Events

Why I Appreciate This Site

by Achilles on Jun 20, 2007 10:10 AM PDT in Events Comment 0 comments

On the occasion of the this site's second anniversary, I wanted to express my appreciation to Nestor, the other contributors and the many readers and participants who make Bruins Nation worthwhile.

One thing needs to be made clear: My appreciation for this site is not because its editors and writers have taken an anti-Dorrell stance or because they choose to hold Karl Dorrell to any particular set of standards. If anything, while I generally agree with the majority opinion on the Karl Dorrell issue, I'm likely more moderate than any of the other contributors and many of the readers.

If this site was only about bashing Karl Dorrell, I wouldn't be here -- even if I agreed in principle with the bashing.

No, what I appreciate about this site is its independence and its freedom of thought. Bruins Nation is not a site for shills, it's a place for independent people with the confidence to express their personal views and visions. This is a place for smart people with smart takes. It's a place for independent thinkers, with original thoughts.I have no doubt that if I chose to oppose the majority opinion here regarding Dorrell or any other issue, I have that opportunity.

And for that I'm grateful.

Yes, I read Bruin Report Online. And, very rarely, I look at Bruinzone or the blogs of the print reporters. Each has its own place in the pantheon of web sites devoted to UCLA athletics.

As does Bruins Nation -- which I believe is an important contributor to the grand and always ongoing conversation about Bruin sports.

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Something Brewin In The OC

by Nestor on Jun 18, 2007 4:41 AM PDT in Events Comment 5 comments

Orange County Bruins are an active bunch these days. BruinEd03 is putting together a Bruin gathering around the Angels game on June 23rd which sounds like lot of fun.

Also on the same day the UCLA Athletics Club of Orange County is putting together a very cool event at Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. Got this via an email:

UCLA Athletics Club of Orange County
Inaugural Celebration Dinner

A limited number of tickets remain for the UCLA Athletics Club of Orange County Inaugural Celebration Dinner:

Saturday, June 23, 6:00pm
Balboa Bay Club (1221 West Coast Highway, Newport Beach, CA)

Come enjoy an evening with Bruin supporters from across Orange County and learn about this exciting initiative that is taking place in your own backyard.

The evening will kick off with a hosted, full-service bar highlighted by a specialty Ketel One Martini bar. Following the cocktail reception, the evening will progress into a lavish dinner and exciting program featuring MC Lynn Shackelford, Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero, a "Conversation with Coach and the Quarterbacks" featuring Terry Donahue and quarterbacks Wayne Cook, Tom Ramsey and Cade McNown. The discussion will be led by former Bruin defensive back James Washington.

Tickets for the event are $250 (50% tax-deductible) and can be purchased by contacting Scott Nelson (snelson@athletics.ucla.edu or310-206-3302).

The time is now to get involved with UCLA Athletics in Orange County. If you are currently a supporter of UCLA Athletics, your involvement is sincerely appreciated. Our goal is to create a firm establishment in Orange County and benefit from the greatness that it entails.

If you live in or around Orange County and want to get more involved in UCLA athletics given what you read here on a daily basis, I strongly encourage you to go to these events. Because when it all comes down to it, while we articulate our reservations or concerns about our programs or celebrate their success here online, it is always important to engage the UCLA brass in a professional manner offline. This is the kind of program that presents a opportunity to tell Mr. Guerrero in a frank and respectful manner exactly what we are expecting from the football program next season. I’d encourage all of you who live around the area to take advantage of it.

Plus it is always cool to see this guy:

I miss those days.

GO BRUINS.

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Special Sunday For the Nation

by Nestor on Jun 17, 2007 9:20 AM PDT in Events Comment 14 comments

Happy Fathers to day to everyone.

Have you called your Dad yet?

Happy Fathers to day to all the Dads here on BN - Menelaus, Meriones, Ajax, Achilles, Class of 66, Fox71 and many others - who help make this place the most passionate, engaged, and intellectually honest Bruin online community around the internets.

Now this is a special Sunday for this Nation. We've got Dad Day today on top of the graduation weekend. Again want to extrend our congratulations to every member of the UCLA class of 2007.

