I really thought this was a joke.  I mean, come on, he is Timmeh and all, and it is JustSC and all, but apparently, Master P's tyke, Lil' Romeo, him of outstanding kiddie hip-hop and Lil' Bow Wow rivalry fame, who apparently is a junior now in Beverly Hills High, has just committed to the 2008 basketball recruiting class:

High school basketball phenom O.J. Mayo is most likely going to USC for one year and then bouncing to the NBA, and everyone thinks it's because that's what O.J. Mayo wants to do. Not so. Mayo's leaving after one year because he's afraid to suffer the indignity of losing his starting job to the artist that brought us Romeoland.

That's right, it's Game Time. Lil' Romeo son of Master P, has committed to play basketball for Tim Floyd at USC. He just finished up his junior year at Beverly Hills High school, averaging 13.9 points and 5.6 assists per game. He also led the league in street cred.

Hmm, I could add a litany of insightful, funny commentary, but really, is it absolutely necessary?  I mean, I dunno about you, but apparently Coach Howland needs to hurry up and get going on recruiting wanna-be rappers because as a fan, I dunno if I can stand the additional indignity of being mocked by all the JustSC fans for not having a Nickelodian "star" on our team. Good thing the concept of a JustSC basketball fan is still theoretical only.

Let the mocking commence.

How awesome is JustSC?  I mean, along with these Senora Ross geniuses, this gem found over at Deadspin just proves that JustSC isn't just a football school:

You'd have to consider OJ Mayo an extremely unlikely candidate to launch a white supremacy website, but that doesn't mean the much-heralded USC basketball recruit can't find another way to get into trouble. Mayo was busted for misdemeanor marijuana possession last night in Huntington, West Virginia. Now all USC needs is for Pete Carroll to get caught buying and selling immigrant children, and their week is complete.

The best line Will over at Deadspin comes up with:

Are we sure that he didn't commit to play for Bob Huggins at Kansas State?

The best part was that OJ2's car got pulled over as they drove suspiciously by a house where the police were serving a search warrant.  Yeah, that really speaks so much towards Timmeh's recruiting targets.  Let's make sure the guys we recruit are definitely associated with only the right type of people.  Of course, right type meaning, SUC football players.

So classic!  So chin up fellow Bruins as we move forward from here.  At least we can take comfort in the fact that JustSC will never let us down.

Bumped from the diaries. GO BRUINS. -N

Looks like we're moving ahead.  HOK Sport was chosen:

HOK Sport of Kansas City, Mo., was chosen by a selection committee from among 10 firms that responded to the school's request for submissions.

Among the renovations being considered are a retractable seating system to bring spectators closer to the court; new concession areas, restrooms and modern technology to enhance fan experience; new and expanded locker rooms, medical treatment and media rooms and dedicated practice facilities; a main lobby that would serve as a central entrance; and redevelopment of the area between the football practice field and the arena.

If you've been following new stadium/arena/convention center builds around the nation for the past 15 or so years, you probably know that HOK Sport is pretty much the "Standard" in stadium builds, or at least in securing pretty much every contract out there, including Camden Yards, Pacbell/SBC/AT&T Park, Petco Park, Busch III (my favorite of course), etc. etc.

Personally, I think HOK Sport is absolutely the right choice, and guarantees that the minute you see the new Pauley, the WOW factor is going to be incredible.  The one thing HOK Sport always does is that they incorporate one geographical quirk to work around (e.g. the Western Metal building at Petco, the view of the Gateway Arch and Mississippi River right over the outfield at Busch III), so I'm curious as to what one thing they're going to reuse.

Oh yeah, and one more thing, I GUARANTEE that the new Pauley is going to make Pauley East look like the Sports Arena as well.

Update [2007-2-6 19:28:59 by stevenucla]: Here's a link to HOK's past and current projects since I've seen quite a few requests for this list.

Update 2 [2007-2-6 22:45:59 by stevenucla]: Per BBR, one example of a college basketball renovation (as opposed to a brand-new build) is Wichita State's Charles Koch Arena. This renovation was almost a complete rebuild, since they pretty much only kept the roof, but they did it all for less than $20M.

