UCLA Football Over the Last Four Years (Part II)

Yesterday I analyzed the Bruins' performance against its conference rivals. Today, it is time to look at how the men in True Blue fared against out of conference competition, including the three bowl games. I will show the breakdown by the conference we played, and do a similar record break down for each team like I did yesterday. Here we go!

ACC:

FSU 0-1 (0-0, 0-0, 0-1, 0-0) <---- LOST EMERALD BOWL!

Big-12:

KSU 1-0 (1-0, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)

C-USA:

Rice 1-0 (1-0, 0-0, 1-0, 0-0)

Independents:

Notre Dame 0-2 (0-1, 0-1, 0-2, 0-0)

MAC:

Temple 1-0 (0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0) <---- WON EAGLEBANK BOWL!

MWC:

Utah 1-1 (1-0, 0-1, 1-1, 0-0)

BYU 1-2 (1-0, 0-1, 1-0, 0-1) <---- LOST VEGAS BOWL UNDER D. WALKER!

SDSU 1-0 (1-0, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)

SEC:

UT 2-0 (1-0, 1-0, 0-0, 2-0)

WAC:

Fresno St. 0-1 (0-1, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)

Overall: 8-7

Bowl: 1-2

ACC: 0-1

Big-12: 1-0

C-USA: 1-0

Indep: 0-2

MAC: 1-0

MWC: 3-3

SEC: 2-0

WAC: 0-1

Dorrell: 3-4

Neuheisel: 5-2

It is easy to see how the different coaches have done. Neuheisel inherited a horrible team in 2008 and still managed to beat UT. Dorrell on the other hand, gave ND their first win of the 2007 season after they started 0-5 in the Rose Bowl. Furthermore, anyone remember 2006 in South Bend? I personally tried forgetting since I was there in person and my heart broke right there and then, but it happened. Dorrell coached not to lose, and we still lost. The bowl games under the Dorrell regime were not so different either. The FSU game up at AT&T Park in SF was a heartbreaker as we gave the game away to the 'Noles. The Vegas Bowl, though under Walker, was essentially under the Dorrell regime so I am going to lump that in there too. Again, my heart was broken in freezing weather as Forbath's FG attempt was blocked by the gigantic mormons. There it is, UCLA football over the last four years. Some great moments, but tons of heartbreaks and disappointments. Hopefully the next decade will bring about a new sense of winning to the Bruin program.

UCLA Football Over the Last Four Years (Part I)

UCLA's first bowl game win since the 2005 Sun Bowl marked the official end of the of its 2009 season. It also marked the end of UCLA football during my collegiate time. I have been fortunate to be at UCLA and been able to attend (for free, thank you marching band) games at the Rose Bowl for four years. However, UCLA football has not been so "Rosy" lately. Though there have been some ups, for each one of those, there seem to have been multiple downs. Since I am an engineer, I felt the need to quantify the football team's performance in some way, shape, or form.

The first part of the analysis will be looking at the Bruins record against each Pac-10 team, against which they have played two home and two away games. It will hopefully show where great opportunities were missed and perhaps where great results were seized. Below are the records against each conference opponent in alphabetical order in the following format: Team, Overall Record (Home, Away, Dorrell, Neuheisel).

Arizona 1-3 (1-1, 0-2, 1-1, 0-2)

ASU 2-2 (1-1, 1-1, 1-1, 1-1)

Cal 1-3 (1-1, 0-2, 1-1, 0-2)

Oregon 1-3 (1-1, 0-2, 1-1, 0-2)

OSU 2-2 (1-1, 1-1, 2-0, 0-2)

Stanford 3-1 (2-0, 1-1, 2-0, 1-1)

U$C 1-3 (1-1, 0-2, 1-1, 0-2)

UW 3-1 (2-0, 1-1, 1-1, 2-0)

WSU 2-2 (1-1, 1-1, 0-2, 2-0)

