As I have mentioned before I have always been a Manchester United fan. However, it looks like I am going to have make some room for Chelsea in my sports world. Chelsea is showing a lot of love to UCLA as a return favor for using our facilities:
[F]or their training period, Chelsea spent – in addition to its rental agreement – about $225,000 in improvements to the North Athletic Field and to what had been two locker rooms in Pauley Pavilion.
The field was graded in order to lower the crown and the entire field was re-sodded at a cost of more than $150,000. In Pauley, the visitors locker room and the old soccer locker room were both re-carpeted and lockers which dated from the 1970s were removed and new lockers made of dark wood, with individual safes, were installed. The shower facilities were also renovated with a temporary wall that separated the older locker rooms removed. Those improvements added about $75,000 to the tab.
A new wall that will re-split the two locker spaces will likely be installed before the basketball season begins, but teams visiting Pauley Pavilion in the future can thanks Chelsea for a much nicer space to get ready to face the Bruins.
You know what's interesting about this story? I think this counters lot of the excuse we often hear from supporters of underachieving coaches (like Lavin or Dorrell) about the quality of our facilities. Over the years we have heard a lot of grumbling about our facilities. Now I will concede that lot of them need improvement and I believe they will take place. But I always lol when I hear whining from blindos about UCLA facilities. If it is good enough for a world class team such as Chelsea it should be good enough for anyone. Anyways, it is great to hear Chelsea showing UCLA so much love. It definitely makes me want to root for them.The field was graded in order to lower the crown and the entire field was re-sodded at a cost of more than $150,000. In Pauley, the visitors locker room and the old soccer locker room were both re-carpeted and lockers which dated from the 1970s were removed and new lockers made of dark wood, with individual safes, were installed. The shower facilities were also renovated with a temporary wall that separated the older locker rooms removed. Those improvements added about $75,000 to the tab.
A new wall that will re-split the two locker spaces will likely be installed before the basketball season begins, but teams visiting Pauley Pavilion in the future can thanks Chelsea for a much nicer space to get ready to face the Bruins.
Moving on to hoops also from Perleman's blog the remaining Ben Ball tickets are selling like hotcakes.
Lastly, from ESPN a little note from Duke Vitale re. Davidson, our opponent in Wooden Classic:
A sign that Davidson is moving up in the world of college basketball came recently. Bob McKillop's team, ranked in some preseason circles, was invited to compete in the Wooden Classic against UCLA on December 8th. Davidson is led by Stephen Curry, the son of former NBA guard and outstanding long-range shooter Dell Curry. If you were wondering how good the Wildcats are, consider last year's squad finished 29-5 and gave Gary Williams and the Terps a real run in the big dance. This season, North Carolina, Duke and NC State are on the schedule, along with the trip West to face Ben Howland's talented Bruins.
I think this will turn out to be a great game that will get us well prepared for the conference.GO BRUINS.