Reacting to the latest Bengal arrest, Carson Palmer released a statement on the Bengal's website today:

"It has to stop," Palmer said hours after he heard the news. "If it doesn't stop, we're not going to have any fans left and I don't blame them. It's ridiculous. We can't get through a month without getting a guy arrested. It happens on another team and they're shocked and surprised to hear about it. With us, you hear about it and it doesn't surprise you and you just shake your head and say, 'Another one.' "
...
"Talent isn't everything, and we've got talent but we're sitting home for a reason and we have to do something about it."
...
What set Palmer off and put the Bengals back in the crosshair of jokes came overnight Monday when Joseph was arrested in Boone County, Kentucky overnight on a marijuana possession charge.
...
Joseph became the ninth Bengal to be arrested since Dec. 15, 2005.

Really? I thought 4 years at SUC would have prepared Palmer well for playing on a football team that gets frequent flier points with the local bail bondsman.

BTW, Carson, you shouldn't worry about losing fans. I mean 1) all the arrests at your alma mater didn't stop all the lemmings jumping on the bandwagon; and 2) are there really Bengal fans out there?

Maybe the Bengals can become our new savior by coming to get KD to clean up house.  I mean, he can't coach worth shit, but hey, he'll make sure your team doesn't turn into the Raiders or SUC.  It's not like the Bengals win anyway, so at least they would solve one problem.

From the diaries. -N

As many of you know, many diaries, stories, and comments here have been dedicated to the ass-clowness of Jay Bilas.  Somehow, by stroke of luck or possibly being in possession of incriminating photos, this assclown has managed to convince the WWL to renew his contract every year.  Of course, it goes without saying that the same DSPN execs also continue to hire Lavin, so that really says a lot about them.

Anyway, as you may or may not know, DSPN puts out their Power 16 poll, which is a composite of their various "experts" (who of course, were all surprised that UCLA had a 2 seed last year, much less make it to the NC game).  Also, last year, I started a weekly analysis to hold the various poll voters accountable for handing over their polls and #2 pencils to monkeys (literally, and I don't mean the Koko kind either) to fill out, since UCLA barely made it on the radar screen until nearly halfway through the season.  N asked me to do it again this year, but I didn't really see a need to since UCLA was getting the recognition it truly deserved.

Until now, thanks to Jay Bilas, DSPN assclown.

This is his poll for this week (top 5 included only):

1. North Carolina
   
2. Florida
   
3. Ohio State
   
4. UCLA
   
5. Pittsburgh

North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio State?  WTF?   Considering last week he had UCLA and Pitt over NC, Florida, and Ohio St, what the hell is he actually thinking?  I mean, since last Thursday, look at what each of these four teams had to do:

1. NC: Win against then 6-3 High Point.  No offense, but who the hell is High Point?  I actually had to check to see if they were even Div 1, much less a college.
2. Florida: Guess what?  NOTHING!  THEY HAVEN'T PLAYED A SINGLE GAME SINCE LAST THURSDAY.  Also, not only is Brewer out with mono, but they ALSO have lost Horford with a high ankle sprain.  Yeah,  I wonder who would be the heavy favorite if we redid that UCLA-FL NC today...
3. Ohio State: Beat then 5-5 Cleveland State, with the help of Oden's return.  A ONE-HANDED ODEN.  How the hell is a one-handed Oden supposed to suddenly make you a Final Four contender at this point?  Talk to me when he actually has two hands.
4. UCLA: Do I even have to say?  TAMU was #6 BTW for those DSPN execs reading this, because I know you only keep track of the ACC.

But guess what, we are blessed with the inner working's of Bilas's "mind" (emphasis mine): Is this supposed to be some kind of weekly reward system that fluctuates based upon how a team is playing at the time, or is it my rankings of the teams that I really think are the best teams? It is probably a combination of both, but I prefer to term this as a ranking of the teams, in order of how good I think they are. If the best team plays at home against the second best team and wins by one, why should the second best team be dropped several spots? So, I plan on ranking the best teams as I see it, and the games they play will provide me with more evidence to chew upon.

