Bruins Nation

A Salute to Our Bruin Warriors

norcald503 — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:47:01 -0000

Hear! Hear! GO BRUINS. -N

With the Fourth of July just around the corner, I thought something along these lines would be rather appropriate.

While Bruins may have their differences, especially when it comes to what part of California they come from, or what NBA team they support, there is a group of Bruins all of us can get behind and support.

No disrespect to our Ben Ball Warriors who play their heart out for those four magic letters on their chest, but tomorrow, we should keep in mind these true Bruin warriors:

Photo Credit: UCLA Department of Military Science

These, fellow Bruins, are those among our ranks who not only bleed blue and gold, but wear the uniform of our great Nation.

I think it's particularly commendable that these fellow Bruins have volunteered to serve in a time where war and danger are not some remote possibility, but very real. Regardless of our feelings on Iraq and our president, it's fair to say we all owe these young men and women a real debt of gratitude.

(I should also mention I thought it was pretty cool that the BN for battalion was featured so prominently on their flag).

Basketball Dream Match-ups

ryebreadraz — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:47:03 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

After reading N’s post about the home and home series with Kansas in ’09-’10, I remembered a post by M from a while back about football rivalries that aren’t, but should be. This got me wondering, what basketball rivalries are out there that aren’t but should be? I’m going to take it a little farther than that and not only limit it to rivalries, but home and home series as well. Here’s how M set the table for his post.

Nevertheless, just for fun, I wonder what rivalries make the "most sense," if all these factors disappeared and we had it to do it all over again. What if we just looked at the universities, their students and their recent pasts, and spun a new set of traditions out of whole cloth? What are the "natural" rivalries? Or, in other words, what rivalries that aren't, but should be?

So we’ll change it up a bit and explore what basketball rivalries/games aren’t, but should be. They can be ones you’d like to see UCLA take part in or ones between any two teams in the country. Here are 5 I’d like to see UCLA participate in, in no particular order.

1. UCLA vs. Notre Dame- The two programs have played recently and will play again this year at Pauley (which should be a fun match-up of two top 10 teams), but this needs to be taken a step farther and made an annual game. There’s too much history between these two programs, from record streaks ending in upsets to epic games on the way to titles for it not to be played every year. This would also match two of the country’s top academic institutions where excellence is expected in the classroom and on the court.

2. UCLA vs. North Carolina- In the past three seasons the two programs have been among the nation’s elite. Not only could the two schools battle in the Final Four in the near future, but they’re already battling for recruits (Kevin Love, Alex Stephenson, Larry Drew). The history between the two programs would be tough to match as well with 82 NCAA tournament appearances, 35 Final Fours and 15 national titles between the two. Then just to make it better, the games would be played at the Dean Smith Center and on John and Nell Wooden Court.

3. UCLA vs. Gonzaga- The established national power that rules the west coast versus the little guys who have taken the college basketball world by storm in the past decade. Gonzaga’s ascent in the college basketball world has been nothing short of extraordinary and despite playing in the lowly WCC the Zags have made a name for themselves by finding their way into the top 25 on a regular basis. We saw this match-up only three seasons ago in the NCAA tournament when UCLA’s 17 point comeback sent the Bruins to the Elite 8 and eventually the National Championship game. Ever since that night, I’ve wanted to see the two programs square off again.

4. UCLA vs. Georgetown- The best team in the northeast plays the best team in the southwest. Both teams like to pound and bang, making this one of the more physical and entertaining match-ups you could get. People say that Ben Howland brought a Big East mentality out west so how about we take the Big East mentality to the Big East and show them how toughness and defense is really done. And again, two of the nation’s better academic institutions.

5. UCLA vs. Purdue- I don’t want to see this game just to play Purdue. I want to see this game as a season opener when the newly renovated Pauley Pavilion opens. The beautiful new area opens, John and Nell Wooden Court is rededicated and the team Coach led to 10 national titles plays the team Coach played his collegiate ball for. I can’t think of a better team to reopen Pauley Pavilion against.

Also there are three games I’d like to see that don’t include UCLA. More after the jump ...

Here are three games I’d like to see that don’t include UCLA, again in no particular order.

1. Duke vs. Stanford- I want to see these two teams square off in a home and home, partly because as M said in his post, they’re great academic institutions and partly because that would mean Duke played a true road game. Duke has played a grand total of three true non-conference road games since January 21, 2006 and in none of those did they strain themselves. Two of those games were against Temple and one was against St. Johns. On top of that, Duke hasn’t played a true road game any farther west than Indiana this millennium. So Blue Devils, pack those bags, head west and take on the Cardinal at Maples Pavilion.

2. Oklahoma St. vs. Illinois- The bright orange everywhere would be a sight to see, plus its Cowboys vs. Indians all over again.

3. Xavier vs. Memphis- Two programs from lesser conferences that essentially coast from January through mid-March. Memphis has moved to the upper echelon of the college basketball world of late and Xavier is on its way there with talented Sean Miller at the helm. I’d love to see Xavier get a top team to play them at the Cintas Center. When they did last season they knocked off Tennessee so let’s see if the state’s other top team can handle the Musketeers.

