to figure that out first. Unfortunately, RN played more like a perimeter player and over-dribbled on offense and was a little lost defensively. However, as a fifth big off the bench, RN will have a very succesful season backing up DG, JMM, JK, and ND.
Anthony Stover (AS) looked pretty good in warmups. He didn't get in the game though which doesn't bode well for his chances for playing time this season. A redshirt for both AS and BL (who has been out with an injury) could be likely this year as I don't see anyway that they crack the rotation of the five bigs in front of them.
MR's impact on the offense cant be overstated. I'm not talking about his great shooting, but his entry passes. With a thin bankcourt even when JA is healthy, MR's ability to make entry passes to our low post scoring threats and his ability to handle the ball will be crucial to making CBH's offense flow.

In sum, this is a very young team and this was their first game together after barely practicing as a team this past week. However, I think it is pretty safe to say that the success of this team will depend on (1) JA and ML developing into a guard combo who can limit turnovers and apply ballpressure, and (2) the four bigs (DG, JK, ND, and JMM) dominating the glass and getting easy baskets.

Strap yourselves in Bruins Nation, this is going to be a ride like one we haven't had in awhile. I for one am looking forward to it.

Go Bruins!

Google News Bruin feed created

2009-11-05T05:32:03Z

Google News recently added the ability to create your own page, rather than just seeing what is on their standard home page. I created a filter to search for articles featuring our current football and men's basketball teams, as well as any featuring Bruins currently in the pros. You don't even need a Google account! To add the UCLA section, from the main Google News page, click on Add a section at the top right, type UCLA into the search bar on the right, then add it. Now every time you go to the Google News home page you'll see the UCLA section!

You should be able to go straight to it via this link:

http://news.google.com/news/section?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&csid=f0e6b62fabd1f3c6&ict=ln

Adam Maya/OC Register In CYA Mode: Fails To Take Responsibility, Attacks Player's Parent

2009-11-05T02:55:12Z

So after staying mum for almost three days about why he advanced bogus attacks on UCLA Head Coach Rick Neuheisel, Adam Maya (the Trojan alum posing as a "UCLA beat reporter" for the OC Register) finally followed up on his garbage story.

First, he didn't take any responsibility for his completely failing on his job by not following up with Brian Theriot to verify that he had indeed posted disparaging comments about Rick Neuheisel. Then instead of issuing a contrite apology on how he just dropped the ball he posted a "Q&A" with Brian Theriot which frankly comes across as an attack on Theriot so that Maya could CHOA. Here is a sampling of Maya's "hard hitting" questions (again no link for his garbage blog post):

Maya: There were multiple posts on your Facebook page attacking the program, beginning Saturday night and continuing through Monday morning. In-between there were multiple posts on Brett Favre and Halloween photos, which have not been removed. If you posted those, you would have seen the comments from Saturday night, which were still on your page as of Monday. Are those your posts from Sunday?
Theriot: "I’m a big Brett Favre fan. My last post I think was about 5:20 p.m., Sunday."

Maya: Right. And the posts attacking the program came before and after that. The first ones were from Saturday evening, shortly after the UCLA-Oregon State game. The others came on Monday morning. You’ve admitted you posted Sunday. So if someone else wrote these posts on Monday, what about the posts from Saturday?
Theriot: "Those aren’t me. I don’t attack the program. I’ll be honest with you, do I disagree with the use of my son? Yes, but that’s irrelevant. That’s no reason to attack the problem. In the midst of all this (on Monday), I was communicating with Bob Field, the associate athletic director, about the situation with my son."

So let's get this right. Here is a "reporter" who first pursued a dumb non story about a player's parent being concerned about his son's playing time. In his pursuit he posted comments from a facebook wall without actually verifiying that they did belong to that player's parent and so that he could push the storyline of how Neuheisel might have been losing control of the program. Now after being exposed that he didn't exercise any kind of basic jouranlistc ethics by actually verifying the quotes he goes on a CYA mode attacking the player's parent and without issuing any kind of apology.

Seriously who knows what Theriot actually did. At this point that's not the story. The story here is now is that we have a reporter, who appears to have gotten exposed for pursuing a total hit job against the football head coach of his alma mater's bitter cross town rival, and he is now desperately trying to weasel out of it.

Simply disgusting. Maya is obviously a joke. The bigger joke right now is the OC Register who apparently has no regard whatsover for basic journalism in their sports section. Pathetic.

GO BRUINS.

Random: Reggie Bush has a framed UCLA jersey in his house

2009-11-04T23:40:53Z

Via Curbed LA, Reggie Bush has put a house in the hills north of the Sunset Strip on the market. It's as tastefully decorated as you could imagine a house owned by a football player with more money than he knows what to do with being (still, amazing views). But check out the photo of the framed jerseys he has hanging by the staircase (the bottom left photo in the first set on the Redfin listing). Yes, that's a UCLA jersey. Any guesses which Bruin that Reggie chose to honor in his own house (along with the player's pro jersey)?

So alright, it wasn't someone that Reggie went up against, but still--it's a legend that played for your school's biggest rival, IMHO. What would you think if we found out that Maurice Jones-Drew had a framed Marcus Allen USC jersey in his house (please tell me you don't, MJD!). Fair, because he's a legend that came before his time, or foul, because of who he played for?

Oh, and one more thing: asking almost $400,000 more for a house that you bought in 2007, at the height of the bubble? Good luck, Reggie.

Ben Ball Game Day Roundup: Season Starts Tonight

2009-11-04T20:44:55Z

Don't forget folks. The basketball season gets started tonight. Ben Ball warriors start the 2009-10 season tonight in an exhibition game against Concordia University Eagles. The tip off is set for 7:30 pm PST.