Hey assclown, what phantom games were you watching that made you flip from last week?  I'm betting NONE.

Finally, for your viewing pleasure, here's what he had to say last year about the Power 16 (emph mine):

I still can't figure out what a Power 16 really is ... is it a projection of which teams will be the best or a reflection of this week's scores? Heck, if there is no projection in it, who needs it? All you have to do is look at records. For me, it is a combination of both schools of thought. I try to consider how good a team really is, balanced with how they have played this particular week -- and I do it all in less than three minutes. That's what I think of polls ...

And as I said last year, "Obviously.  You are definitely an idiot."

Update [2006-12-6 3:6:25 by stevenucla]:: As some of you may already know, Bob is UNABLE to provide video because ABC threatened to sue (which I pretty much was sure was going to happen), but has provided a link to the radio broadcast for download (which I pretty much thought was going to happen) here.

Saw this over at Bruin Gold:

Hey guys,

I'm the prod guy at AM 570. I've skimmed a couple of threads to see there's an interest in the game on tape. (both tv and radio perhaps). I can provide both. TV with commercials edited out, and radio edited up (with pregame and postgame).

Just email me your name and mailing address to bobschmidt@clearchannel.com and I'll start getting stuff together to mail out. Thanks to everyone who came out and stopped over at the broadcast site. Here's some post victory promos to enjoy.

http://media.putfile.com/UCLA-Beats-USC-Horse-Killed-

http://media.putfile.com/UCLA-Beat-USC-Long-Walk-Pier

http://media.putfile.com/UCLA-Beats-USC-Remix-Promo

http://media.putfile.com/UCLA-Beats-USC-Caller-Montage

Bob Schmidt
AM 570 Production Guy

He gives permission to repost his entire post, so here you go.  I have no idea if this guy actually speaks for AM 570 or on behalf of any actual copyright owners, or even works for AM 570, but just putting this out anyway.

I also checked iTunes, and I don't see the game there (yet).  I have no idea if they ever plan to put it on there, but that would be great if they did, so I can put it on my video iPod to remind all my Southern Cal friends for the next 363 days.    Even a 10-minute condensed game version would be great.

Anyway, the promo clips are great, especially the "UCLA Beat USC Long Walk Pier" clip.  I'll probably be using that as a ring tone.

First the good news: the point/foul/timeout tracker boards finally work again.  Even then, it only started working 10 minutes into the game.

OK, now to the dirty biz:

1. Slow starts: This is the second game now where we just looked absolutely out-of-sync for the first half.  Actually, we were even out-of-sync for the first few minutes of the second half as well.  These slow starts are going to catch up to us if we don't fix this quickly (namely, this upcoming Saturday).
2. FT shooting: better, but definitely needs improvement
3. Zone-D penetration: The ugly zone-D issues are back again.  We did penetrate a few times, but when we definitely gave up several ugly turnovers trying to pass on the perimeter.  Considering our size and strength advantage, we could have been bullying our way to the basket more often.
4. Fan support: OK, I know this was the game after the GAME, but still, when I checked after asking a prof sitting next to me, this is only the week before dead week, yet the Den had at least 100 or so seats empty.  Come on, these are your #1 UCLA Bruins!

I'll end this on some positive notes.  It was awesome to see our FB seniors during half-time (though McNeal was strangely absent, considering he probably would have gotten the biggest cheers).  Our athleticism looked great, some insane moves by AA, Shipp, Luc, shoot even DC dunked near the end (I didn't even think he could do that). Mata is back. Definitely. Monster tough, getting his touch back. Lots of good vibes at the game, especially coming off yesterday's win.  Um, I'm sure I'm missing quite a bit, but honestly, I spent quite a bit of time talking with my seatmates about yesterday. Update [2006-12-3 21:13:36 by stevenucla]: Oh yeah, we're defintely going to be unanimous #1 tomorrow. That's DEFINITELY positive!