So what do you think? Whether rivalries or just home and home series, what teams do you want to see take the same floor?

UCLA Skills Camp Report

Nestor — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:23:37 -0000

Coach Howland and his staff have been hard at work evaluating talent at UCLA skills camp at Pauley. ESPN has a report on the top performers hoping to impress Coach Howland and perhaps nag an offer to be the next Ben Ball warriors. Here are the two top headliners:

Tyler Honeycutt (6-8, 180)
2009, Sylmar, Calif.
After a pedestrian first day of camp during which his effort level wasn't where it needed to be, Honeycutt was the most impressive performer the next day. He has a slight frame due to his continued growth spurt, but his athleticism and skills are coming along nicely. He has a smooth stroke out beyond the stripe, and he is getting better breaking defenders down off the bounce -- although he needs to bring his dribble down. What separates Honeycutt from most wings is his passing ability. He handed out a number of assists that were impressive, demonstrating his overall feel for the game. His rebounding ability has improved since the regular season, but he needs to become tougher, especially on the defensive end.

Tyler Lamb (6-4, 190)
2010, Ontario, Calif./ Colony
Lamb might have been the most consistent performer of the camp. His game has grown steadily in the past year and his demeanor is terrific. His handle has improved significantly as well, and despite not having great quickness, he has one of the better crossover moves in the West. In addition, he utilizes the pump fake as well as anybody on the high school level. Lamb still needs to hone his fundamentals -- he has a tendency to leave his feet while attempting to pass in the paint -- and continue to smoothen out his jump shot, which has a slow release, but overall his progress has been excellent.

For details on other performers go here.

Coach Howland is so well entrenched at this point and he has our program in the kind of place where he has the luxury to strategize on which specific elite recruits he want to zero in on and lock in. It will be fun to see how he rounds up the class of 2009 as he is already off to a fantastic start with the commitments from Nelson and Lane.

GO BRUINS.

Basketball Releases Tentative '08-'09 Schedule

ryebreadraz — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:51:31 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

The UCLA basketball program has released their tentative 2008-2009 schedule. The schedule features 29 regular season games with two more possible should UCLA advance to the semi-final round of the 2K Sports Classic. One of the regular season games' opponent is still to be determined, as is one of the two exhibition games. The Bruins face off with Texas as part of the Pac 10/Big XII Hardwood Series, host Notre Dame the week of the USC game and take on DePaul in the John R. Wooden Classic. The other teams participating in the 2K Classic have not been announced, however Duke and Michigan will join UCLA in the tournament. The fourth team has yet to be decided, but Mississippi State, Southern Illinois and Nebraska are possibilities.

Tentative 2008-2009 UCLA Basketball Schedule

Tues., Nov. 4 Humboldt State (Exhibition)

Fri., Nov. 7 TBA (Exhibition)

Wed.,, Nov. 12 Coaches vs. Cancer First Round (at Pauley Pavilion)

Thurs., Nov. 13 Coaches vs. Cancer Second Round (at Pauley Pavilion)

Thurs., Nov. 20 Coaches vs. Cancer Semifinals (at Madison Square Garden)

Fri.., Nov. 21 Coaches vs. Cancer Final (at Madison Square Garden)

Sat., Nov. 29 Florida International

Thurs., Dec. 4 at Texas #

Sun., Dec. 7 Cal State Northridge

Sat., Dec. 13 DePaul $

Wed., Dec. 17 TBA

Sat., Dec. 20 Mercer

Tues., Dec. 23 Wyoming

Sun., Dec. 28 Louisiana Tech

Fri., Jan. 2 at Oregon State*

Sun., Jan. 4 at Oregon*

Sat., Jan. 10 at USC*

Thurs., Jan. 15 Arizona State*

Sat., Jan. 17 Arizona*

Thurs., Jan. 22 at Washington State*

Sat., Jan. 24 at Washington*

Thurs., Jan. 29 California*

Sat., Jan. 31 Stanford*

Wed., Feb. 4 USC*

Sat., Feb. 7 Notre Dame

Thurs., Feb. 12 at Arizona*

Sat., Feb. 14 at Arizona State*

Thurs., Feb. 19 Washington*

Sat., Feb. 21 Washington State*

Thurs., Feb. 26 at Stanford*

Sat., Feb. 28 at California*

Thurs., Mar. 5 Oregon*

Sat., Mar. 7 Oregon State*

Mar. 11-14 Pac-10 Tournament (at Staples Center)

#- Pac 10/Big XII Hardwood Series

$- Wooden Classic, Anaheim, Calif. (Honda Center)

*- Pac 10 Game

Earl Watson Breaks His Thumb, More Playing Time For Westbrook?

Achilles — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:10:22 -0000

Earl Watson, one of three Seattle Super Sonics point guards (including fellow Bruin, rookie Russell Westbrook) has broken his thumb. He could miss up to four months, meaning he's out all summer and into next season.