The official site posted game notes with some information on the Eagles:

Located in Irvine, Calif., the Concordia University Eagles are members of the NAIA and the Golden State Athletic Conference. They are coached by Ken Ammann, who played two years at Stanford before graduating from Stanford in 1991. He is in his ninth season at the helm of CUI and sports an overall record of 221-62 (.781). Concordia has qualified for the NAIA National Tournament for three consecutive years and has made six appearances in the previous eight seasons Ammann has been at CUI. Ammann guided the Eagles to their only NAIA national championship in 2003. The Eagles return two starters from a team that went 28-7 overall last year and 16-4 in the GSAC (2nd place). CUI was ranked as high as 4th in the NAIA a year ago and finished with a final ranking of 12th after losing in the NAIA Quarterfinals in 2009. Senior guard Terrence Worthy is the team's top returner. Last year as a second-team All-American, he averaged 9.5 points, 2.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Another Eagle to watch is junior center Ben Smith, who averaged 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 2008-09. Sophomore guard Cameron Gliddon is the team's highest scorer returning (9.6 points per game) and drained 65 three-pointers last year.

The OC Register has a great story on the Eagles center - Andre Murrillo. Andre is attempting a comeback after a life threatening stabbing just months ago. The entire Eagles team and community has rallied behind Andre and it's going to be a huge moment for him when he gets on John and Nell Wooden Court tonight.

As for the Bruins three of our guys ~~starters~~ are going to sit out the game:

Earlier this week, UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland announced that senior guard Michael Roll, sophomore guard Jerime Anderson and freshman forward Brendan Lane will not dress for the Bruins' first exhibition game against Concordia. Lane has missed the last two weeks of practice with a sprained left ankle. Anderson missed the first two weeks of practice with a strained left groin and only returned to practice this Monday (Nov. 2), but not at 100 percent. Roll also has a sprained ankle (right) and returned to practice on Monday, but only practiced in drills with no contact. All three student-athletes will continue to be revaluated on a daily basis.

This means those of you who will be at the game or follow it online will get to see how ML handles pg duty on the floor. With three starters out including our PG being one of them, I wouldn't take this game lightly. I am not kidding (see Syracuse).

The game is not on TV. UCLA All-Access, UCLA Athletics' online multimedia platform, will carry exclusive online video of the games against Concordia on November 4, Humboldt State on November 10 and Delaware State on December 27. You can get more details here. We will throw up an open thread around tip off so that folks who are following it online or via radio can post away.

Just hours to go.

GO BRUINS.

Who Is Your All-Time Favorite Bruin?

2009-11-04T14:42:49Z

Bumped. GO BRUINS. - N

I came across a real nice FanPost in Wazzu's CougCenter blog titled "Who is your all time favorite coug?" playerkyle14 writes:

Ok, I realize this question is a little cheezy and unfair. But my buddies and I may or may not have been drinking the other night, and had this very same discussion. It's hard to choose just one. And it's unfair to all the Coug Greats of the past whom we haven't seen. But alas, this isn't who we think is the bestall time Coug, rather, it's simply stating who your all time favoriteCoug is and why.

The beauty of this is there isn't a right or wrong answer. You could pick Matt Kegel because he high fived you at Dismores that one time or Sam Lightbody because his name is Sam Lightbody and he was a little less than a metric ton.

It could even be someone like Mark Hendrickson, who is from my HS alma mater, by the way. So this isn't just a football question. It's an all Coug sports question. And there is no right or wrong answer. We're Cougs, we're all right.

As a long time reader of Bruinsnation since it debuted as FKD, I don't recall a similar FanPost and thought it would make for interesting posting and reading for everyone, as evidenced by the "favorite coug" posts -- some of the Cougs became favorites from actual meetings with the players.

As for me, my favorite Bruins are probably Kenny Easley and John Barnes. Regarding Easley, I had the good fortune of having great student seats for the 1980 UCLA-USC -- the Jay Schroeder to Freeman McNeil tipped pass courtesy of Jeff Fisher -- contest. My recollection of the very end of the game is Easley playing centerfield with an injured arm/shoulder, ready to knock down passes with just one hand as he refused to come off the field (OTOH, I wouldn't be surprised if, after watching UCLA games for nearly 40 years, I have all of this confused).

As far as Barnes, all Bruin fans who were fortunate to watch the 1992 UCLA-USC game will always remember #19 fondly. Despite the 385 yards passing, including the 90-yard catch/run by J.J. Stokes, my favorite moment occurs when the game is over and ESPN's Adrian Karsten (sadly, now deceased as he committed suicide) asked Barnes what he was thinking as USC was going for the 2-pt. conversion to tie. Barnes, with all the exuberance in the world, said something along the lines of "I was hoping they would score, so we could drive down and score on them, again! Yeah!"

Please share your thoughts.

UCLA Football Gets New Recruit & Possibly More?

2009-11-04T03:12:48Z

So couple of fanshots up on BN tonight with news of more talent coming into Rick Neuheisel's program. So let's put them together in one post. First, hicalliber fanshotted about Bruins picking up a new LB recruit Erick Kendricks from Fresno. Kendricks Dad - Marv - played for the Bruins in the 1970s. And unfortunately for the Bruins, his older brother had a pretty glorious moment as a Cal Bear just two weekends ago at the Rose Bowl. From Jon Gold:

With offers from Washington State, Nevada and Fresno State, Kendricks told Scout.com's Brandon Huffman that he was just waiting on UCLA - where his father, Marv, played in the '70s.

"I have been wanting a UCLA offer for a while," Kendricks told Scout.com. "I went to their camp this summer so they could see me. They said they just wanted to watch me a little more this year. Then they offered me last Wednesday."
The 6-foot-1, 213-pound middle linebacker said UCLA coaches wanted him to play either linebacker spot, like his older brother Mychal, who plays for Cal and had a 68-yard interception return for touchdown against the Bruins this year.
"They want me as a linebacker, but they'll figure outside or inside later," Kendricks told Scout.com.

