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It's Friday morning, so unlike the Monday editions of Bruin Bites, we won't be spending this morning dreading the coming day. In just a few short hours, it'll be time to hit the sun for the weekend. So, with the weekend about to get underway, let's get straight to the various bits and pieces of news floating around the UCLA-iverse:
- It's not exactly UCLA-related, but it's pretty amusing. There's an athletic program that plays in Pasadena that has drawn the ire of the NCAA, and it's not the Blue and Gold, but our geeky neighbors, Caltech. Yes, the California Institute of Technology, famous for its 26 year losing streak in Division III hoops, has been hit with various NCAA penalties for allowing ineligible players to participate. Apparently, Caltech has a very lackadaisical attitude toward athletics, with poor oversight leading to the infractions. It also sounds like the perfect home for apathetic athletic morons Gene Block and Chianti Dan to relocate.
- Turning back to Westwood, LLos Blancos will be returning to UCLA for summer training for the third year in a row, a trend that began when Jose Mourinho took over at Real Madrid. However, unlike years past, this summer's "open" training session will not really be open: cost of admission will begin at $85. Yes, $85 to watch Cristiano, Iker, and Ozil stretch and run around cones. No word yet if Chianti Dan is making Real Madrid practice on a field that is 20 yards too short.
- Sadly, former UCLA basketball player Kenny Heitz passed away this week, after a long fight with cancer (f**k you cancer!). Heitz, a member of the UCLA Bruins' championship squads from 1967 through 1969, was part of the most dominating period of Wooden's dynasty, as his classmate and former freshman squad teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led UCLA to a 88-2 record during Heitz's tenure, picking up three consecutive NCAA titles. Kenny went on to be drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks before ultimately ending up at Harvard Law School and a prominent legal career in Los Angeles. The epitome of the UCLA student-athlete, he will be sadly missed.
- Finally, this last story has absolutely nothing to do with UCLA, but it's one of those articles that's just too weird not to share (HT Nestor). Apparently, palaeontologists don't have enough to do, because they've been spending way too much time figuring out how dinosaurs had sex. Yes, that's one of the pressing questions facing humanity: how an extinct species got it on (instead of say, developing green energy, slowing the destruction of the environment, how to cure cancer or AIDS, etc.). But, most hilarious, they've come up with an artist's depiction of how the massive lizards/proto-birds/movie villians got busy. Warning: if you click on the link, you'll end up with porn. Dino-porn that is. Lesson to learn: the internet is a weird place man.
Alright folks, those are your Bruin Bites to end the week with. Fire away with your thoughts, takes, and additions in the comments thread. And enjoy the sunny weekend!
GO BRUINS