According to the Seattle PI (link above), this makes the Sonics point guard situation "murky."

The injury is a costly one for the Sonics, who likely were hoping to deal Watson or Luke Ridnour this summer to clear playing time for No. 1 draft pick Russell Westbrook. Watson was coming off a career season and was the likely starter for the 2008-09 season.

Ridnour is owed $13 million over the next two seasons and endured an injury-riddled campaign. Westbrook was drafted as the team's point guard of the future and is expected to serve as a backup until he learns the offense and becomes more seasoned.

Watson's injury could mean the Sonics will enter the season with Ridnour as the starter until they deal him and are able to acquire a cheaper veteran. Watson also has two years left on his deal at $12.8 million, but fits more with the Sonics' defensive philosophy.

Best wishes to Earl.

How Does Howland's Contract Compare?

ryebreadraz — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:06:44 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

UCLA has a reputation for severely underpaying its coaches and being unwilling to invest in its athletics. So with Howland signing his fifth contract extension in five years Jeff Eisenberg took a look at how Howland's contract compares with those of some of the other top coaches in the country.

- Billy Donovan (Florida), $3.5 million
- Thad Matta (Ohio State), $2.5 million
- John Calipari (Memphis), $2.35 million
- Billy Gillispie (Kentucky), $2.3 million
- Tom Crean (Indiana), $2.3 million
- Ben Howland (UCLA), $1.97 million
- Roy Williams (North Carolina), $1.8 million
- Tubby Smith (Minnesota), $1.8 million
- Tom Izzo (Michigan State), $1.7 million
- Rick Pitino (Louisville), $1.65 million
- Bill Self (Kansas) $1.4 million (Expected to renegotiate this offseason)

Not bad for an athletic department that has a history of underpaying coaches. It's clear the attitude of the Morgan Center has changed since DG took over and coaches who perform are rewarded. Just check out the numbers of how Howland's salary has gone up in the past five years (again from Jeff Eisenberg).

Howland's annual salary
2003-04: $900,000 (11-17, 7th in Pac-10)
2004-05: $900,000 (18-11, lost to Texas Tech in NCAA first round)
2005-06: $900,000 (32-7, lost to Florida in NCAA title game)
2006-07: $1.15 million (30-6, lost to Florida in Final Four)
2007-08: $1.5 million (35-4, lost to Memphis in Final Four)
2008-09: $1.97 million (???)

I don't think anybody would argue that Howland has deserved each and every one of those raises. Maybe we'll see him get another raise after next season deserving for a coach who brought home banner #12?

Berkeley Musings

Nestor — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:19:51 -0000

Jason over at What’s Bruin, Dawg recently picked up on some interesting discussion on California Golden Blog concerning (some?) Cal fans’ amusing hatred for all things UCLA:

This burning hatred is kinda' funny, for a number of reasons. I especially like any response that professes hatred for a school with "Well, I visited that school in 2005, and let me tell you, the fans in the stands were so rude, I just couldn't take it." These stories are hilarious for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that if I applied this logic to every visit I have ever taken to every stadium in the country, I probably would hate everyone.

To be perfectly honest, even in their supposed 'greatest hour', I rarely think about Cal football. I'm not sure why this is. Should I be thinking about Cal football? I don't innately hate San Francisco, either. A hatred for the Southland is apparently some ritual requirement of our friends to the north. In the comments section of said posting, someone mentioned they hated everything from Los Angeles - the Lakers, Hollywood, possibly even the carpool lane.

This person was from Buffalo. Seriously, if you're from Buffalo, you don't have any right to be doggin' on another city. It's like being from Detroit and complaining about Milwaukee. Just stop.

At any rate, my overall point is that I can use any number of real-life examples to either show that Cal fans are amazingly nice or total morons. It's a two-way street, folks.

Nice Cal Fans: 2005 Rose Bowl; A really inebriated UCLA fan (small Asian girl, must have been no older then 16 or 17) is stumbling up to her seat by us in Section 2. She proceeds to fall down on one knee, and I kid you not, just totally upchuck right there all over a very nice Cal husband and wife who must have been in their 50s. The husband laughs, the wife laughs, and they just kinda' signal the usher, point, and go "That's a football game for you." They were easily the two nicest people I've ever met in a stadium in my entire life. They didn't yell, didn't scream, nothing. Just smiled and moved on.

Idiot Cal Fan: USC v. UCLA @ LA Colisuem, 2007; First, there's a Cal fan at the UCLA/USC game. Which was odd enough. He was sitting one row behind us way in the corner (you know, near the peristyle section that USC doles out as a pittance to the visiting fans). Anyways, we're sitting throughout the entire game, listening to the Cal fan talk about how awesome his team is (keep in mind, by this point, Cal was 6-5 and had lost to UCLA earlier in the year). Several people told him to shutup. I had struck up a conversation with the gentleman next to me about the coaching staff - we both were none too pleased, as in typical UCLA fashion, we had begun to waste our timeouts with about 11 minutes to go. In the first quarter. Christian Taylor's parents and family are sitting about three or four seats to the left of us, and down one row. Following yet another timeout, there's an audible groan, and the Cal fan stands up, and screams, "Fire the black coach!"