For more on Erick check out his bio on Bruin Report Online (Gold should be linking to Huffman when mentioning him in a blogpost). Meanwhile, our colleagues from Ralphie Report - SBN's CU blog - fanshotted about the possibility of Darrell Scott, a CU running back (who was one of the most highly sought after prep star couple of years ago) might be thinking about transferring to UCLA.

We actually heard about this possiblity back on October 7th when one of our loyal readers alerted us that Scott had sent out a text message indicating that he was thinking about transferring to UCLA in "winter quarter." We sat on the scoop because we had no interest in publishing scoops like that without getting verified from the actual source. Anyway, now the story is out. A big reason UCLA is in the mix is because his uncle Josh Smith has already transferred to UCLA from CU. Plus we also have former CU transfer Kai Maiava in the team. From the Denver Post via Ralphie Report:

"I'd been thinking about it for a couple of months," Scott told The Denver Post today in a telephone interview.

Scott said he hoped to get a release from CU to UCLA, so he could join his uncle, former Buffs wideout Josh Smith, with the Bruins. Smith, a wide receiver, transferred to UCLA during the summer and is sitting out this season under NCAA transfer rules.

"That's the plan," Scott said about joining Smith

There's really nothing to say, other than 'Sorry to Buff nation,' " Scott said.

Per the Post report Scott has been banged this season:

Scott's best game this season came Sept. 11 against Toledo, when he netted 85 yards on 12 carries. However, he banged up a knee in that game and ultimately underwent arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 22. CU medical personnel were hoping Scott could make it back for this Saturday's home game against Texas A&M, although the Nov. 14 road game against Iowa State might have been more likely.

Again, note this kid was the number 2 over all recruit in the nation behind Terrell Pryor back in 2008. From the comments on Ralphie Report, looks like folks are pretty bummed out to lose him, which could be a good sign.

Guess we will see how it all plays out. Kids can change their mind plus there is also the matter of clearing UCLA's academics officials who apparently have pretty stringent standards for transfers (See Willie Mobley's efforts to transfer to UCLA).

I know we are pretty stacked at RBs. At the same time though given how much we need speed and athleticism on our offense, we can always make room for an athlete such as Scott. Anyway, I am sure we will hear more about this in the coming months as the story will be developing for a while.

GO BRUINS.

Bruins in ESPN's TMQ

2009-11-03T19:45:43Z

Anyone see this on WWL? Pretty funny!

HMS Pinafore Had Nothing on UCLA: Here's a hilarious article about college basketball teams orchestrating their timeouts with midcourt chairs and seating charts. UCLA brings six specific timeout stools to games -- five with white pads for the five players in the game, one with a blue pad for the head coach. Doesn't it seem absurd that staffers are present to carry stools? But the staff needs something to do! UCLA basketball has a 17-person staff. The staff includes four coaches, a director of basketball administration, a director of basketball operations (how does administration differ from operations?), four managers supervised by a head manager and my personal favorite, a men's basketball athletic performance coach. Just exactly in what way does an athletic performance coach differ from a coach? UCLA basketball has 17 staffers for 18 players -- nearly a 1-to-1 ratio. I counted 122 teachers and staffers in the UCLA English department, serving 37,674 students -- a 1-to-308 ratio. And the students are the paying customers!

Taken from Greg Easterbrook's TMQ article on www.espn.com.

[UPDATES] I Couldn't Hear You With All the Flags Flapping In My Ears

2009-11-03T17:16:43Z

Maybe some of you have seen Uber-Patriot Darren Rovell's hit piece on the winner of the NYC Marathon, Bruin and American citizen Meb Keflezighi. If not, Deadspin has done a great job of listing the Patriotic (TM) talking points from Rovell:

Meb Keflezighi, who won yesterday in New York, is technically American by virtue of him becoming a citizen in 1998, but the fact that he's not American-born takes away from the magnitude of the achievement the headline implies.

[...]

Given our disappointing results, embracing Keflezighi is understandable. But Keflezighi's country of origin is Eritrea, a small country in Africa. He is an American citizen thanks to taking a test and living in our country.

The first point I'd like to make is that Meb did more than just "live" in the country. For the most part, he grew up here. Last time I checked, the University of California, Los Angeles contains three words that identify itself with the United States, so he was educated here. And being a citizen thanks to "taking a test" is no small feat, considering that there are reports circulating that a mere 3.5% of American High School students would be able to pass that same test. I'd like to know if Rovell could pass. I know I have my doubts.

Well, Deadspin, which does a great job of mocking all things stupid in sports and sports reporting, unloads with this gem:

That's right. An American by Scantron. Meb can run around with Old Glory all he wants. Won't change the fact he was born not just in Africa, but in an African country so damn un-American we made Ethiopia bomb the crap out of it for us. So, no, Rovell will not be waving the flag today, thank you very much. He's waiting for an American to win this goddamn race. Someone who really represents these United States of ours. Maybe someone more like that fellow who won way back in 1982, the last time an American broke the tape in New York. Now there was a real American. Guy by the name of Alberto Salazar.

Who was born in Havana.

Let's leave aside the fact that this is a country of immigrants for a second and concede that Rovell does have a point here. Clearly Eritrea is a part of the Axis of Evil (TM), and we should not be embracing this double agent as one of our own. I prefer our heroes to represent American values, like Alberto Salazar, hailing from the great beacon of Democracy (TM) and Freedom (TM); Havana, Cuba. Almost makes you wonder what that whole embargo business is about...

(No, I am not impugning Mr. Salazar's claim to citizenship)

Shamefully, Rovell's stupidity has even been picked up by our own host, SBNation. However, I do suggest clicking through to both and going to the comments where there is more comedy and well reasoned mockery to be had.