Overall: 16-20

Home: 11-7

Away: 5-13

Dorrell: 10-8

Neuheisel: 6-12

The easiest statistic to look at here is the away record. It's absolutely abysmal and should easily be much better. If we then look at the the differences in records between the two coaches, the casual observer would point out that Dorrell has a much better record. However, for anyone who has actually followed UCLA football, this should not be too surprising considering how little talent Neuheisel inherited last year. Furthermore, the Pac-10 this year was about as deep and competitive as it has ever been, and UCLA was still retooling so that definitely influenced the win and loss columns. Here are some key games against the Washington schools that I believe should have gone our way but we blew under the Dorrell regime:

• Both losses to WSU. I was there for the one in 2006 and it was terrible. I also remember watching the 2007 game, the Bell tears ACL game, that we basically gave to them.
• UW 2006. We had a 13-0 lead coming out of half-time and completely blew it. Sure, it was in Seattle, but we completely dominated the first 30 minutes before tanking it.

If you add those, that's two easy wins in 2006 (which would have given UCLA a 9-3 record), and one easy win in 2007 (putting UCLA at 7-5). Also, I think that we got really lucky in 2007 against Oregon because they were playing without Dennis Dixon, and thus had no offense. Sure, injuries did hamper some of those Dorrell teams, but they had solid talent (and in 2007 national hype), to a point that we needed to not tank easy games. Unfortunatly, the out-of-conference schedule and bowl games were another area where UCLA did not necessarily excel at during my tenure as a student. That part of the analysis will come tomorrow so stay tuned!

UCLA Wins, Putting the Pac Back at .500

Thanks to the two Los Angeles schools, the Pac-10 conference is now sitting at a cool 2-2 record with three games left over the next three days. So how did UCLA even up the conference's bowl record? Here are three unconventional factors that helped the Bruins:

1. Icy Field: If it wasn't for the icy field, Mr. Ayers would have never slipped and unintentionally tricked the offensive line and quarterback of the Owls.

2. Matt Brown: Sure, he had a touchdown and some pretty fancy runs. However, when it really mattered, he got eaten alive by Brian Price and Reggie Carter. Maybe the key was for Bernard Pierce to get injured in the 2nd, that's up for debate.

3. Shirtless warm-ups: Clearly, they didn't end up hurting the team on the field. Furthermore, it ended up giving them great publicity. ESPN kept talking about it and cutting to it on it's pre-game show, during the game, and continuously on Sportscenter. It was also a highlight on local newscasts in the Bay Area, showing that America is clearly ready for large tattooed college kids. If I am a big time prep player, I would think this is awesome. Nothing like some good publicity, right?

Pac-10 Basketball Preview

As the Pac-10 regular season approaches, and many teams are finally done with their non-conference games, it is time to look ahead to what may end up being as the most "competitive" and up in the air conference season in a long time. The last four years were basically a UCLA domination, with Washington emerging last year to steal the regular season crown by a mere game over UCLA. The same Huskies should be the favorites this year but have not been that dominating despite their high preseason ranking. The loss to Texas Tech was a huge disappointment, and so was the loss to equally powerful Georgetown. Like Washington, instate rivals WSU have only two losses from the preseason although they do not have any impressive wins. However, the play of Klay Thompson will carry them a long way in conference. Arizona State, a team believed to not be in contention after losing Jeff Pendergraph to graduation and James Harden to the NBA Draft, is sitting at 10-3 but like WSU, does not have any signature wins. Here is the entire pecking order as of Monday:
WSU 10-2
UW 9-2
ASU 10-3
U$C 8-4
UO 7-4
Cal 6-4
UA 6-5
OSU 6-5
SU 5-6
UCLA 5-7
Now, it is time to make some bold statements and predictions:

Pac-10 Champ: I still think UW has the most fire power and showed the most consistency thus far, and should therefore win the title. Plus, it's impossible to win against them in Seattle, just ask Ben Howland.

