Ben Ball News & Notes

by Nestor on Apr 15, 2008 4:09 AM PDT in Basketball Comment 19 comments

So after Brian Dohn posted the story about Love making his decision official this week there was another classic non-denial denial from KL via Jeff Goodman from Foxsports.com:

UCLA freshman Kevin Love still hasn't made up his mind.

"I haven't decided yet," the Bruins big man told FOXSports.com on Monday. "I still have some holes to fill on the whole thing, but I should know by the end of the week."

The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Love had already informed Bruins head coach Ben Howland of his decision to declare for the NBA Draft. The L.A. Daily News said an announcement that Love would forgo his final three years of college could come as early as Wednesday.

I am not going to hold my breath. It doesn’t matter whether KL makes it official tomorrow or sometime this week or next. He is gone. I understand people are frustrated with Dohn and other reporters who are trying to break this story, but I am not going to get worked up over it.

Anyway, in terms of current news the basketball team had its annual banquet awards last night. UCLA Champions Made Here posted his impression from the events here. To no one’s surprise KL was named as our POY. Dohn posted the full list of last night’s award winners, which included the following two:

Senior center Lorenzo Mata-Real was given the UCLA Faculty Athletic Representative Award (Academic Achievement and Team Contribution). He averaged 3.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game in his final collegiate campaign.

Junior forward/center Alfred Aboya was given the Elvin C. "Ducky" Drake Memorial Award for Competitive Spirit, Inspiration and Unselfish Contributions for the second straight year. Aboya, a second team Pac-10 Conference All-Academic selection, averaged 2.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game in his third season with UCLA.

As UCLA Champions Made Here noted LMR received the loudest ovation of the night. I wish I was able to witness it in person. It would be very cool if someone posted a clip of it on the tubes. LMR will always be one of our all time favorite Ben Ball warriors. As for AA2, my fingers are crossed for LRMAM and AA2’s return to UCLA next season. Those two are the most crucial x-factors in my book for this off season in terms of watching who is going or staying.

The guy who is definitely not coming: Taylor King. King decided to transfer to Villanova:

"This was not designed to be a circus or to be open to everyone," his father, Steve King, said. "Villanova was his top choice, and the trip was confirmation, not only for Taylor but for Villanova. Rather than go somewhere else, he thought, 'Why do that to the other coaches?'"
King, a 6-foot-6 sharp-shooting forward, averaged 5.5 points per game as a freshman at Duke but saw his playing time decrease as the season went along. UCLA had preliminary talks with King and his father last week, but Steve King said it never advanced beyond that.
"Not because there wasn't interest but because everything happened so fast," he said. "I suppose if he'd said no to Villanova, things might have progressed."

Despite what we have heard from the press, from what I have heard UCLA coaches were not really all that interested in this transfer scenario. I am sure they were cordial when King’s folks reached out to UCLA but from what I have heard it never went beyond that. That said, we wish King luck in Villanova and hope he has a productive college career.

Lastly, Adam Yauch – yes that Adam from the Beastie – is coming out with a hoops documentary. Adam’s new documentary is titled Gunning for That No. 1 Spot. He is unveiling it at New York’s TriBeCa Film Festival. Why am I blogging about it on BN? Well of course Kevin Love is featured in it. Always wanted to put up a Beastie youtbe on BN. Whenever I hear this song, I can still picture Toby throwing down that reverse tomahawk:

And why would I post "Sure Shot"?

Well back in 1995 I remember couple of CBS Sports profile on UCLA basketball team leading into the tournament using that tune to sync with Bruin highlights featuring Ed O, Tyus, Charles, J.R., and of course TB.

Those were the days.

GO BRUINS.

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AWWW YEEAHHH!!!

Nobody keeps it real like them B-boys. F**n LOVE 'em. You could even rewind 10-years before that and bust some Slow & Low (which might aptly describe Bruin hoops under Hazzard). God do I miss the mid 90's.

I just blasted it here in the trading room. Chicks still dig real hip hop.

GO BRUIN BLUE.

by theREAL_LOGAN5 on Apr 15, 2008 9:56 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Logan, - Nice essay

That little comment illustrates the generation gap better than anything else that I can imagine. (I write this as I am going over my music for rehearsal for Tosca tonight.)

by Fox 71 on Apr 15, 2008 10:18 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Chocolate Elvis!

Dang, Fox! I'm proud of you, dude! Never would have guessed it. So somewhere between the BEASTIES and TOSCA lies the unmistakable sound of PORTISHEAD, whose newest LP I am waiting up for like it's Christmas Eve.

Nothing like good a good soundtrack to make the day.

I think you just made mine with that Tosca channel. Enjoy Pandora.