I salute Armchair Patriot (TM) Darren Rovell's diligence in bringing this pressing matter to our attention. How could you not trust a man with such an extensive athletic resume:

Rovell doesn't just report, he does. He finished the New York Marathon in 2004, the same year he ate six hot dogs and buns at a hot dog eating qualifier. He finished fifth in the world in the World Championship of Watermelon Seed Spitting in Luling, Texas in 2005, and scored one point in a two-minute stint for the Washington Generals at Madison Square Garden in 2008. He is also on the Green Bay Packers season ticket waiting list, has searched for golf balls in the water of the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass and has been tutored by the Dallas Mavericks free throw coach. In February of 2008, when Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Phoenix Suns, he gave Shaq the idea to call himself "The Big Cactus."

In case you were wondering, yes, eating hot dogs is on the American Citizenship Test. That makes Takeru Kobayashi (of Tokyo, Japan) one of the greatest Americans to ever live.

UPDATE: (Achilles): I was writing a similar post but Tydides beat me too it.

Does anyone actually think that the U.S. government allowed Meb to become a citizen because he runs fast? Does Revell honestly believe that Meb is a ringer, that citizenship is so cheaply awarded that the United States granted Meb a passport so that the nation could rejoice in him winning a race?

The funny thing is, some of the naturalized citizens that I know are more patriotic and know more about this country than many Americans who were born and raised here. That test that Meb took? It's not given by the DMV. It's tough.

I'm struggling to respond here in the same way one would struggle with someone who said "You know, blank people are cheap." Or "blank people really do like to marry their cousins." Battling ignorance is tough because it forces you down into the muck.

What I'm really wondering what Keeley and Revell would say to the parents and wives and children of dead American soldiers who died in battle defending this country after becoming naturalized citizens. I wonder if they would tell them "Thanks, but it's not as if they were real Americans who were actually born here."

I not only rejoice in Meb's win because we are both Americans. I rejoice that I live in a country that allows great men like Meb to become citizens and then proceeds to treat him no differently than those whose families came over on the Mayflower.

UPDATE II: (N) It looks like CNBC's Darren Rovell has apologized for his insane column today. Yet the damage is already kind of done. Meanwhile, the post on SBN mocking Mebe as "technically" an American is still up. We'd suggest you fill up the comment thread not only demanding an apology from Sean but also his editors for allowing that kind of nonsense to be posted on a network which we are part of. We are also going to communicate to SBN that we expect a retraction or apology from Sean by the end of the day tomorrow.

Ben Ball Roundup: Everyone Is Back, Well Almost

2009-11-03T13:45:09Z

We are getting very close. The season gets started with an exhibition game tomorrow night at Pauley (more on that below). Coach Howland is getting close to having his full squad of Ben Ball warriors back in practice. From the LA Times:

With the team preparing for its first exhibition game against Concordia on Wednesday night, Howland had a relatively large contingent of healthy bodies on the court for Monday's practice.

Only freshman forward Brendan Lane sat out the entire session, because of a sprained ankle.

Guard Michael Roll took part in noncontact drills before wrapping his sore ankle in ice. Point guard Jerime Anderson did even better, lasting about two-thirds of the way.

"The groin's feeling real good, real healthy," Anderson said. "I think they're just easing me back in."

That abundance of caution will continue through the week, with Howland already deciding that Anderson, Roll and Lane will sit out the Concordia game.

The news about JA is definitely encouraging. ML was excited to have almost everyone back at practice:

"This was the first practice that we had where everybody felt really good," sophomore guard Malcolm Lee said. "At one point we only had 10 people practicing, and there were no subs. If one person was about to get hurt, you had to tell them to just suck it up, because we had no more bodies. It felt really good today to have almost everyone out here."

Well apparently ND had a little case of food poisoning (per the Times he hate "pasta that had been left out too long") as he left practice about half way through. He should be fine. ND is still going to be serve a "punishment" and be benched for the opening tip off tomorrow night for missing a team-meeting this week. Howland sounds really serious about it:

"He might have got out of the discipline for missing the mandatory meeting by getting food poisoning," Howland said. "Anything's possible."

LOL. Gotta love Howland.

As for practices RN has made his presence felt early on as a freshman by leading the team in rebounds (no doubt that has Howland's attention). But he sill has lot to learn:

"Just the game speed," he said. "I think all the freshmen are used to dominating on their high school teams. This has been really similar to what I went through my freshman year of high school."

On defense, the 6-8, 228-pound forward has worked on covering opponents along the perimeter, focusing on footwork and lateral quickness.

On offense, he's simply trying to be more patient.

"Instead of dominating the ball and getting the majority of shots, I'm just trying to make good plays when I'm open," he said. "Just trying to play solid."

If you can't wait to see RN and rest of the warriors, you can check them out online tomorrow against Concordia. UCLA All-Access, UCLA Athletics' online multimedia platform, will carry exclusive online video of the games against Concordia on November 4, Humboldt State on November 10 and Delaware State on December 27. You can get more details here. We will throw up an open thread for that game right around tip off so that folks who are following it online or via radio can post away.

GO BRUINS.

Protecting Prince, Brehaut, and Craft

2009-11-03T01:44:17Z

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

I haven't re-watched the Arizona or Oregon State tape yet - that's what I really wanted to take a look at - so I'll update this when I get ahold of copies of those two games, since I believe we ate about 4 sacks apiece in each of those games. The below is only for SDSU through the Cal game.

I believe that offensive success begins up front, so I put together some cutups of common pass protection schemes used by UCLA over a few games. Norm Chow is a former offensive lineman, so you know that he understands the importance of the OL.

Gap vs. Man vs. Combo

Pass protections generally fall into two categories: zone or man, just like run blocking and coverage. Just like those there are also variations that combine the two. Gap protections have linemen responsible for a gap, and works well against defenses that like to stunt and twist. Man protections work well when you want to make sure that your linemen are blocking linemen, and your backs are blocking linebackers, instead of vice versa. Combo protections involve several linemen using gap principles and several using man principles.

