Bruin Bites: Friday Edition

UCLA hasn't won a men's championship since 2008. 5 years of incompetence with Chianti Dan Guerrero at the helm. Frankly I think every post should start like that, as depressing as it is.

It's not to say that our teams haven't been close, but there have also been instances of letting victory slip from UCLA's grasp. Yes I can still blame Guerrero for that. We shouldn't diminish our athletes' accomplishments, which extend well beyond their playing fields. But we should let the world know of our athletic director's lack of accomplishments, his embrace of mediocrity, and frankly, his lame attempt to grasp at straws by focusing on only one aspect of his job, which is counting beans. He is a monumental failure by all accounts and an embarrassment to our school, which is compounded by his idiotic statements to the press.

But cheer up, it's Friday! Here are some news and notes around the UCLA universe.

• The Pac-12 Network has just completed its inaugural year. Over at the Portland Tribune, the network got a grade of B- for its first year, which seems pretty fair. My general complaint is that the games televised didn't always make sense for the region they were in. Otherwise, for a first year it was not bad, and certainly better than no coverage. I think we can all agree that Rick Neuheisel and Bill Walton have been killing it on the network! There are still issues of access depending on your carrier. I'm curious to hear your thoughts.
• On the pro football front, the Giants have signed Bruin Kyle Bosworth at outside linebacker. While it is sad that he leaves his Bruin teammates behind in Jacksonville, Kyle is joining a much better organization (and a much better defense). What strikes me yet again is that Kyle went undrafted in 2010, yet played 9 games in 2011 and all 16 games last season. I'm pretty sure he would have been drafted if he had played for Mora, but regardless I am glad he is having success.
• Back to college football, Phil Steele has published his 2013 preseason all-conference team. I generally respect Steele's views and analysis, but how on earth can you put together a preseason all-conference team? Complete guessing game, really. Anyway, XSF and Anthony Barr are on his 1st team, and in total 12 Bruins are in his 4 teams. Take a look for yourself and I'm sure you'll disagree with a lot of it, especially the high number of Trogans on the list. But not Ted Miller! No sir! The Trogan poodle thinks that, since the Trogans have all these players on the list, they are a "dark horse" to win the conference. Well, I guess that tells you what he thinks of Matt Barkley if, upon his departure from a 7-6 team, the Trogans are now contenders to win the conference...
• Sticking with college football, Sporting News has UCLA as a preseason #20, and four of our opponents in 2013 also made the list.
• Switching to hoops, douchebag blowhard Duke Vitale thinks Steve Alford will be successful at UCLA. Who cares. But in the same post he takes shots at UCLA fans, advancing his lies about our program. I can't stand that jerk and he should be booed any time he shows up to announce a UCLA game. Screw him. Warning: reading that article will make your blood pressure rise significantly.

• Recent grads and students can attest to this: Westwood sucks. We have no college town. One of our last bars had to close down. That doesn’t stop UCLA students from using their brains creatively. This is a great post about how great our student body is and how they are being let down by their surrounding community and their own university that couldn’t stand up to a squirrel trying to steal French fries. It’s a really interesting story that touches on some of the things we have talked about on BN.

• Finally, a national poll conducted by the UCLA Longevity Center and the Gallup organization revealed that healthy eating, exercising regularly and not smoking are related to better self-perceived memory abilities for most adult groups. Unfortunately I just had a donut at my desk so I forgot what I was going to say about that.

Go Bruins! Have a great weekend!