Pac-10 Surprise: U$C. Yes, I know. They are the lowly Trojans, but... They have two wins over ranked teams, including a very impressive win against the Vols. That being said, they lost to LMU, so I could be completely wrong.

Pac-10 Disappointment: It would be easy to pick UCLA, but we are talking about the conference season here. I would have to go with UofA because they were picked in the preseason to finish 4th in the conference, have a better record right now than UCLA, and have tons of question marks. If it wasn't for my admiration for Mike Montgomery of Cal I would have picked them.

Pac-10 POY: Quincy Pondexter of UW. He's coming in to the conference season averaging 21.8ppg and 8.4 rpg. He is the lone senior on the best team in the conference. Those two factors combined will bring him the award. Klay Thompson of WSU should also be in consideration, but since he is younger and on a lesser recognized team, he won't get it.

Pac-10 FOY: Reeves Nelson of UCLA. He is averaging twice as many points per game for a lower scoring team (UCLA) than Abdul Gaddy's UW. He plays with a chip on his shoulder and has had dominating performances against bigger and more established players. There really is no other freshman this year in the conference in terms of points and contributions to his team beyond the stat sheet.

Pac-10 Jumps Ahead, MWC Gets Last Laugh

Earlier this year, I wrote about the most overrated conference in college football heading into the season. The conference I chose is the MWC. Now, I may seem kind of silly and somewhat stupid. TCU is going to be playing in a BCS bowl game and BYU and Utah just beat up on two schools from the nation's most competitive conference. Then again, bowl performances are not the true indicator of how well a team and subsequently its conference are, but it does hold some truth. For those who watched the Vegas and Poinsettia Bowls, I'm sure that there was one common theme. Pac-10 team jumps to a quick lead, then blows it. In the Vegas Bowl, the wind (all 40mph of it) and Max Hall's arm helped penetrate the Beavers. In San Diego, Cal's ineptitude in tough games and Utah's perseverance helped seal the Pac's early 0-2 bowl record.

It is easy to just look at the past two games and quickly declare the MWC slightly superior to the Pac-10. I mean, they are 2-0 in the bowl season against their neighbors in the Pacific Time Zone. But there is an underlying factor in there. The Vegas Bowl featured the MWC's 2nd best while it only pitted the Pac 10's 4th best. The disparity in rankings is then somewhat amplified in the Poinsettia Bowl since Cal was the Pac's 6th best and Utah was the MWC's 3rd best. Would BYU really have an easy a time against the Pac 10's second best? That'd be Arizona. Remember last year's Vegas Bowl? If not, here is what happened: Arizona upset BYU. Furthermore, would Utah beat Stanford? Utah lost to Oregon and Stanford manhandled Oregon, all this season. So probably not. However, the hypothetical games are only hypotheticals so we all have to face the reality. The Pac-10 has laid an egg while the MWC seized the moment and dominated its opponents. Congratulations to the Utah schools, and good job Beavs and Cal for misrepresenting the West Coast.

Pac-10 Bowl Predictions

Bowl Games Pac-10 Predictions
(Last week Truebluebruin 1-2, 2-1 against the spread. Blueandgold 2-1, 1-2 against the spread)
(Overall Truebluebruin 51-24, 28-41-2 against the spread. Blueandgold 52-23, 32-36-3 against the spread)

BYU vs Oregon State (-2.5): Vegas Bowl
(Truebluebruin) People like to joke that USC was getting tired of Rosebowls the last few years, but BYU could probably say the same thing about multiple trips to the Vegas bowl. They will definitely be accustomed to the intense cold of the bowl game (I was at that bowl 2 years ago, it was freezing!!). Still, this is an Oregon State team that game 1 game away from going to the rosebowl in a very strong pac-10. They beat a Gerhart lead Stanford, so taking on Unga of BYU shouldn’t be too imposing.
Oregon State 31 BYU 23
(Blueandgold) The meeting of 2 offensive minded teams. OSU looked good in the Civil War and they have a dual threat of passing via James and running via Jaquizz, and with Canfield being the orchestrator the Beaver Offense is in good hands. But they go up against Max Hall who has been rock solid the past two seasons with over 3,000 yards this year as well. BYU is slightly better than OSU in all offensive categories, however OSU had a tougher schedule. Because this game is in Vegas and BYU's second home, I'm gonna pick them in this one; their fans really know how to fill Sam Boyd Stadium.
BYU 28 OSU 21

Utah vs Cal (-2.5): Poinsetta Bowl
(Truebluebruin) Probably the most inconsistent team in the pac-10, you never know what team will show up when Cal takes the field. Utah isn’t the team that went 13-0 last season, but they are still a strong enough team to give Cal fits if they don’t take this game seriously. Shane Vareen has been a power for Cal since the loss of Best, but I don’t know how focused they’ll come out for this game. I have to pick Utah in this one
Utah 21 Cal 20
(Blueandgold) This is a great matchup. Cal would win this easily with Best, but without him, it makes for an interesting game. The team showed a lot of poise beating Arizona and Stanford in the final weeks, although getting spanked by Washington in the last game really hurt. Utah is formidable opponent, however they aren't the same team from last year. Also with the game in CA, I feel the home crowd will help put Cal over the top on this one. Cal, like BYU, is slightly better statistically than Utah, but those statistics come playing in a tougher conference than Utah.
Cal 24 Utah 17

Boston College vs USC (-7): Emerald Bowl
(Truebluebruin) Be careful what you wish for, Trojan fans. After complaining about getting tired of Rosebowls, USC finally gets a new venue, but definitely not the way they would hope. The fact that USC didn’t win the pac-10 again isn’t that big of a shock, given that all “dynasties” end eventually, but that with the embarrassing amount of talent on both sides of the ball and in the depth chart, that USC finished in 5th place in the pac-10. If USC is even remotely focused on this game, they should overwhelm Boston College based off of talent alone.
USC 38 BC 21
(Blueandgold) Well a down year for USC, finishing 5th in the Pac 10 after 7 straight Pac 10 Championships. However even though they lost their final game to AZ and haven't looked the same in the final 6 weeks, they are really statistically better than BC in all offensive categories. However, the Joe McKnight scandal may change the tides of this game, losing their 1,000+ yard rusher, leaving TRUE FRESHMAN Matt Barkley to win the game on his arm (which hasn't been stellar of late). Still the competition of BC is not enough to match 'SC's superior talent on both sides of the ball.
USC 28 BC 17

Temple vs UCLA (-4): EagleBank Bowl
(Truebluebruin) Well, the bowl season hasn’t played out so far how UCLA would have hoped, with 3 players already removed from the team for the bowl game, and fans upset over the “wall incident” while the Owls are much more focused after gaining only their 3rd bowl bid ever. Temple should enjoy an advantage in location, weather, and fan support, but UCLA should be the more talented team and more battle tested due to playing a much tougher schedule. If UCLA can stay focused, they should be able to win a tough game.
UCLA 24 Temple 17
(Blueandgold) A very interesting matchup to say the least. Bruins come in as basically the last team to get a bowl bid and being only at 6-6 against an Owl team appearing in their first bowl in 3 decades under a rising superstar coach. UCLA is a pass oriented team playing against a Temple Run oriented team. The two are very different, and they split many offensive statistics because of that. UCLA did play a tougher schedule though and should prepare them for solid Temple team. Playing against Vareen, James, Gerhart, and Rodgers should have prepared the Bruins for what they see in Temple's running game.
UCLA 24 Temple 21

Nebraska vs Arizona (even): Holiday Bowl
(Truebluebruin) Probably the hardest game to forecast, you have a strong offense for Arizona against a stifling Nebraska defense, that can’t really move the ball. Nebraska almost knocked off Texas, and Arizona’s offense should be easier to shut down. This could be an ugly, low scoring game, with Suh being the difference, causing havoc in the Arizona backfield
Nebraska 17 Arizona 14
(Blueandgold) Well the winner of this game will show whether a good Defense or Offense is more dominant. Arizona is an Offensive minded team, beating Nebraska in all offensive statistics. However Nebraska comes into the game with a Heisman Candidate in Suh leading a suffocating defense that almost pulled off the win against Texas. I feel this is the toughest game to project of all the Pac 10 matchups. But with a little help from a hometown crowd, I feel AZ will be pushed over the top.
Arizona 24 Nebraska 21

Oklahoma (-7) vs Stanford: Sun Bowl
(Truebluebruin) Oklahoma should enjoy a sizeable home field advantage in this game. Stanford’s offense won’t be at 100% with Andrew Luck somewhat beaten up. Gerhart alone could carry this team. However, he is no longer facing a pac-10 team that has a reputation of defending against more finesse, speed, spread based offenses. Stanford is going up against a big-12 school used to power, smash-mouth football. Oklahoma should be able to keep Gerhart in better check than the rest of the pac-10 could.
Oklahoma 31 Stanford 20
(Blueandgold) Stanford finds itself in a bowl for the first time since 2001, but they will play a team that was in the National Championship game last year. Stanford is statistically better offensively than OU, and will need a big game from their go-to guy and Heisman winner (according to me) Toby Gerhart. However Luck may not be back in time for the game, which could severely hurt Stanford, but no Bradford will definitely hurt Oklahoma. Still Stanford's backup has experience and won't be a total drop off from Luck. Pac 10-Big 12 Bragging rights are on the line here and I will go with the Big 10 on this one because of the home crowd from OU in Texas and with the Bowl experience that OU has over Stanford.
OU 35 Stanford 27

Ohio State vs Oregon (-2): Rose Bowl
(Truebluebruin) So nice to see a rosebowl without USC playing in it. Funny that despite a close line of only Oregon as a 2 point favorite, the entire nation seems to agree that Oregon should win this game. Oregon’s offense should give Ohio State fits. While Ohio State can put up points on an average Oregon defense, I’d be very surprised if they can keep up with the yards and points that this Oregon offense produces in large quantities. Ohio State’s vaunted rushing defense is about to be exposed.
Oregon 35 Ohio State 17
(Blueandgold) Oregon wins this one because their offense is just way too hard to contain. They can run with James and Masoli and they have the future Heisman candidate in Masoli as well. Oregon is better in all offensive statistics and has individual leaders beating their Buckeye counterparts. Oregon's defense is also superior, which will suffocate the OSU offense. Add to that Trussell's uncanny ability to lose big time games and you have the makings of possibly an Oregon blowout (not to mention a probable Oregon hometown crowd with the game on the West Coast). Too many weapons against a team that hasn't really shown in the national spotlight they have the answers. Although this game is the 6th best rushing offense in Oregon against the 5th best rushing defense in Ohio State. I'll take the offense in this one.
Oregon 28 Ohio State 17

Kentucky Makes History

A couple hours ago, UK (the one on this side of the Atlantic) made history by becoming the first program to make it to 2000 wins. This feat is definitely an amazing one, there should no absolutely doubt about it. Yes, UK had a lot of its success before 1960 under Adolf Rupp, which came in a segregated conference as Pat Forde of ESPN pointed out in a column a few months ago. However, it had a great streak of NCAA tournament appearances which was just snapped as well as having the 2 National Championships in the 1990's under two different coaches. As a Bruin, I feel like am obligated to say that 11 > 7, especially when all 11 came since 1965, but that's enough of that. Congrats to Kentucky and its supportive fan base (which honestly seems more dedicated at times than UCLA's or any other school).

A Mexican 8-Clap

This past week I was on a cruise with five of my dearest of friends to and from Mexico. It was the perfect way to get rid of the anxiety from finals week. It was also a great way to represent our beloved UCLA with a ridiculous amount of 8-claps. We decided that just represnting it in the United States would be "half-assing" so we proceeded to do it in Mexico as well. The video below documents our 8-clap in the Cheeky Monkey bar, which by the way is amazing. Here is the video:

What I found really cool later in the night is that there were Oregon Ducks fans sitting in the same bar but on the floor above us, and upon hearing our "UCLA chant" as they put it, they responded with their own "O" thing they do. It is nice to see friendly competition and pride in one's respective school. On our trip we also encountered Husky, Cougs, Beaver, Golden Bear, and sadly Trojan fans. Ironically it was the U$C people that seemed to have less pride than any other group we talked to. Go figure.

Pac-10 Basketball = Crap

With another disappointing yet somewhat expected UCLA loss today coupled with Washington getting dominated by the Hoyas in Anaheim, I realized that this year is most definitely not a good one for the Pac-10. Actually to be fair, this seemed pretty obvious when Texas Tech beat Washington, and even earlier when Cal got embarrassed by 'Cuse. The only highlight for the Pac-10 thus far has to be Stanford's choke against Kentucky (which has still yet to lose a game). So how bad is the conference this year? Really bad. Like, when a U$C student attempts to spell SAT bad. Actually, maybe slightly better than that. Here are some disgusting numbers at how badly the conference has looked in the first month of the season:

Teams with a winning record: 5 (WSU, Cal, Washington, ASU, and Stanford)
Teams ranked in the top-25: 1 (Washington)
Teams ranked in the top-15: 0
Horrible Losses: Cal v. NMU, Stanford v. USD, Stanford v. ORU, Oregon v. Montana, OSU v. AMCC, OSU v. Sac State, U$C v. LMU, UCLA v. CSUF, UCLA v. LBSU.
Bad Losses: Washington @ TTU, Baylor @ ASU, Cal v. 'Cuse, Arizona @ SDSU.

Yeah, this is U-G-L-Y! There is no way around it. I even left out the losses by UCLA and Oregon to Portland, mainly because Portland turned out to be pretty good against other good teams. Also, it seems like the conference has like one or two wins against top-25 competition. Actually, according to what I just saw over at ESPN.com it's more like ZERO wins. As Andy Katz said in a column he wrote a few weeks ago, the conference might only get two invites come March. At the time, I thought that he was being somewhat ridiculous. Now? I might have to agree.

Heisman Time!!! The Sequel!

Well, looks like Player B won the Heisman trophy just now. Although I personally believed Player A should win it, I think that Player B deserves it almost as much. He becomes the first player in the storied tradition of the Alabama Crimson Tide football program to win the trophy. Altough the score on the poll that we posted here was in favor of Player A, Player B came through in the eyes of the actual voters of the award.

If you haven't figured it out yet, here are who each player is:
Player A: Toby Gerhart, Stanford
Player B: Mark Ingram, Alabama

Heisman Time!!!

Even though the Heisman Memorial Trophy will be announced on Saturday, and right now it is "only" Thursday, it is never too early to speculate who will (or should) win the most coveted award in college football. Actually, people have been speculating about the 75th Heisman since like... last year. Regardless, it is still early enough to offer up some predictions about who is going to take all the beans home. There are five outstanding candidates first and foremost. However, two should be eliminated because their career stats are amazing, and this year was slightly more "average" for them. Good-bye Tim Tebow (and Jesus) and Colt McCoy (and his >70% completion rate). Yes, you have both had amazing careers, but let's be honest, you do not deserve it right now, especially after your sad performances in the SEC and Big-12 Championship games respectively. This brings me to the one-man machine out of Nebraska. Ndamukong Suh, personally destroyed Colt McCoy and the Texas offense. Like in the clip below (thanks to Yahoo! Sports for bringing this to light):

Yes, he has 12.5 sacks on the year. A stat which is outstanding for an interior DL. Here is the problem, he's a DL. No defensive lineman has ever won the Heisman. The only defensive player to win it was Charles Woodson, and he also played some special teams. Therefore, it should be a safe bet to eliminate Mr. Suh from the runnings. Oh how harsh this world is! The only remaining candidates are running backs. Therefore, let us compare them directly to each other.