At this point, the gentleman next to me turns around, glares at the Cal fan, and tells him to shut the hell up. It's now the moron Cal fan realizes that the guy in front of him WAS black, and so were his two children (probably around 12 or 13). The Cal fan proceeds to go "Man, I didn't mean that, I didn't mean that..." and the whole time, the guy next to me is telling him to just shut the hell up.

The Cal fan ultimately has to leave to prevent pretty much everyone in the section from kicking his ass. It wasn't a kid being drunk, it wasn't someone being loud and obnoxious, it was just a total idiot. He had no excuse. And seriously, I hope someone did light him up later that night. He had this heinous mop of red hair and must have weighed around 125 lbs - I think my grandmother could have taken him.

Don’t forget the incident from November of 2006 when few hooligans in the Cal student section beat up another Cal student just because he had UCLA color shirt on. Ranelar posted the violent atmosphere in the Cal student section following the UCLA-Cal here on BN.

BUT as Jason rightly pointed out in the conclusion of his post on WBD that it would be ridiculous to make generalizations on an entire fanbase (except for Trojans fans since we have grown up and lived around them most of our lives and have enough data points their attitude towards their scandal plagued major revenue programs) base on this anecdotes. But it is still amusing to me to see Cal fans get so bent up over UCLA football.

I don’t have any bad feelings towards them whatsoever. In fact I have nothing but great respect for Jeff Tedford. I believe he is a great coach for the Bears and I hope they can hang on to him. I also think Montgomery was a good get for the Bears. He will hopefully upgrade their basketball progam, which indirectly will benefit our conference and bring even more national attention to our own basketball program.

I am sure there are few UCLA alums/students/fans who don’t care much for Cal. From my pov they have never really been on my radar. My first UCLA-Cal game was a heartbreaking last second loss. IIRC it was a Bear team QBed by Mike Pawlawski who beat Tommy Maddox led Bruins by a game winning FG by Doug Brien. I can remember coming out of the Rose Bowl and getting in our car only to find out the Dodgers had choked away the pennant against Will Clark’s Giants (October 91). It wasn’t a fun Saturday. But I remember being stunned by seeing the Cal students get worked up over beating UCLA, and wearing “special t shirts” which I thought were reserved for rivalry games such UCLA-Southern Cal or Cal-Stanford.

I never got into So Cal – No Cal rivalry considering all my room-mates during college were from the Bay Area. Yes, we gave each other hard time over Lakers-Warriors or Dodgers-Giants but it was nothing like the venom I had seen in the Cal-UCLA games from Cal section (in my days) or some what we see via youtube now.

As far the guys at California Golden Blogs are concerned they are good bloggers and we have noted their intellectual honesty before. They have few crazy commenters. The ones that are complaining about being banned from BN are the usual trolls who have gotten kicked out of here for being disruptive, disrespectful, and trying to engage in flame wars, similar to the offline examples presented by Jason and ranelar above. We will never tolerate that and frankly don’t have the time to deal with that. But if Cal fans want to engage in discussion on BN they should take their cue from someone like raganork on how to engage respectfully as a guest in another community.

Anyway, I never thought much about Cal athletics over the years and most likely will not start now. As I have said before I have wished those CGFB guys up north publicly and via email that I hope they get their basketball program back on track and can hold on to Jeff Tedford. A strong Cal program will mean UCLA-Cal game in the national spotlight just like another high profile SEC or Big-10 match ups we see on ESPN. That bodes well for the conference and college football in the West Coast.

We will get back to the Bears during game week this coming season.

GO BRUINS.

UPDATED: UCLA Baseball With A HUGE Pickup

ryebreadraz — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:47:39 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

The assistant head coaching spot left vacant when Brian Green took a job at Kentucky has been filled by Rick Vanderhook. Hook spent 21 years as an assistant at Fullerton and was promoted to Associate Head Coach under George Horton prior to the Titans' first game of the 2007 College World Series. He was expected by many to succeed Horton at Fullerton, but was passed over for the job to the surprise of many. Coach Serrano, who got the Fullerton job offered Hook a spot on the coaching staff, but he was upset for being passed over and declined. Coach Horton also offered Hook a place on his staff as the Associate Head Coach, but he did not want to move his family that has such strong ties to the Souther California area.

Vanderhook, 43, took last season off from coaching, but has 21 years of coaching experience. He started his coaching career at Fullerton the year after he finished playing. He spent two seasons as the bullpen coach and then one as the third base coach under legend Augie Garrido. Hook then went to Cal St. Northridge where he was the top assistant before going back to Fullerton after two seasons. Hook spent the remainder of his coaching career at Fullerton before taking last year off.