At the top is an example of a 5-man protection that uses man principles, with the tackles locked up on the defensive ends and the interior linemen responsible for the 3 defenders. Generally they will "zone" those three defenders but it usually works out to the RG taking the DT and the C/LG picking up the NT and the LB if he rushes. The offense has 5 men in the route with 5 OL to block 5 rushers.

Next is a 6-man gap scheme where the line "slide" protects to the left, the TE releases, and the back replaces him. The problem is that you occasionally will end up with a back blocking a DE. Another problem is that the back cannot really get out into the route with this type of scheme - if you run a 6-man slide protection scheme, you will have only 4 men in the route, as if you release a back you will have a hole in your zone...the guys you decide to leave in have to stay in.

Combo protection at the bottom uses a half gap/half man system with the back reading linebackers. In this example, the offense locks up the LT man up on the DE. After the gap in the defense (red dashed line), the OL will slide protect away from the call side (right). There are 4 linemen to pick up 5 possible rushers. However the back will "check" the LBs and pick them up if they come - if not he can get out into the route on a "check release". If M comes and S drops, he can pick up M; if S comes and M drops, he can pick up S, and if both come, he will pick up the innermost guy, M. In this case the QB has to be aware that there are 5 possible defenders that could threaten the right side while he only has 4 potential blockers - if both M and S comes he needs to know that he has to get rid of the ball quickly as the back will be looking to pick up the blitz from inside to out (inside = more immediate threat).

Above is a good angle that shows Stanford running combo protection against us. We have 7 immediate threats and they have a max of 6 potential blockers; one must be accounted for by the QB's "hot" read (probably Ayers with something to the TE). We end up rushing only 4 with a stunt and they end up protecting with only 5, the bare minimum.

Note that 4 Stanford OL (LT to RG) step laterally to their left at the snap, while the RT moves backwards to block Korey Bosworth. We run a stunt against the "gap" protection side, and it gets picked up as no one is chasing defenders around, they are all covering their gap. Gerhart steps up callside, "checks" Kyle Bosworth and Reggie Carter, and sees them drop back, and then releases into the flat. Their QB sees that neither LB on the other side blitzes, and has some time to dump it off to Gerhart.

5-man: Man

This is the protection that I used in the example above for man. You can see the tackles seem to backpedal fairly quickly to set up the pocket, the interior linemen form a wall in the middle. This is usually used with some kind of quick-breaking concept and with some kind of short option like a swing route available in case the defense rushes more than 5. In one of the clips at 0:18, Richard Brehaut takes a sack when Oregon rushes 7 and UCLA has 5 in to protect. There is a quick option available, double slants to the left, but it looks like there was a predetermined read to throw to the right side as he doesn't really look that way. It looks as if the back had run a flatter route to the sideline then Brehaut would have been able to hit the hitch for a first down at the 5-yard line/the back in the flat (I put the blame on Brehaut for taking the sack earlier, but looking at it again I believe I was wrong the first time and it was just a sloppy route).

5-man: Gap

This doesn't really seem like it would make sense - if you slide the offensive line to one side, who is going to pick up the backside defender? UCLA has run a few plays where they pull a guard to the backside off playaction to pick up that guy, but during the first couple games they used this form of protection with a straight slide off playaction to the callside, and just left the backside guy unblocked. They dealt with it by sneaking a TE or back into the flat, essentially "blocking" that guy by making him wrong by either chasing the back off the PA, or chasing the QB until the QB just tosses it above the guy's head. I haven't seen it lately - Prince ran it at least once for the TD against Tennessee, but mostly it was Kevin Craft, especially against Kansas State.

6-man: Combo

This is the protection explained above. You will notice half the line "gap" protecting, usually just a tackle or sometimes the tackle/guard blocking man on to the callside. The back will step callside, "check" the LB, and then release or block (in these clips he is usually releasing - will explain below). In most of these the back just leaks out a few yards past the line, underneath the linebackers as a check down, and we've seen some completions to these guys as the QB is about to take a sack. In the first clip, the Vols rush 4 and we have 5 to protect. The right side looks like a man concept as they chase the stunt and the left side looks like they are gap protecting - the stunt is the thing that leads to the sack/fumble, as the players chase rather than play gap. In the 2nd clip it looks like the TE does a little check/release, or it might be pre-determined.

6-man: Gap

This is the gap protection explained above, you have 5 linemen sliding to one side and the back picking up the backside. One point to note is that the back often ends up blocking (or trying to block) the defensive end, and it doesn't work out that well sometimes. I did not think that our backs looked that good blocking, in general, but the blocking on some of these plays just looks really bad...you will see some of our guys diving at their feet and some whiffed blocks. However, the protection is solid as long as guys make their blocks. The only downside is that you have 6 guys blocking, 4 guys in the route, and if they only rush 3 then you have 3 guys blocking air, while they have 8 to cover 4.

7-man: Combo

This protection is just like the others except that you will have 7 men in - either the TE or another back, with a second back reading the linebackers. I have a couple examples of what looks like the "check" release by the back, although it is hard to tell what is predetermined and what is "read" - but it looks to be what I think it is.

However, there are a few more plays where it looks like a combo protection up front, but the back does not release - a few of these are against a defense only rushing 4. This protection seemed to be pretty common, as on a lot of the games I have seen we have blockers standing around not really doing anything. The steps and body language of the backs on these clips make me think that the back is not reading backers and is only looking to block the most dangerous man, on the one at the end, he isn't even looking at the LBs, he is looking to help out against the DE and is too late to react to the (delayed) blitz - there are 7 in the protection, they rush 4, and we take a sack. In this protection, our backs have not really looked good, so I don't know if it is a scheme thing (being asked to look at the DE 1st) or just poor reads and blocking by the backs.