Graduation (06) at the Catheral of College Basketball
Photo Credit/Source: Big Willie Style's Photo Stream

From my experience 4 and 2/3 quarters in Westwood was Paradise. But life only got better from there on as an alum of one of the finest universities in the world. And for our newest graduates on BN, I just have a simple message. This is a family in its truest sense. We are here for each other. If you need help, suggestions, ideas on what you want to do next (i.e. whereever you want to go to law school, med school, what cities you want to live in) we are here for you. Fire away with questions. Don't be shy to engage the hundreds, thousands of alums who are coming to BN every day to get their blue and gold fix.

So congratualtions to all our newest graduates and a Happy Father's Day to the Nation.

Enjoy your Sunday.

GO BRUINS.

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Compare & Contrast

by Nestor on Jun 13, 2007 7:28 PM PDT in Events Comment 25 comments

They have this guy:

Snoop Dogg high-fiving the (alleged) sex criminals (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

While we have her:

Yes that is Jessica Alba seen with Cash Warren, the son of Bruin legend Mike Warren.

Well done Cash. Well done.

Snoop Dog v. Jessica Alba.

I rest my case.

GO BRUINS.

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Prayers

by Nestor on Apr 16, 2007 4:27 PM PDT in Events Comment 18 comments

On behalf of everyone in Bruins Nation I would like to extend our thoughts and prayers to the Virginia Tech family today.

As we read more about this incredibly sad tragedy, it shakes us to our very cores.

Please join me in saying a prayer for those who we lost and for the speedy recovery of the wounded.

Our hearts are with you, VA Tech

GO BRUINS

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Honoring Jackie

by Nestor on Apr 15, 2007 9:55 AM PDT in Events Comment 12 comments

Today belongs to one of the greatest Bruin of all time. I am not going to elaborate more on how we as Bruins (and for someone like yours truly who is also among thousands of Bruins who happen to be Dodger fans) feel about number 42. So I thought it would be cool to share with you the thoughts of some sports fans and reporters across the country on this historic day.

I am embarrassed to admit that I didn't know about that gesture to wear number 42 until bruinbabe pointed it out in one of our thread two days ago. So I looked into a little more and was amazed to find about a grass roots movement from players, which led to this noble gesture. From the NY Times:

Sixty years after Jackie Robinson shook the baseball establishment and broke the sport's color barrier, an unforeseen grassroots movement by today's players has suddenly shaped the way Major League Baseball will commemorate the anniversary. More than 200 players will wear Robinson's No. 42 retired by baseball 10 years ago in ballparks across the country on Sunday, the anniversary of Robinson's first appearance with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

While the tribute has received baseball's approval, it grew spontaneously from a request by the Cincinnati Reds' Ken Griffey Jr., who asked Commissioner Bud Selig earlier this month if he could wear the number on April 15. What has evolved since is surprisingly organic for a group of famous, feted athletes with multimillion-dollar contracts.

As word of Griffey's gesture spread, small groups of players -- among them stars like Barry Bonds, Dontrelle Willis and Gary Sheffield -- decided also to wear 42 that day. Soon, there was a representative from every team. The Los Angeles Dodgers then decided to have their entire roster wear 42.

Now, there are six major league teams that plan to have everyone in uniform wearing No. 42 -- players, coaches, manager and bat boys. Those teams are the Dodgers, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Houston Astros.

And the number of jerseys having a new 42 sewn onto the back remains fluid, but seems to be increasing by the day.

And this movement would have extended beyond the jurisdiction of MLB if not for a boneheaded decision by the NBA. Whatever David Stern.

Apparently this organic and spontaneous gesture did lead to certain critics commenting on whether these players appreciate what it means and whether it will address the disconcerting issue of decreasing number of African Americans playing in MLB. Ian Casselberry, our wonderful SBN colleague writing on the Detroit Tigers blog - Bless You Boys - penned these thoughts in response to those two themes:

In anticipation of today's celebration, there's been quite a bit of chatter regarding a couple of different topics: 1) whether or not those wearing the number appreciate what the gesture really means, and 2) the decreasing number of African-American players in Major League Baseball.