Vanderhook is considered one of the nation's best coaches. He has been offered head coaching jobs before, but declined them under the assumption he was succeed Horton at Fullerton. Hook is a premier hitting coach and has produced players such as first round picks Mike Harkey, Phil Nevin, Dante Powell, Mark Kotsay, Ricky Romero and supplemental pick Aaron Rowand. He has also coached 19 other All-Americans since 1991. Not only is Hook one of the best hitting coaches in the game, but he is also one of the nation's best recruiters with ties all over the area. He was the Titans' lead recruiter for the bulk of his time at Fullerton and many Titan players have credited him as the main reason they chose Fullerton.

If you want information on how involved Hook was in the Fullerton program, look at what Horton had to say in a Baseball America interview about who he thought should get the Fullerton job when he left.

I’ve let it known with them that Rick Vanderhook has 100 percent of my support. I’ve done everything in my power as the ex-baseball coach to promote Rick Vanderhook. This Titans baseball family runs pretty significant, there are a lot of guys that could be successful that are out coaching in other places, but my opinion is it’s a no-brainer. Rick Vanderhook should be the next head baseball coach at Cal State Fullerton, he should be given a three-year contract.

Rick’s been here for 20 years, been here longer than I have, been here during Augie Garrido’s tenure, been here during my tenure. That wasn’t just a token thing making him associate head coach (this year), he does pretty much everything I did with the program.

This is a huge get for the Bruin baseball program. Vanderhook will take care of the hitters (his strength) and Savage will take care of the pitchers (his strength). Hook will also bring even more credibility to the program, give a boost to the already strong recruiting and provide expert coaching the program has lacked recently. Most importantly, Hook will bring a new attitude to the program that will challenge players and provide some much needed toughness within the program. The Bruin program has taken huge strides under Savage, but has been criticized for being a little soft and lacking the correct mental approach to the game. With Hook on the staff, it's hard to imagine that continuing.

UPDATE: The official site has picked up on the hire and has this quote from Coach Savage:

"Rick has been one of the top coaches for a very long time in college baseball," Savage said. "His knowledge, experience and passion will be a great addition to Bruin baseball. Rick has developed many players that were not only great college players but were also successful in professional baseball. Rick has been a part of many winning teams. We are very excited about Rick being in Westwood."

And it also has some more numbers from his time at Fullerton:

At Cal State Fullerton, Vanderhook helped lead the Titans to two national championships (1995, 2004). He coached the Titans to 10 College World Series appearances, six Super Regional triumphs, 16 Regional berths (13 since 1992) and 11 Big West Conference titles. Vanderhook also spent two years (1989-1990) as an assistant coach at Cal State Northridge, guiding the Matadors to a 39-22 record and NCAA Division II runner-up finish in 1990.

Under his tutelage at Cal State Fullerton, Vanderhook coached 52 All-America selections (27 on offense) and 28 eventual major leaguers. As the Titans' recruiting coordinator from 1991-1996, Vanderhook brought in 17 eventual All-America selections to Cal State Fullerton's program. Since 1991, Vanderhook's offenses posted a batting average above .300 each spring and an on-base percentage higher than .400 in all but one season.

Vanderhook was responsible for some of the most explosive offenses in Cal State Fullerton's history. The 1999 Titans established program benchmarks for single-season batting average (.338) and runs per game (9.2). Fullerton's 1998 squad set school records with 93 home runs, 28 triples and 167 doubles.

Davis to Clippers

bucknellbruin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:52:55 -0000

ESPN.com's Marc Stein is reporting that Baron Davis has agreed to a 5 year deal with the Clippers.

NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that the guard reached a verbal agreement with the Clippers on Tuesday night and will sign a new multiyear contract with Los Angeles after the leaguewide moratorium on signings and trades is lifted July 9.

Davis was in line to make $17.8 million in the last year of his deal with the Warriors, but after telling the team that he wanted to stay, opted out at the last minute.

Sources told ESPN.com that Davis, 29, will receive a five-year deal worth an estimated $65 million.

It's interesting that Baron said he wanted to stay with GS, but agreed w/ the Clipps so quickly. Also interesting that his new deal with pay him about $4.5 million a year less than the one he opted out of. Anyway, nice to have a Bruin back in LA. Good luck Baron.

Football Recruiting: OL Stud, Greg Capella

hicalliber — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:03:52 -0000

It looks like RN has beefed up our 2009 recruiting class with a huge get in Greg Capella, an OL out of El Diamante H.S. Apparently he really impressed at the Nike Football Training camp on USC's campus. According to Bill Conley of ESPN:

The other offensive lineman who wouldn't be denied was Greg Capella (El Diamante, Calif.). He went repetition after repetition, getting tougher and tougher as the competition heated up.

Also according to WWL:

Capella is a huge and powerful offensive tackle that absolutely destroys anyone dumb enough to play base technique against him. He delivers a devastating initial punch and follows it with excellent leg drive. Capella has good feet for such a big man and can pull and turn upfield without losing balance or body control. He is also a solid pass protector that has a huge wing span that makes him difficult to beat on the outside edge if you're a pass rusher.

It's nice to see us get a solid OL to protect Brehaut, who continues to shine in all of these pre-season camps. I think RN knows in the recruiting game you have to start in the trenches and build outwards...who would want to quarterback a team with no offensive line? Concussion anyone? And who would want to play DB without a decent pass rushing/run stuffing defensive line? The skill positions follow the big boys!

Yahoo Sports has big news and big rumors about Baron Davis

Fox 71 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:16:59 -0000

According to Yahoo Sports just a few minutes ago, Baron Davis has opted out of a 17 bazillion dollar contract with the Philadelphia Warriors of the Goldden State of San Francisco, and wants to return to Los Angeles. But the news that will hurt lots of my brothers and sisters in the BN, he is looking at the Buffalo Braves of the San Diego Clippers of Los Angeles. (I confess, I have been affected by Arte Moreno.)

I now head off topic and out for the golf course in the Tampa Area, which is close to the home field of the St. Petersburg Rays of Tampa Bay, currently the proud possessor of the best record in baseball. (But seriously folks, to tell you what it's like for the dozen or so of us Rays fans, the team is like the early 60's Dodgers with speed, not much power, and really good pitching, or the mid-80's Royals, with lots of guys who could hit line drives everywhere and pretty good pitching. I had the privilege of living in LA and in KC for those teams, and I'm telling you, the Rays really remind me of those teams. They really think they can win. I'm not going to disagree with them.)

Women's Golf Maria Jose Uribe Takes Low Amateur Honors @ US Women's Open

freesia39 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:20:30 -0000

In case you didn't catch the US Women's Open over the weekend, a fellow Bruin was holding her own against the field.

As noted on the main site, Maria Jose Uribe shot a 290 (-2) over the four days for the lowest score by an amateur.

Uribe, 18, became just the second amateur in U.S. Women's Open history to finish the tournament under par. She posted a four-round total of 290 (-2), thanks to three birdies on the inward nine. The sophomore-to-be began her day at four-under par, but after three bogeys and a 39 (+3) on the outward nine, she appeared in danger of finishing above par. She rallied with birdies at the 11th, 16th and 18th holes and completed a streak of four consecutive birdies on the 18th. She tied for 10th place with a final round score of 75 (+3).

Her prize: An exemption into next year's open, and next up on her summer vacation: The British Open. This is significant as Uribe will be

the first female amateur ever to compete in all four professional major championships.

Also, fellow Bruin Sydnee Michaels shot a 304 (+12) and former Bruin Guilia Sergas shot a 289 (-3.)

Watching the coverage, they kept asking Uribe why she wasn't going to defend her US Amateur Open title, which seemed incessant, and the announcers were bewildered that she wouldn't even consider it.

Congrats to all the Bruins on the links this past weekend!

We Lost A Great Bruin: RIP Ray Bartlett

bluestreet — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:01:08 -0000

Apologies if this has already been posted here on Bruins Nation.

We lost a great Bruin last week:

The greatest moment of Ray Bartlett's life was an honor bestowed upon him by the family of baseball great Jackie Robinson, his childhood friend and college teammate. They asked him to represent Robinson in the 1999 Rose Parade as a grand marshal.

He was touched to be chosen to stand in for "my friend . . . while riding down the streets of my hometown," Bartlett, who grew up in Pasadena, later recalled. "That was so special and fantastic."

Bartlett, a longtime civic leader in Pasadena, died Sunday at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood following complications from outpatient surgery, said Bob Bartlett, his son. He was 88.

In 1938, Bartlett and Robinson led the football team at what is now Pasadena City College to a state championship. At UCLA, they were among only four black players on the football team in 1939 during an era when few universities included blacks on their gridiron rosters. At both schools, they also were on the basketball, track and field, and baseball teams.

The same year Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball by joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, Bartlett became only the second African American to join the Pasadena Police Department, The Times reported in 1996.

Together, the athletes had sailed to Hawaii in 1941 to play semi-professional football with the Honolulu Polar Bears. At season's end, Robinson returned to California but Bartlett stayed to work in construction. Days later, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

The next morning, Bartlett and other construction workers were brought to the harbor.

"We had to retrieve the bodies of dead American Navy men from the water," Bartlett said in a Pasadena City College biography. "I saw the USS Arizona burning in flames for days after the bombing."

A year would pass before he could return to the mainland and UCLA, where he had introduced Robinson to a fellow student, Rachel. She married Robinson, who died in 1972.

Thoughts and prayers with the Bartlett family.

Go Bruins.

Holding Onto Howland

Class of 66 — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:13:33 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

Tying Together Themes in Many Other Posts.

Rather than leave comments in several threads, I thought I’d write a specific post dedicated to a concern we all have – that we will lose CBH to another job, most likely to the NBA.

I do not think this fear is unfounded.

If I were a GM looking for a new head coach, CBH would certainly be on my short list.

Why? It’s obvious to us. He is a winner. He is a turn around expert. He is a great teacher.

Our 3 straight Final Fours and the incredible success of CBH’s players in the NBA and the recent draft are only making the light on him shine brighter.

The game of basketball, both college and professional, is being transformed to one in which DEFENSE is the foundation upon which success is built. No one coaches defense better than CBH.

It’s not that CBH puts the “x’s” and “o’s” in the right place. Others can do that. What I find so impressive is that he gets his players to buy into a selfless style of team play that starts with shut down D. He gets them to take pride in their D.

He will certainly get offers. So, the key is to figure out what we need to do to make sure he turns them down.

Many think we have a strong position with CBH because this is his “dream job”.

But, having spent a good part of my life as an academic, I can tell you categorically that the university culture has a way of turning “dream jobs” into nightmares.

We must make sure that does not happen with CBH.

Nothing does more to sour a dream than to feel that you are being taken for granted. I cannot tell you how many great professors leave for other pastures because they do not feel appreciated by the bureaucracy that runs he university. It often happens that the most “loyal” entrenched faculty receive the least positive reinforcement. Attention is often paid to the less loyal, the professors with the roving eyes who are constantly soliciting other jobs and threatening to leave; this is a well known academic dance – “Give me what I want because if you don’t I’ll go to “X” because they will give it to me.” Or, attention is paid to the “next new hire”.

The most loyal, those who do not threaten to leave, those who are looked upon as “secure”, often get so fed up they just bolt. And, then the administrations lament – “I’m so surprised, he always said this was his ‘dream’ job.”

On a university campus, the problem is one of finite resources. There simply is not enough money to give everyone what they think they need or what they want.

Often, in academic departments, the fights are over stupid things – like parking and office space. I call it the politics of scarcity. There is so little real stuff to fight over that, in order to stroke ego, faculty fight over stupid things. Professors are not Zen masters.

Finally, many who get fed up with the academic world and “bolt” go to the private sector. I did it and have never been sorry. I’ve been able to do more and better work with much better support and less interference.

What does this have to do with CBH?

He works in an academic environment – one whose culture applies to athletics as well as academics.

For a coach, the NBA is the private sector – an environment with better resources and greater freedom.

My greatest fear is that CBH, in the next few years, will feel taken for granted, not feel supported or tire of being ground down by the academic atmosphere.

We have to be vigilant – to make sure that he is not taken for granted, to make sure that the new hires don’t get a priority on what they need or want.

We need to make sure that he is always the best paid coach in the conference and one of the highest paid coaches in the nation. We’ve had no indication that CBH is a mercenary. But, money is important both for what it buys and for what is symbolizes. It is one way to tell CBH how important he is.

And, there are the intangibles. The things that send a clear message.

Perhaps the most important “intangible” is the renovation of Pauley. There have been extremely strong posts on BN dealing with this topic. I’ll not repeat them. Symbolically, this project makes a statement to our tradition, Coach, and our future, CBH. Bogging it down in an academic bureaucracy causes the type of frustration that drives faculty to greener pastures.

Taking care of his assistants, giving him whatever help he needs in recruiting, putting him in a place to showcase his teams, the university and himself – those are the things we need to do to make CBH feel the love and support the UCLA community has for him.

If we want him to stay for life, we have to make sure his job is so great that he wants to stay for life.

sjh

PS. It is very possible that CBH doesn’t care about any of this. If that’s so, please allow me to channel Emily Litella – “Never mind.”

Love's Diet

Nestor — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:26:13 -0000

I am surprised none of you flagged this post on Love's diet, Jeff Eisenberg published the PE.com's blog last week.

Obviously Love has been a huge success in the NBA draft (to date). He did everything a kid in shoes to get himself ready for the draft, which included a hardcore workout routine and a meticulous diet:

A sample of Love's diet
Breakfast: American Omelet
Fresh omelet cooked with diced turkey, chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions. Served with a side of fresh fruit.
Lunch: Chicken Scallopini
Strips of chicken, red peppers and currants sautéed in a mango chutney sauce. Served with steamed vegetables and a red leaf lettuce salad.
Afternoon Snack: Vanilla Yogurt
Dinner: Citrus Salmon
Fresh Atlantic salmon marinated overnight in a ginger citrus sauce, grilled, and served with sautéed asparagus and a fresh green salad.
Evening Snack: Apple, Cheese, Peanut Butter

Can't go wrong with grilled Salmon (my mouth is watering as I type it).

GO BRUINS.

Jeanette Bolden Coaching Olympic Track Team

bruinbabe2000 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:54:33 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

Women's track and field coach Jeanette Bolden is doing double-duty this summer, coaching the U.S. Olympic women's track team. Coach Bolden is no stranger to the Olympics herself.

An Olympic gold medalist as part of Team USA's 4x100m relay at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Bolden placed fourth in the 100 meters at those Games and was a member of the 1980 Olympic team. Bolden recently finished her 14th year running the women's track program at her alma mater UCLA, where her squads have won three NCAA team championships and were runners-up at the 2005 NCAA Outdoors. In all, she has been part of five NCAA Champion teams, both as a coach and athlete.

Coach Bolden is currently in Eugene for the Olympic trials. Here are some excerpts from her recent press conference:

Q: What's it like for you from a head coach's perspective now that the Trials are here?

A: It's a situation where I am excited, nervous anticipating what is going to happen. I think the Olympic Games is an experience that I will never forget from an athlete's perspective. I think I will probably be more excited from the coaching end because now I have like 18 events to get excited about, opposed to my one or two events of the 100 meters and 4x100 (as an athlete). I want to make sure that all the "I's" are dotted and the "T's" are crossed. I'm excited and really hoping that the things I've learned in my past years as an athlete and now as a coach, I can maybe encourage someone and give a little bit of wisdom.

To read the rest of the Q&A, click here.

We wish Coach Bolden and the U.S. Track Team all the best as they go for the gold in Bejing.

Bruins Playing BBall tomorrow

Rivertownbruin — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:50:44 -0000

Nikola Dragovic and Mustafa Abdul Hamid will be playing at 4:00pm tomorrow for Rico's Young Franchis Boys in Rico's Get Better League at Salesian HS. The team is 1-2 (Nikola has only playe done game so far and this will be Mustafa's 1st). they are taking on Team Checks and Balances which is also at 2-1 and each team will try to get back to 500 and stat a winning streak.. Check out the league's website for more information. Hope to see you all there....Go Bruins!!!

Love/Westbrook Interview

ktrain203 — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:18:16 -0000

On probably one of the better NBA draft nights in recent Bruin history, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love both went in the top-5. Here's an interview with both of them, talking about what it was like to get drafted so high and in Love's case, to then get traded on the same night.

Love talks about being traded for former crosstown rival OJ Mayo and what he thinks about going from Memphis to Minnesota.

No matter how you look at it, it was a great night to be a Bruin fan:

“I’m just so excited and elated for them,’’ UCLA coach Ben Howland said via conference call. “Both Russell and Kevin have worked so hard.’’

Hours after the draft ended, The Associated Press reported Mayo was dealt to Memphis for Love in an eight-player deal that also sent Mike Miller to the Timberwolves.

“I was actually hoping I’d go (to Minnesota),” Love said. “I believe I could play well beside Al Jefferson.”

While Love was one of the nation’s most sought after players coming out of high school, Westbrook was a late developer. He had received little recruiting attention until he grew 4 inches between his junior year and the start of his senior year. As a junior, Westbrook was 5-foot-11, 150 pounds. He’s now 6-3 and 196 pounds.

Westbrook saw limited action as a freshman at UCLA but this past season he emerged to become one of the team’s top players and was named the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year.

When asked if three years ago he could have envisioned any of this happening, Westbrook said, “I imagined the best for myself. I worked so hard to put myself in the best position possible.’’

I wish they had both stayed obviously for one more year, but if they're going to leave, I definitely want to see Bruin alumni be successful in the NBA. UCLA!!

Love and OJ traded for each other

bucknellbruin — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:57:00 -0000

Minnesota and Memphis have agreed to a 8 man deal that centers around KL and OJ2

Two league sources told ESPN.com that the Wolves have reached an agreement in principle with the Memphis Grizzlies that will send the draft rights of Mayo, Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker and Greg Buckner to the Grizzlies in return for the draft rights to Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins.

The deal is a blockbuster for both teams. ESPN.com reported on Tuesday that the Wolves GM Kevin McHale was infatuated with Love, but felt that the team had to select Mayo and use him to acquire more assets

Interesting...i think KL was actually a better fit in Memphis. He and Al Jefferson are super talented for sure, but there isn't much size in that frontcourt. I liked KL with Darko/Kwame, as bad as those two are, more for his development.

I also don't get why Memphis would want ANOTHER guard (along with Crittenton, Conley, and Lowry) instead of a talented, fundamental post player, which they don't have.

Anyway, hope it all works out for Kevin. Congrats to RW and LRMAM as well. Good night for the bruins, just wish Mata-Real got picked. Hopefully he'll end up somewhere.

Brandon Jennings to Europe?

Fox 71 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:48:44 -0000

According to an article on Yahoo by Dan Wetzel, Brandon Jennings may decide to play professionally in Europe rather than professionally at Arizona next year. OK, I don't know how to link to Wetzel's article, so shoot me.

I think that's a good idea for guys like Jennings or OJ2 -- guys who are just filling space at a college and taking a scholarship that could be given to an actual student athlete. Sure, we have our own one-an-dones, but if Jennings sets a precedent here, it could end that fiction. Get rid of the artificial barrier to entry into the NBA. Let anyone in who can qualify. But make it clear that you get one decision only - if you elect to go professional, you don't get to play college ball. And if you play college ball, then you're ineligible for the NBA until your class graduates.