7-man: Gap

Just like above, here is the cutup of 7-man slide protection. On the first clip, you can see how important it is to maintain these gaps, as there is a pretty big one between the C and RG that Tennessee shoots through. 62 is stepping the right way but staring at grass. In the second, it looks like 51 steps too far to his left, squeezes his gap too far. In some of the others you see 7 men blocking 3 rushers, and only 3 men out in the route.

7-man: Sprintout

This isn't covered above but I threw it in there as I saw it a handful of times, mostly with Kevin Craft. It is basically like the 5-man gap protection above except that you have a back to hook the edge rusher and allow the QB to sprint out. With this protection you are basically eliminating the backside WR, unless you are in trips to the sprintout side. Both times it looks like UCLA runs a smash concept, high-low on the flat defender (who is also threatened by the moving QB.

8-man: Combo

Looked to be a form of combo with double TE and the back in, I saw it at least twice vs. Cal, and I believe both times they only rushed 3 or 4. There are only two WRs in the route and both times we ran streak/dig, once off of PA and once off a flea-flicker.

Thoughts

There is more than what I have here, but these seem to be the big families. One thing that stood out to me was that we seemed to favor the 7-man protections, with all 7 men staying in to block (ie, back not check releasing). As I said before, a lot of times this results in 7 guys blocking 3 or 4 rushers, and 3 guys running routes against 7 or 8 defenders. Running 7-man protections is a deterrent against blitzing; most defenses will not really blitz much against teams that show a lot of 7-man protections as the odds of making it to the QB are lower. However, if teams aren't sending guys then your WRs are going to have a much harder time getting open and the QB is going to have a tough time finding somewhere to go with the ball.

I wouldn't necessarily say that we need to put more guys out in the route and block with less; there is a time and a place for each protection. I think we've done a good job of mixing it up, but when we block with 7, then we should never be taking a sack - the first two clips of the 7-man slide scheme from the Tennessee game show their guys getting too close to Prince, when they are only bringing 5 and 6. Against Cal, we block with 7 and they bring 4 and get the sack. In some other clips, you see some pressure on the QB, causing him to move around a bit. He shouldn't have to worry about this, or reading a "hot" rusher, or paying attention to a blitz in a 7-man scheme; he has to spend more time worrying about where to go with the ball since he only has 3 options. So I think from the offensive line standpoint there is some merit to the argument that we sometimes just get out-talent'ed against some defenses. A lot of it is technique, which is coach-able - using proper footwork and leverage, so it is something that can improve right away, But from a scheme standpoint, it doesn't matter what kind of protection you use, if you need to commit an extra guy or two, or if you need two guys to block one player, then you will be in trouble.

Bowl Ties

2009-11-03T05:44:27Z

As I was blogging earlier tonight on RanJeremySports, I came across a situation that perplexed me. I was looking at the schedules for teams in the conference and making predictions for the end of the season based upon them, and it is very possible that seven teams will finish with six or more wins. That of course largely depends on us down the stretch, Oregon State, and Stanford which has Cal/U$C/ND/UO to close out its season. If this scenario was to play out what would (probably) happen? Oh, and I doubt we will get another team (U$C) into a second BCS game.

Currently we have the Rose, Holiday, Sun, Emerald, Vegas, and Poinsettia bowls as sure tie-ins. What would happen if a 7th team was to be eligible? We could easily be #7, but maybe considered over #6 because of fan base, name recognition, etc right? Honestly, I am not really sure which is why I was wondering what you guys think about this. For more optimisim about the next four weeks check out my post please:

Pac 10 Predictions

(we do love comments, even if you disagree with us)

-RMS

NCAA Announces Penalties against USC Football...

2009-11-03T02:52:43Z

This just leaked from NCAA Headquarters....

"After a very lengthy, albeit not not very penetrating, investigation, we reluctantly announce the severe 'Death Penalty' against the Southern California football oligarchy.

"As is well known on the Internet (but not to the Los Angeles Times), the USC Trojan football program has been point and center in an impressive list of scandals. We refer you to the Bruins Nation's Menelaus file, too large for us to reproduce here.

"We specifically acknowledge that Reggie Bush was accorded extra benefits far in excess of those normally lavished on USC's so-called student athletes. Our judgment is that Mr. Bush has suffered enough through his association with the Kardashian family, so he may retain his ill-gotten Heisman trophy.

"We further acknowledge the zero degrees Kelvin institutional control by President Sample, Athletic Director Garrett, and Chief Ethicist Senora Ross. Our judgment is that everything that happened was the work of one man with nice hair, who has been removed from all university activities (granted, with an eye-opening severance package and a promise not to talk). We refer, of course, to Mr. Tim Floyd. We direct you to the Bruins Nation documentary, "The Sound of SCilence" for further details.

"Finally, we acknowledge the many contributions to bottom-line NCAA revenues gushing from a non-regulated Trojan program. This, in concert with the college's enviable relationship with local law enforcement personnel and the exemplary role-model behavior of the head coach, Mr. Pete Cheat Carroll, results in the following unprecedented sanctions:

"1. Because their behavior is reminiscent of Delta House, they are placed on double-secret probation.

"2. Because they have a poor defense and an untried quarterback and have no chance of making the BCS championship game or even a Rose Bowl berth against a laughable Big Ten team, for this year only the University is banned from post-season play. We understand this will cause great suffering among alumni who would normally flock to the Poinsettia Bowl, Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl, or Chick-fil-A Bowl.

".3 Because they must now compete for academically-challenged recruits against Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian, they are given the additional handicap of losing one scholarship each year through the rest of this decade (i.e., 2010). Please note that as part of the nation's Stimulus Bill, it is acceptable and encouraged for the University to hire marginally-qualified employees whose sons may play varsity without counting against scholarship limits.

"We understand that these egregious sanctions may cause some embarrassment among other schools who have received more lenient treatment in past years (such as forfeiting games). By pounding Southern California as we have, we trust that others who might consider behaving similarly will be fully deterred."

[UPDATED] CRN Responds With Class To A Frustrated Parent's Nonsensical Facebook Ramblings

2009-11-02T23:13:38Z

UPDATED (N): The points re. Mr. Theriot are now moot given his public statement that those comments were not from him and that his facebook accounts were hacked into by someone else. The question now becomes why did Adam Maya repost those comments without verifying they were actually coming from Mr. Theriot himself.

So Adam Maya, the UCLA beat writer for the OC Register who happens to be a Trojan alum (and frequently laces his UCLA reports with nothing but contempt for Neuheisel) breathlessly posted a frustrated facebook rant from the parent of UCLA football player. Apparently Brian Theriot, a Bruin alum who is he father of reserve fullback Trevor Theriot ranted on facebook this weekend about Rick Neuheisel, Wayne Moseley and the program:

"UCLA under Coach Rick (Neuheisel)….is horrible. Wayne Moses the running back coach is horrible. The sets are Pop Warner in movement, motion, and slots. I mean a Pop Warner type offense that Tim Tebow would laugh at. UCLA is playing with great athletes but giving great athletes boys and girls club sets. Norm Chow and Wayne Moses are old school and gone.

"I have decided to just show up and Coach at UCLA Spaulding Field today. I am going to just step out of the ‘parents’ section of the stands and coach the backfield. I am going to pick (Kevin) Prince as my starter and I am going with (Johnathan) Franklin/(Derrick) Coleman tail(back) and Theriot at fullback."

Uhh. Okay. There are no practice on Mondays.

Theriot's facebook comments were posted on the "UCLA Blog" for the OC Register and I am not going to give it any kind link because that will only justify their efforts to rack up hits. It's pretty funny. UCLA has a huge game coming up with some interesting story lines. Yet here is Adam Maya apparently trolling through facebooks and twitter accounts of UCLA players' parents to find another storyline to attack Neuheisel's program. Pretty telling.

Anyway, Rick Neuheisel responded to Theriot's Dad's facebook rant with class:

"Everybody’s entitled to their opinion," Neuheisel said. "That’s just a part of the deal. It’s not uncommon for people to be frustrated when their loved ones aren’t getting the kind of playing time that they’d hope for, especially when things aren’t going well because its easy to say, How could we do any worse?

"All we do is play the guys who are deserving of playing time based on what we see on the practice field. There’s absolutely zero favoritism. Our coaches have too much at stake to be playing favorites. That’s not how we do it."

Again that was posted on the OC Register's "UCLA Blog" which will not get any kind of traffic from our community here on BN.

I have my questions and concerns about some of the personnel decisions we have seen our coaching staff made. However, none of that of course merit the narrative about Neuheisel being under some kind of siege which the Southern California traditional media writers are working over time to weave through their increasingly irrelevant outlets. Thank fully do have a coach who strikes the right notes when dealing with the TMZ.com wannabes covering the UCLA beat.

Mr. Thereiot sounds like a classic message board poster who lets his emotion cloud the surrounding facts. He is of course is not basing his comments on reality when concocting up the imaginary story line about UCLA being a team filled with "great athletes." There are reasonable questions to raise about the coaches' decisions at various points this season. However, here Brian Theriot unfortunately comes across as the classic "Bill & Ted" poster sometimes we see around youtube/message board comment threads whining about his sports team without considering the totality of the circumstances.

I can only imagine how embarrassed his son is today and it would be good for him if he issued an apology to Neuheisel and rest of the UCLA community that follows our program.

Back to where our focus should be this week ... on our huge game at the Rose Bowl on Sunday.

GO BRUINS.

Junior Taylor Trying to Bring Kids to the Rose Bowl Again This Year!

2009-10-27T14:44:23Z

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

Former UCLA Wide Receiver Junior Taylor (8), is doing great things as the Athletic Director of a foundation known as Champion Schools in Phoenix, Arizona. He would like to ask Bruin fans to help his kids board a bus to the UCLA-Washington game in conjunction with the "I'm Going to College" program.

Most of these kids are from economically disadvantaged homes and have never been to a college football game. He told me that he wants to show them that it's possible to attend the best college in the country like he did. Here is the email he sent to me:

UCLA's “I'm Going to College” program, the nation's largest collegiate community outreach effort, has touched the lives of thousands of elementary, middle, and high school students across Southern California. Offered through the Southern California school systems, this unique program couples the excitement and tradition of UCLA Athletic events with a message about the importance of higher education. UCLA has extended a special invite to Champion Schools of Phoenix, Arizona the only Out of State School to participate in the program.

My team and I will be participating in the “I’m Going to College” program November 6th-8th. The objective of this program is designed to place young students (5th-8th grade) in a collegiate atmosphere that stresses the excellence of education and athletics. In hosting us, UCLA’s goal is to build positive relationships with young people in their own community and to motivate them to continue achieving goals in both school and life. The three-day experience includes pre-game activities, tickets to UCLA vs. University of Washington, a campus tour, and attendance at a college fair.

Several of our team members have never been on a college campus before and most of them have never had the opportunity to travel out of the state of Arizona. This trip will truly be a life-changing experience for our kids.

I am currently seeking financial sponsors to help with expenses of the trip and hope I can count on your support. Any contributions are greatly appreciated.

This is a great weekend for the kids. If you would like to donate, please email me at uclafan11@yahoo.com and I will send you the tax deductible form. You can fax or scan/email to Junior with your credit card info and donation amount. If you wish to pay by check, the address is on this form as well.

The deadline is November 2nd for donations! If you have any questions about this program, please contact Junior at jtaylor@championschools.org.

GO BRUINS!!!

Non-Revenue Sports Bruin Review and Calendar

2009-11-02T06:46:08Z

UCLA continued to roll with a pair of wins over ranked foes, including a top 5 opponent (via official site)

I do these reports for two reasons. One is because we have so many outstanding teams at UCLA and it is my belief that these teams should get some recognition for their outstanding efforts, while the fans should know how well our Bruins are doing. The other is to encourage support for these teams and help them draw some fans to their games so they can have the support they deserve so head on out and check these teams out. My recommendation this week: Men's water polo at the brand new Spieker Aquatics Center with top-ranked USC in front of what should be a sell out crowd.

Women's Soccer

The #3 Bruins had only one match on their schedule last week, but it was a biggie. That match was a visit from #18 USC, a team that had never beaten the Bruins in Westwood. Jenna Belcher was the first to find her way onto the scoresheet as the Bruin scored just before the half. The Trojans would equalize in the 73rd minute though to knot the game up, however it took less than five minutes for Lauren Cheney to score the game winner on Senior Night and give UCLA a 2-1 win. Still undefeated against USC at home, the Bruins carry a 15-2-1 overall record into the season's final weekend. Stanford won their two games last weekend though so even at 6-1, UCLA will have no chance at the conference title when they head to the Washington schools this weekend.

Men's Water Polo

Nine was the number for #4 UCLA last week, as in nine goals. In both of their games, the Bruins scored nine times. The first game was a 9-6 victory at #5 Pepperdine and the second game was a 9-3 win over #8 Long Beach St., a game in which goalkeeper Chay Lapin made 21 saves. Now riding a six-game win streak, UCLA is 18-5 overall and 4-2 in MPSF play with a visit from top-ranked USC on top this week. UCLA will take on SC at the Spieker Aquatics Center on Saturday at 7 pm PST so head on over and cheer on our Bruins in what will surely be a packed house.

Men's Soccer

One match, one road trip, one loss. That was the weekend for #4 UCLA as the traveled to Creighton and came away losers. The Bruins struggled in the attacking third and got only five shots away in their 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays. Now 9-3-2, UCLA will resume conference play this weekend when Oregon St. and Washington pay a trip to Drake Stadium.

Women's Volleyball

#11 UCLA's up and down season appears to only be heading up right now. Winners of three straight and five of their last six, UCLA went to the Bay Area to take on a pair of ranked teams. First up was #14 Cal, who UCLA disposed of 25-20, 25-20, 16-25, 25-19. Next up was #4 Stanford, a team UCLA hadn't beaten since 2000. It took five sets, but the Bruins defeated the Cardinal for head coach Any Banachowski's 1,100th career win. The match included a thrilling 34-32 second set and a UCLA comeback in the deciding fifth set when they came from 8-4 down to win the set 15-11. Now winners of five straight and having won seven of eight, UCLA is 18-6 overall and 8-3 in the Pac-10, just one game behind conference leaders Washington. UCLA has just one match next week as they head to #16 USC on Friday.

Cross Country

It was the Pac-10 Championships last week, but neither the men nor the women fared too well. The men finished fifth without a runner on the Pac-10 first team, while the women finished seventh, also with a first team Pac-10 runner. The highlight of the weekend for the program was Meb Keflezigh, who became the first American to win the New York Marathon since 1982, as Tele noted.

Women's Tennis

She'd already partnered to win the ITA Regional doubles title and Yasmin Schnack was aiming for the singles title too, but the #2 seed Schnack lost in a three-set final to the tournament's #3 seed.

Men's Volleyball

Youth remains supreme. The current Bruins defeated the alumni Bruins in the alumni game, taking all four sets played.

Women's Golf

Poor team. The #3 Bruins are burdened by a trip to Hawaii for the Turtle Bay Collegiate this week.

Softball

A series of exhibition games versus local JC's begins this week with Palomar JC on Tuesday.

Men's Tennis

It's the So Cal Intercollegiate Championships and the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships for the Bruins this week.

Women's Swim and Diving

The swimmers have the week off, but the divers compete in the Trojan Diving Invitational this weekend.

Calendar (all times pacific)
Monday, November 2
Women's Golf, Turtle Bay Collegiate, All Day- Oahu, HI
Tuesday, November 3
Women's Golf, Turtle Bay Collegiate, All Day- Oahu, HI
Softball vs. Palomar JC (exhibition), 2:30 pm- Easton Stadium
Wednesday, November 4
Women's Golf, Turtle Bay Collegiate, All Day- Oahu, HI
Men's Tennis, So Cal Intercollegiate Championships, All Day- LA Tennis Center
Thursday, November 5
Men's Tennis, So Cal Intercollegiate Championships, All Day- LA Tennis Center
Men's Tennis, ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, All Day- Charlottesville, VA
Friday, November 6
Men's Soccer vs. Oregon St., 7:00 pm- Drake Stadium
Women's Volleyball at USC, 7:00 pm- Galen Center
Women's Soccer at Washington, 7:00 pm- Seattle, WA
Women's Diving, Trojan Diving Invitational, All Day- Los Angeles, CA
Men's Tennis, So Cal Intercollegiate Championships, All Day- LA Tennis Center
Men's Tennis, ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, All Day- Charlottesville, VA
Saturday, November 7
Men's Water Polo vs. USC, 7:00 pm- Spieker Aquatics Center
Women's Diving, Trojan Diving Invitational, All Day- Los Angeles, CA
Men's Tennis, So Cal Intercollegiate Championships, All Day- LA Tennis Center
Men's Tennis, ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, All Day- Charlottesville, VA
Sunday, November 8
Women's Soccer at Washington St., 11:00 am- Pullman, WA
Men's Soccer vs. Washington, 1:00 pm- Drake Stadium
Men's Tennis, So Cal Intercollegiate Championships, All Day- LA Tennis Center
Men's Tennis, ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, All Day- Charlottesville, VA

Ticket information for all sports can be found here while facility information and directions for all sports can be found here. GO BRUINS!!!