The first point seems a little bit snobby to me. Maybe I'm being naive, but I find it hard to believe that some players are only wearing #42 to "be cool." But even if that's why they're doing it, on some level, those guys have to know why it would be cool, right? The second point is a big concern, and I'm glad to hear players like Sheffield, Dontrelle Willis, Torii Hunter, C.C. Sabathia, and Jimmy Rollins speak out on the matter. I can only hope they're sincere about wanting to do something about it, but I also wonder just how much they can truly do. That's a discussion I'd really like to have here, but such a complex subject probably deserves its own blog entry.

Today is meant for acknowledging one of baseball's pioneers. It's gratifying to see so many players show their appreciation for Jackie Robinson and what he's meant to the sport. And if even one person turns to someone next to them, whether it's at the ballpark or while watching on TV, and asks why so many guys are wearing #42, then it's most certainly a worthy gesture.

Make sure to read Ian's entire post in which he also mentions how 17 years ago he wrote a term paper on the Negro Leagues, and read about all the abuse Jackie endured from spectators, other players, and in some cases his team-mates. Ian's paper made me think of a little essay my wife shared from a little girl in the second grade class she teaches. Mrs. N gave out an assignment to her second graders to look up (a second grade "research project" so to speak) some info. and then write a para. or two on a famous person they admire. One girl decided to write a paper on "Mr. Jackie Robinson." She wanted to write about him so she could find a little more about the baseball player her Daddy talks about all the time. Great stuff. Yes, I made a request to Mrs. N to see if I could get a copy of that essay and may be share it with everyone here on BN. No luck yet.

Anyways, Ian is not all the SBN blogger taking note of 42. Cub blogger Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue (one of our flagship baseball flogs) shared these thoughts:

The Cubs will have six men wearing the number -- players Derrek Lee, Cliff Floyd, Jacque Jones and Daryle Ward, and coaches Gerald Perry and Lester Strode. It's been written elsewhere that doing this somehow "cheapens" Robinson's memory.

Quite the contrary, I think. What Robinson did was more than courageous, and I don't think that any of us, sixty years on, can truly know what he went through and what it meant to the African-Americans in this country at the time, or indeed, what it meant to our entire society. In many ways Robinson was at the forefront of the civil rights movement of the '50s and '60s. To this day, the 46,572 who paid to see Jackie play his first game at Wrigley Field on May 18, 1947 is the largest paid crowd in the history of the ballpark (note to sticklers: I am well aware that the 51,556 on June 27, 1930 is the largest total crowd in Wrigley Field history, but that included many freebies -- and there's no way the Chicago Fire Department would allow that many in the park today).

Anyway, it is my opinion that this tribute to Jackie Robinson is a fitting one. In fact, it might be even more fitting if MLB would unretire #42 and allow players to wear it in tribute to Robinson on an everyday basis, instead of just remembering him on April 15. In that way, his legacy would be noted on the field of play every day.

And gondee from our Atlanta blog - Talking Chop - shared this retrospective about number 42:

If any of you are at the Chavez Ravine today and are taking some pictures on all the festivities honoring number 42, we will be very grateful if you would share it with rest of Bruins Nation.

This is a special day for the entire nation, but even more special for those of us who bleed blue and gold.

GO BRUINS.

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42

by Nestor on Apr 14, 2007 9:27 AM PDT in Events Comment 21 comments

Tomorrow baseball is going to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking the color barrier. I am sure we are going to see a lot of articles celebrating the historic milestone set by one of the greatest Bruins of all time. I wanted to share with you one of them that moved me:

One thing that Robinson did not need to feel was alone. In the stands, Rachel was part of a crowd that was estimated to be 60 percent or more black. Among them was a young pitcher named Don Newcombe. In the latest issue of Dodgers Magazine, Ben Platt writes that the 20-year-old future Dodgers star was heading to Nashua, N.H., for his first minor league season but had to stop in Brooklyn to meet with Rickey -- and to see his friend.

"Jackie tried to be gracious, but he was really nervous," Newcombe told Platt. "Jackie was afraid of how well he was or was not going to do and he didn't do very well that day. But he was out there in a Dodger uniform, playing a strange position at first base, which was another worry for him. But he was the kind of man who had no fear for no man or no problem that was going to face him."

Coffey noted that Rachel was "wary, feeling equal parts excitement and trepidation. It was the beginning of an experiment, and if you are mature and realistic, you know experiments don't always work."

The first pitch was imminent. Baseball's color line was about to be broken. "Robinson trotted out to first base in the top half of the inning, a smile creasing his face," Eig wrote. "The Braves sent their first batter, Dick Culler, to the plate. Culler hit a ground ball to third base, where Jorgensen scooped it up and threw to first. Robinson squeezed it for the out. It was a simple catch, but the crowd expressed its delight as if they'd never seen anything quite like it.

Beautiful stuff. Make sure to read the whole article, which was written by Jon Wesiman (Dodger Thoughts) at SI.Com's Inside Baseball.

For all the details on tomorrow's festivities at Chavez Ravine (and nation wide) make sure to check out the coverage on Dodgers official team site (BTW they are in first place!). As bruinbabe pointed out below all the Dodger players are going to wear number 42:

The Dodgers -- all of them -- will be wearing No. 42 on Sunday at Dodger Stadium in honor of one of their own. It's the 60th anniversary of the day Jackie Robinson put on a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform in a regular-season game for the first time, thus re-integrating Major League Baseball forever.

Robinson will be honored in each of the 15 ballparks where games will be played this April 15, but the big ceremony will be in Chavez Ravine, six decades and 3,000 miles from Flatbush and tiny Ebbets Field, where Robinson went out to play first base. The Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves that day and the grand old game was never the same.

Commissioner Bud Selig will be there. So will Rachel Robinson, Jackie's seemingly ageless widow and the founder of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, which offers college scholarships to underprivileged minority students. And when the Dodgers take the field to play the Padres, each and every one of the starters will have on his back the famous No. 42. That's the number Selig retired on the occasion of Robinson's 50th anniversary in 1997, but was "unretired" by the Commissioner's proclamation for the day on Sunday.

Dodgers are doing it the right way.

Unfortunarely the coverage on UCLA's athletic department and administration have been shamefully very bland. I happen to think our athletic department could be doing lot more than just this to honor one of the immortals sons of Westwood:

The UCLA baseball program honored Robinson prior to its game against Washington on Saturday, April 7. Prior to first pitch, fans were asked to stand for a moment of reflection as the public address announcer highlighted several of Robinson's accomplishments, both at UCLA and with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Uhm ... why couldn't our baseball team do something this weekend specially in a series against the Trojans?

What is stopping our football program from honoring the legacy of Jackie Robinson (a legacy which Dorrell used/flaunted to land his head coaching gig) during next Saturday's spring scrimmage.

What is stopping the Morgan Center from honoring the legacy of Robinson through all its athletics programs including basketball and track & field in which Robinson left his mark. If the UCLA Sports Information Department had shred of professional savvy they would make sure to release statements from Savage, Dorrell, Howland, and all other UCLA coaches honoring number 42. But as usual most of the officials from Morgan Center are a day late and dollar short.

Oh well ... we will try to do our part by paying our tribute to one of our greateast heroes from Westwood.

GO BRUINS.

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Facebook BN

by Nestor on Feb 19, 2007 3:10 PM PST in Events Comment 12 comments

Well guys. Maybe this was just a matter of time. I have gone ahead and created an account for Bruins Nation on Facebook. Thought it may be a good idea as our little corner on the internets continue to grow every day.

I thought creating an account on Facebook could be beneficial for few reasons. I am really trying to figure out how we can get more and more students on campus plugged into Bruins Nation, and get them thinking about UCLA sports, specifically hoops, football, and other UCLA sports, the same way we think and discuss about them here on BN. Perhaps creating an account on Facebook will help that goal? So for those of you who frequent BN, would you guys be kind enough to facebook BN?

Another reason I thought Facebook could be helpful is that it may allow us to have another avenue to receive cool UCLA sports related pictures, info. via students, alums etc. from Westwood and all over the country. I love reading the stories on students camping out, having a great time at basketball and at football games. It takes lot of us alums on a trip back to memory lane. I hope more and more students will come on here and share with us about how they are getting all fired up to root for the teams. And if you all have any fun pictures to share with rest of the nation by all means either post them here in a diary, or email them to us or now you can share them with us via Facebook.

Also if you think there are other cool features in Facebook that will enable us to continue grow this community by all means share them with us. Let's keep strengthening the bond among the larger Bruin family via Bruins Nation.

Facebook BN.

GO BRUINS.