GO BRUIN BLUE.

by theREAL_LOGAN5 on Apr 15, 2008 10:31 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the link

but that's a different Tosca. Go to YouTube and search for Raimondi, Tosca, Meno male, and you'll get the famous cantata scene. What's happening is that Scarpia (a very bad guy) is interrogating Cavaradossi (the good guy) who Scarpia suspects (rightly) has been helping the escaped political prisoner Angelotti. Next door (offstage), Madame Tosca (Cav's lover) is singing a cantata along with the chorus (also offstage). The end of the scene is when Scarpia sees he's not getting anywhere by letting Cav hear Tosca (his incentive for giving up Angelotti and being released.)

This is, in my opinion, the finest music in the show, better than the more famous E lucevan la stella and the Te Deum. (And many many critics agree that my best performances are when I'm not on stage. Or in fact when I'm not in the opera house at all, but I digress.)

Give this a try - it's only about three or four minutes long. You have to listen for the off-stage stuff, because the beautiful legato line is totally different from the very steady plunk plunk of the strings and the dialogue between the principals.

I can't say that if you like the Beastie Boys that you'll like Puccini, but I can say that Tosca (and Butterfly,Boheme, Turandot et al.) have lasted almost a century, and it remains to be seen whether the Beastie Boys will equal that.

by Fox 71 on Apr 15, 2008 12:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

"...that is a different Tosca"

The understatement of the year, and the funniest thing I've seen on here in a long while.

But the important thing is that 2 people have now been introduced to each other's Tosca, and the eyes and ears (but, maybe, not necessarily the minds) have been opened a little wider. Reminds me of the day I wandered over to North Campus...

greg in denver

by gbruin on Apr 15, 2008 1:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I got a good laugh at that too

by bruin95 on Apr 15, 2008 3:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fox, I've Said This Before, But...

...you are a class act, man. I ALMOST posted yesterday, "Ummm, I think he's talking about the opera, Tosca..." but then didn't, because I just KNEW you would come back with the most genuinely reflective and classy response. And, of course and as always, you did.

I'm actually not big on the Beasties, and I do love some opera, including Tosca. (La Boheme is probably my favorite, I cry practically continuously through Butterfly, so it's sort of awkward.)

That being said, I'm a regular Pandora listener, (all over the map, believe me), and when I listened to the Tosca link provided, I found that I really enjoyed it. I'm listening to it now at work, in fact.

It really takes all kinds of music and art to make the world, don't you think? (I don't, however, see the Beasties ever equalling Tosca--just my opinion.)

What absolutely fantastic people are here on BN.

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Apr 16, 2008 10:52 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Unless "Chocolate Elvis" is

either an operatic character or an aria, me thinks you guys are not quite in sync. You can still be proud of Fox, though, Logan.

Tosca, the group

Tosca, the opera

I could be wrong, though. Fox, do Mario or Scarpia ever sing "F**k Dub"?

by Bruinut on Apr 15, 2008 1:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I can't be 100% sure since it's in Italian

but somehow I don't think so.

I really wish you guys would try watching some opera. There really are very few fat ladies any more. (Watching a scene is much better than listening unless you know what's going on.) I issue this challenge - go to YouTube and search for "Gheorghiu, Alagna, Terfel Faust Final Scene" and tell me that it wasn't worth the time.

by Fox 71 on Apr 15, 2008 1:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the suggestions

Enjoyed the videos you suggested Fox. Without your input wouldn't have a clue what to look for. Makes me wish I'd finished my second major in Italian so I could understand a live performance without the subtitles. Moreover, it was quite fortunate that the performer in the second clip was not a stereotypically large woman.

On a whim I thought it would be interesting to search for Fox71 on youtube and see what it popped up, To my surprise the top result was "lesbian foot fetish." As such I think you should quickly post one of your own performances so that people don't get the wrong idea (or perhaps the right one...)

by TrueBlueBlood on Apr 15, 2008 10:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That must be the other Fox 71

I did "Son of Lesbian Foot Fetish" and "Lesbian Foot Fetish vs. Predator," but I don't think either of those have shown up on YouTube yet.

You're right about the language business. I supered (acted as a non-singing supernumerary) in 17 operas in Kansas City, which at that time performed in English. Our maestro there believed that opera was indeed for the masses, and decreed that as long as the majority of people in Kansas City spoke English (and there were two schools of thought on that in any event) that the performances would be in English. That, of course, was tough for the purists to take, but it's much easier to understand.

There is a problem that is unsolvable in that regard, in that sopranos are very hard to understand in any language. The voice is just too high.