Just want to insert a little humor going into our battle this weekend. Our good-natured friends over at UCR has some "interesting" things to say about Ben-ball. UC Riverside Media Notes for Sunday's game (make sure you read the last paragraph as well) (emphasis mine):

About the Opponents

• UCLA, short for California - Los Angeles, is a small, research based institution located in Westwood, CA. They are 5-0 on the season, but have been largely overlooked by the callous media. They most recently took the tournament title at the Maui Invitational, capping it with an 88-73 win over Georgia Tech, with guard Darren Collison earning Pacific-10 Player of the Week honors following a 13.3 point, 7.0 assists per game performance that earned him tournament MVP honors. On Tuesday they defeated the Long Beach St. 49ers, 88-58. Their head coach, Ben Howland, is perhaps best known for several years of quality work as the top assistant to Jerry Pimm at UC Santa Barbara during the Gauchos glory years in the 1990's.
• The Bruins have defeated the Highlanders in their two previous meetings. During the 2001-02 season, the Highlanders fell by 15, 65-50, then in the 03-04 season, UCR lost by 14, 84-70. Both games were played at Pauley Pavilion.
• Please note the above is written completely tongue in cheek. UCLA is the number one team in the nation and on the cover of virtually every magazine except Ladies Home Journal. You don't need these notes to tell you about them.

After kicking SC's ass on Saturday, looking forward to a fun time at Ben-Ball Sunday! Hope to see all of you there!

Well, duh: (emphasis mine)

We have graded Love as the No. 1 player in the Class of 2007 because we believe he is the most fundamental high school basketball player in the last 25 years. He is the poster child for what is right with basketball today. The movement in our country is toward skill development and skills academies. Love has been in a skill development program from a young age with his dad, former NBA player Stan Love. Young players should study Love and use him as a role model to learn how to improve their own games.

Mayo gets the following "awesome" review from DSPN (emphasis mine):

Since playing high school basketball as an eighth grader, Mayo has been deemed a can't-miss prospect and has had more attention than anyone in the Class of 2007. He has been a physical specimen since an early age, but it appeared this summer he was not as dominating as he had been in previous summers.

Despite what the cocksuckers (and I mean that literally) at the LA Times believe, which is that the "other" OJ deserves twenty times more space in the sports section than our #1 UCLA Bruins, and that doesn't even count the endless cocksucking of Pom-pom's program, how the Galen Center will solve cancer, or how Floyd is the next John Wooden, this obviously shows that BH had no interest at all in a clearly-overhyped, immature, probably-refering-to-himself-in-the-third-person teabag.  Probably sucked this summer because he was too busy picking colors for his new car.

In about 30 minutes, some of you will probably undergo the hell that many of us had to do at some point in our lives: check to see if you passed the California bar exam.

Just to give you a heads-up: the Calbar site doesn't say "Hey Joe Bruin, you passed!"  It's more like "This name does appear on the list of applicants who passed the July 2006 California State Bar Examination" or some crazy nonsense like that.

Anyway, keep this in mind:

1. Don't freak out if you don't get into the site at first.  It can take up to an hour.

2. Drinking heavily before you check is OK, as long as you have a (relatively) sober person with you to confirm that yes, you actually did pass.

3. When you find out you passed, the calling rules are:

  A) First call all non-bar-taker friends and family

  B) Second, call all non-friends who thought you would fail to gloat

  C) FINALLY, ONLY IF you've exhausted the first two, may you contact other bar takers.  I always recommend the text message first, with a simple "Call me if everything is OK", and then wait for the other person to call.  And, definitely, ALWAYS ASSUME THE OTHER PERSON FAILED before you say anything in glee, because it really, really, really sucks to hear from someone who passed when you failed.

4. If by some terrible twist of fate, you didn't pass (probably because you went to Southern Cal), don't forget that no one has to know until Sunday morning.

Good luck to all of you!

Ps As a corollary to all of you that knows a bar taker, DO NOT CALL THEM FIRST. You can check yourself on Sunday morning at www.calbar.org. If they did pass and didn't call you, don't be offended. They probably just passed out before they got to a phone.

Update [2006-11-17 21:59:1 by stevenucla]:For the public list that comes out on Sunday morning, 6 AM PST

Poll

Just for S&G

87%

PASS!

7 votes

12%

Not so good.

1 votes

8 votes | Poll has closed