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We're through the first week of 2013 and the first weekend of conference action for Ben Howland's Farewell Tour team. So far, 2013 has been okay for UCLA, at least on paper. In fact, it's only taken UCLA one week to match the total number of national championships won during 2012. Oh, that's right: because 2012 was the year that UCLA did not win a single national championship in any sport, all during the reign of error of our pathetic, clueless athletic "director" Chianti Dan Guerrero. Only in America can you fail miserably at your job, undermine your corporate brand, and manage to alienate a large portion of your consumer base, at manage to not get fired. And we wonder why the Chinese are racing ahead of us?
In any event, turning away from the total incompetence that is Chianti Dan's regime, let's take a look at the various bits and pieces of news from around the UCLA-iverse as we mark the end of our first week of 2013, the week that was on par for UCLA NCAA titles as all of 2012:
- Starting with our football team, despite all the (so far unjustified) speculation surrounding Jim Mora and the laughable joke that is the San Diego Chargers organization (did they hire Chianti Dan to run their franchise too, because it sure seems like it), Mora has already found his replacement for the recently departed Marques Tuiasosopo: former graduate assistant Taylor Mazzone was formally promoted to tight ends coach (well, officially they call it "Y Receivers Coach" but you know what we're really talking about here) on Friday. Congratulates to Noel Mazzone Jr. as he moves up the coaching ranks. Let's hope the kid can get next year's group of tight ends, err, I mean Y-receivers, up to the same level of consistency we saw from Big Joe this season. Without Jet Ski, Hundley will need all the offensive help he can get to take UCLA to the next level.
- Sticking with football, UCLA commit Myles Jack, a four-star outside linebacker (ranked the #4 OLB prospect in the country by Scout), from Bellevue, Washington, is going to take three visits (Arizona State, Washington, and Oregon) in addition to his official visit to UCLA. Per ESPN (not behind Insider subscription firewall at time of this writing), "Jack is solid with his commitment, but he said the three visits are necessary in reassuring that he wants to be a Bruin." With Lupoi and Tui now both recruiting for the Huskies, Mora will need to up his game to hold on to the a very talented prospect that the Bruins will need very soon once Anthony Barr, Jordan Zumwalt, and Eric Kendricks are out of Westwood.
- Turning to our non-revenue sports, our #16-ranked women's basketball team continues to roll, picking up a pair of wins on their Oregon road-trip this weekend. The Lady Bruins got started with a 89-80 victory over the Ducks in Eugene, led by Markel Walker's double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists), and by Atonye Nyingifa (18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals), Nirra Fields (14 points, 6 rebounds), Thea Lemberger (11 points, 2 rebounds), and Kari Korver (11 points). The Lady Bruins followed with a 68-64 win over Oregon State in Corvallis on Sunday, led again by Walker (13 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists), Nyingifa (13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), and Alyssia Brewer (15 points, 8 rebounds). With the road wins, the Lady Bruins now stand at 11-2 overall and 2-0 in Pac-12 action.
- Finally, as for our men's volleyball team, the regular season began well at the Asics Invitational in Santa Barbara, with five set (3-2) wins over UC Santa Barbara (25-27, 21-25, 25-22, 25-14, 15-13) and UC San Diego (26-24, 25-19, 22-25, 17-25, 15-8). But, the #5-ranked Bruins couldn't sustain their momentum from Friday into Saturday, as they fell in five games (16-25, 17-25, 26-24, 25-21, 13-15) to #1-ranked UC Irvine in the tournament championship game. Following the opening weekend of the John Speraw era, the Bruins now stand at 2-1 on the year, and will get their conference play underway with an early conference match-up against Cal State Northridge on Tuesday at Pauley Pavilion.
Alright folks, those are your Bruin Bites to start the work week with. Fire away with your thoughts, takes, and additions in the comments thread.
GO BRUINS