One compromise done by one company I sang with was to have the songs in the original language, but the recitatives be in English. Recits are almost spoken and basically serve to move the plot forward. (E.g., one I still remember from Don Pasquale many years ago was from the Don to his nephew: "I was just intending to call you, please be seated. This will not be a sermon, but I want you to give me your attention. Now have I, or have I not sir, for the past many weeks, been advising your marriage to a lady, beautiful, charming, and wealthy." It goes on, and culminates when Don P tells his nephew that because the nephew won't get married, the Don himself will get married. It goes on and on (and is a very funny show.))

Take it slowly. Give it time. Watch a show with supertitles or subtitles (and most of what you can get from the library has subtitles.) I have a copy of Faust in French with Korean subtitles, which is interesting.

Watch La Boheme - it has three show-stopping arias in the first act. Che gelida manina done by a professional tenor is the equivalent of a 600 foot home run.

by Fox 71 on Apr 16, 2008 4:40 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You Are Absolutely Correct

(Most people here do not necessarily speak English.)

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Apr 16, 2008 10:56 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

AWESOME

of me taking one for the team like that, eh? How else could I have so gently nudged some trip hop onto Fox's plate without an offense?

Classical does have it's place in my life, though, allowing for the fact that i've never been to an Opera, nocturnes, adaggios, chorals and chamber works are my favs... the pensive stuff. No matter the composer, full blown orchestras tend to make as big a racket as anything on the radio.

But, yo? How was "my" Tosca?

GO BRUIN BLUE.

by theREAL_LOGAN5 on Apr 15, 2008 4:04 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I tried

I got through to Pandora Radio and the Tosca station, but for some reason I couldn't open it, and I truly had to leave for rehearsal. I promise I'll try the newer version of Tosca, but I just got back from Mr. Puccini's version.

I must claim a Geezer privilege to tell a story: Our maestro is Anton Coppola (uncle to Francis Ford C). He is 92, 5 feet tall, and was very acurately described by one of my neighbors who saw a show last season as "a force of nature." He conducted Boheme last season without a score, meaning he knew ever word and every note in every measure. The cool part for those of us who are the more traditional types is that he was in the U.S. debut of Turandot at the Met in 1926, and in fact was the first person on stage (as part of the children's chorus.) And his conductor for that show was Toscanini himself. So it's pretty much the equivalent of doing some tailgating and having Coach drop in to talk about basketball.

by Fox 71 on Apr 15, 2008 9:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

fully

registered the tale, Fox. I even caught a visual of a distinguished, 5' guy standing in the RB parking lot in a bow tie and coattails tapping his conductor's stick on the side of a BBQ grille...

But seriously though. What were they bumpin' at student union/over on Hilgard the year you left? Though I was probably just leaving the maternity ward in June '71, I do know enough about that fine year to say that Strauss, Vagner and Tchaikovsky weren't exactly topping the charts... or no?

So what's Mr. & Mrs. Fox's soundtrack? You know, the stuff you shoot tequila and wake the neighbors with?

GO BRUIN BLUE.

by theREAL_LOGAN5 on Apr 17, 2008 11:18 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

In addition to classical/opera

it's all over the place (except hip hop and country, and also except for the type of yelling done on American Idle.) Mrs. Fox71, whom I love with all my heart, has the flaw that makes the jewel interesting - she likes country and AI.

Back in '71 - I can't even remember that far back, but I'm guessing it was probably the equivalent of what you're listening to now. I was not out on the musical limb that I'm on now.

I have my own CD mixes that I have procured from various sources that are basically oldies - some Beatles, Stones, Bob Dylan, plus semi-oldies like Dire Straits. If you haven't seen it, find a way to watch James Brown sing "Please, Please, Please." It's a nice song to listen to, but it's really fun to watch him perform it.

by Fox 71 on Apr 19, 2008 4:44 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Trip hop

is awesome. That was a nice listen during work.

by Raisin on Apr 15, 2008 10:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yo

It's really nice. I'm listening to it right now. Try Shadowfax. (I'm too inept to figure out how to make my stations link.)

Thanks.

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Apr 16, 2008 11:01 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

NICE

...they used to play Shadowfax and stuff like it (Hiroshima, Pat Metheny, Acoustic alchemy, Andreas Vollenweider, Kitaro, Patrick O'hearn, etc.) on the 94.7FM (Los Angeles) ALL THE TIME before the perils of advertising demographics precipitated the Wave's slow, steady decline into the musical wasteland that it is now... absolutely littered with gutless, soprano-saxed pseudo-tunes and drum machine covers with just enough Sade and Steely Dan to keep you from overwriting their preset on your radio.

They call it "smooth jazz". I call it EX-LAX.

GO BRUIN BLUE.

by theREAL_LOGAN5 on Apr 17, 2008 11:35 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs