Thoughts on Attendance

So Ted Miller just blogged up the Pac10's numbers for the 2009 season. Since URSA is ultra slow for my last first-pass ever to sign up for classes, I figured I should present and then comment on these numbers. Before I get to the analysis part, here are the numbers:

USC... 84,799

UCLA... 64,547

Washington... 64,356

California... 59,472

Oregon... 58,544

Arizona State... 48,556

Oregon State... 42,328

Stanford... 41,436

Arizona... 35,656

Washington State... 25,909

The top and bottom is nothing surprising at all. Washington State really sucks, and have a small stadium. Those two combined imply it'll be last. On the other end of the spectrum, it should also not surprise anyone U$C leads the Pac. They came off a Rose Bowl win (again), a new hotshot QB, which means the bandwagon was in full force. Two of their losses came at home, but during the last quarter of the season so they wouldn't really impact attendance as much. In the middle of the pecking order, you can find UDub and Oregon. The reason why I am singling them out is because their numbers are essentially they seating capacity of their respective stadiums and that should be pointed out. Those two fanbases deserve lots of credit, especially the Huskies, who haven't really had a reason to be excited about football until Sark came in. Then again, I am sure that none of them expected to win too much this year, so it's darn respectable of an attendance figure.

Now, it is time to get to my Bruins. Yes, we are second in attendance. Yes, it is not too surprising. No, I am not happy with just being second (especially with those figures). With all the progress the team has made in the offseason, and with the hype around Coach Neu, the numbers should have been WAY higher. As someone who was there for every single game, I can attest to the emptiness that (did not) fill the Rose Bowl. The biggest area of concern and disappointment for me was in the students. I would always check out the size of the student section as we did our pregame routine (Fanfare, Strike, Nat'l Anthem, Sons, Mighty) and although I never thought it'd be full 20 minutes before kick-off, it was never even close to having the lower half of it full. That's just sad. I know I am not the only one as there has been lots of discussion about the apathetic nature of some of the student body amongst UCLA blogs, so no reason to repeat does sentiments. What we should take from it is that apparently our fans appreciate a decent team more than a team with more talent but has a tendency to choke, right?

Rating this Valentine's Day

Folks, today officially sucks. Not because I do not have a Valentine or anything remotely related to that, but because UCLA got swept by U$C. In basketball. That's right, three straight losses dating back to last season's Pac-10 tournament, which unfortunately I was courtside for. Good thing we don't play them again until next year right? But in all seriousness, this really sucks. I was honestly not expecting it be a great game for us, but it still stings. It always sucks to lose to the Trojans, and doing so in my favorite sport, one that UCLA dominates traditionally, hurts even more. In my four years at UCLA we have gone 6-4 against them including two semi-final meetings in the conference tourney. Considering that UCLA was a final four team twice during that span, and finished ahead of them the first three years in the standings (right now they are a game ahead of the Bruins) make it seem pretty sad. But enough ranting about this, and back to February 14th. Below is how I would rate my Valentine's days in my four years as a UCLA student:

1. Senior Year - 2010. It is pretty clear that the loss tonight truly stings and will leave me angry and annoyed at how bad this year is. I think that it is also a prelude to how the next two games in Washington are going to be, so this really does suck. It feels much worse than...

2. Freshman Year - 2007. Playing IM Indoor Soccer, I tore my calf on a corner kick and although I scored the tieing goal to eliminate the opposing team from the playoffs, I couldn't walk properly for the next four weeks and screwed up a couple good grades in the process and yet this is only number two.

3. Sophomore Year - 2008. Three midterms during sixth week, including one on Vday and one on the following day. Sure I dominated the one on Vday, but then having to study circuits and get my game on with Kerkhoff's Laws was not something I wanted to do on that day.

4. Junior Year - 2009. Honestly, it was a pretty fun day. Lodged in the middle of the long weekend, I had just turned 21 and got to enjoy myself after a week midterms. Sure, this is not nearly as bad as the top three, but it sure needs a mention.

Now, how can I make myself feel better? By checking out this video:

NBA All-Star Weekend, College Style: the Game

Happy Valentine's day readers! I hope that yours will be more interesting than mine, considering I am planning on planting myself in front of the TV and watch the NBA All-Star game and UCLA v. U$C basketball game tonight. As I did on Friday before the Rookie Challenge, I shall provide yet another list of colleges/countries/high-schools that the game's biggest stars hail from. Without more rambling, here it is:

College:

Dwayne Wade - Marquette

Allen Iverson - Georgetown

Derrick Rose - Memphis

Rajon Rondo - Kentucky

Paul Pierce - Kansas

Chris Bosh - Ga Tech

Gerald Wallace - Alabama

Joe Johnson - Akransas

Al Horford - Florida

David Lee - Florida

Steve Nash - Santa Clara

Carmelo Anthony - Syracuse

Tim Duncan - Wake Forest

Deron Williams - Illinois

Chauncey Billups - Colorado

Kevin Durant - Texas

Zach Randolph - MSU

Chris Kaman - Central Michigan

Jason Kidd - Cal

High School:

Dwight Howard

Kevin Garnett

Lebron James

Kobe Bryant

Amare Stoudemire

International:

Dirk Nowitzki - Germany

Pau Gasol - Spain

It is pretty obvious that the majority of the players in this year's All-Star game attended college for at least one year. However, half of the chosen starters are guys who came straight from high-school. And remember, the high school class of 2006 was the first one that was banned from jumping to the pros, but they would be in their 4th year (actual 3rd year) in the league, so it's not like those numbers would be too skewed. Perhaps Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose would have been the only ones to make that jump who made the All-Star roster since 2006.

It should also be interesting to note that four players are from non-BCS conferences, which includes Wade because at the time, Marquette was not part of the Big East. It seems like the SEC actually has the most representatives with five.

And before you go, I will leave you with this video to set the mood for Valentine's Day:

NBA All-Star Weekend, College Style

Have you ever felt like you need to find someone to root for in the pros? Someone who represents your school or country? Well, here at RJS we feel that pain and we have thus compiled a list of the participants in the Rookie Challenge which airs tonight on TNT. More lists will come in the next couple of days for the Saturday night competitions and actual All-Star Game.

Rookies:
Omri Casspi (Kings) Israel
DeJuan Blair (Spurs) Pittsburgh
Stephen Curry (Warriors)Davidson
Tyreke Evans (Kings) Memphis
Jonny Flynn (T-wolves) Syracuse
Taj Gibson (Bulls) USC
James Harden (Thunder) Arizona State
Brandon Jennings (Bucks)Lottomatica Virtus Roma (Italy)
Jonas Jerebko (Pistons) Sweden

Sophomores:
Michael Beasley (Heat) Kansas State
Marc Gasol (Grizzlies) Spain
Danilo Gallinari (Knicks)Italy
Eric Gordon (Clippers) Indiana
Brook Lopez (Nets) Stanford
Kevin Love (T-wolves) UCLA
O.J. Mayo (Grizzlies) USC
Anthony Morrow (Warriors)Georgia Tech
Russell Westbrook (Thunder)UCLA

As you can tell, the most represented schools are UCLA and U$C with two players each. It should be noted though that Memphis would have had two but Derrick "SATs" Rose is playing in the actual ASG. The Pac-10 has 6 representatives from four different schools, leading all collegiate conferences. Internationally, there are four countries, all of which are European (Israel plays in Europe in basketball), probably a first.

UNC = UCLA East?

Has anyone been following the huge collapse of UNC? If not, you should. It's kind of fun to see. It is amazing how similar of a downfall it is to UCLA's. There is a youth movement in both places, as UNC also plays tons of freshmen and sophomores, although they still have much more experience than UCLA. Unlike the Bruins, Carolina has tanked it up in the ACC having lost six of eight conference games. However, it should be noted that the ACC >> Pac-10 this year, so that fact might be slightly skewed. Additionally, Carolina has actually beaten all the teams they should beat out of conference, except College of Charleston. That fact sits much more comfortably when you consider UCLA lost at home to Fullerton and on a neutral court to the likes of Portland and Long Beach State on a neutral court. So the two situations are somewhat different, but in the big scheme of things its a very analogous story. Two powerhouses in the world of college basketball that wear light shades of blue and recent final four programs, that will probably not make the Dance. Still, I would love to be in Carolina's position much more than UCLA's. You know, being the defending National Champs.

Signing Day Disparity

Today has been a crazy day for those following National Signing Day. Many fan bases have been feeling good about themselves, while many have not. No matter who you root for though, you must have noticed the differences that the three main recruiting rankings have between them. I have always found it quite odd that most of the time none of the three agree. Here are the top-15 rankings from each service (Rivals, Scout, ESPNU):

Clearly, these three have tons of differences. While each has UCLA and U$C as the top schools out of the Pac-10, the third one differs for all three. Rivals has Cal, Scout has Washington, and ESPNU has Stanford. At least Scout and Rivals both agree that Oregon is #13. Another striking difference is that U$C is ranked as high as #2 on Rivals, but as low as 7/8 on Scout/ESPNU. Speaking of U$C and Lane Kiffin, check out Tennessee's ranking on Scout. Much lower than both of the other services. Staying in the South, it is interesting that FSU is ranked #10 for both Rivals and Scout but as high as #6 on ESPNU. There are also a few teams on ESPNU's rankings that don't appear on either of the other two. As previously mentioned Stanford is absent from the other two, in addition to Ohio State, Miami, and Georgia. That's just above 25%. On Scout, Ole Miss makes an appearance as does Washington, and Rich-Rod's Michigan amounting to 20%. Rivals for whatever reason has California, Texas A&M, and Notre Dame, also comprising 20% of the rankings. As you can see, these three services have tons of disparities between one another. But hey, at least they all have Florida at #1.

NCAA Tournament Expansion? No thanks.

The world really does revolve around money doesn't it? As if the current contract that CBS and the NCAA have for the glorious event that is March Madness, they have to come up with new ways to generate more revenue. Sadly, the NCAA is seriously considering adding a bunch more mediocre teams and expanding the filed to 96. This seems completely dumb. If you expand it, why are you giving a bunch of teams, 32, a bye? The first round is going to suck, a lot. If you expand, do it the right way, and expand it to 128, a power of two (shout out to my fellow engineers). But regardless, I am not for it. Especially if the main purpose is for a more lucrative television deal. I mean what is wrong with the current format? Enough teams get a chance to play and those have all given us plenty of upsets and heartbreaks, so why try to create more? Chances are those teams that are added will not be able to do much. Also it eliminates the excitement smaller schools have when finally making it to the tournament. Lastly, the current format provides three glorious weekends that are logically organized and give tons of schools exposure and a chance at the spotlight. And oh by the way, this is coming from a UCLA student who is watching his team slip away from even the slightest chance at making the Big Dance this year.