Player A: 311 1,736 5.6 61 26 (ATT YDS AVG LNG TD)
Player B: 249 1,542 6.2 70 15 (ATT YDS AVG LNG TD)

Let it be noted that Player B also has three receiving touchdowns.

Who would you pick, A or B?

Who should win the Heisman?

Player A

Player B

ugg boots

We'll reveal the identities of the players on Saturday!

Kiki beats his old coach

Another Bruin is now in the win column as an NBA head coach. Tonight Kiki's Nets beat the Bobcats in the Meadowlands to snap their record 18 consecutive losses to open up the season. As I watched the highlights, I thought to myself "hey, didn't Larry Brown coach at UCLA around the time that Kiki was a basketball player there?" Well, turns out my intuition was validated (according to Wikipedia). Yes, it was 30 season ago that in his senior year at UCLA he played for Mr. Larry Brown and the UCLA team that went to the championship game. Must be nice to beat an old college coach for your first win as one right?

Here are video highlights courtesy of ESPN: Bobcats @ Nets 12-03-09

Pac-10 Week 14 Predictions

Week 14 Pac-10 Predictions
(Last week Truebluebruin 4-0, 0-4 against the spread. Blueandgold 3-1, 1-3 against the spread)
(Overall Truebluebruin 50-22, 26-40-2 against the spread. Blueandgold 50-22, 31-34-3 against the spread)

Oregon State @ Oregon (-8)
(Truebluebruin) It’s nice to know that USC’s run at the Pac-10 title and Rosebowl has FINALLY come to an end. Tonight, the civil war will determine who the Pac-10 will send to the Rosebowl. Oregon, despite a small slip up against Stanford, has been hot all Pac-10 season long, while Oregon State has had a few more bumps in the road. Both teams feature star playmakers that could run away with the game, but considering the game is in Eugene, I’m going to give the nod to the Ducks.
Oregon 35 Oregon State 28
(Blueandgold) Well the Rose Bowl is up for grabs, making this a great matchup for the final weekend with so much on the line (not to mention bragging rights for a year). The Civil War poses two great teams against each other, one with a monster offense while the other with a quick and crafty one. Defense is gonna win this game so I give the edge to the Ducks (although if they give up the yardage they gave to Stanford they are in for a long night).
Oregon 35 OSU 24

Arizona @ USC (-8)
(Truebluebruin) It would be very fashionable to pick Arizona in this game. USC certainly didn’t look like world beaters against the Bruins last week, and the Arizona offense will certainly give USC more of a challenge than the Bruins did. Still, Arizona is coming off of two loses and a much too close victory against ASU, and themselves are struggling. That is bad news on the Road against ‘SC.
USC 24 Arizona 20
(Blueandgold) USC is coming off a win to quiet their critics, but the game against the Bruins may have added more questions to how the offense is functioning. If you look at it, Barkley had a good season, not a great one, but a good enough one. I feel that Arizona's high tempo offense and wildcat formation mix in will overwhelm a USC defense thats going through the motions. I'm gonna go with Arizona on this one.
Arizona 24 USC 21

Cal (-6) @ Washington
(Truebluebruin) Cal is flying high after their road victory in the Big game, while Washington crushed their rival by 30. I think the only reason this line is so close is the combined factor that Washington is at home and they showed signs of an offense against Washington State. Problem is, everyone shows signs of an offense against Washington State. Shane Vereen is on a roll and should be able to run all over the Huskies.
Cal 31 Washington 17
(Blueandgold) Cal should win this one. Washington had one huge win this season and thats about it, they beat who they were supposed to and lost who they were supposed with the exception thankfully coming against USC. Cal is still without best but with an good QB and some receivers they are the favorite. Also Washington's defense isn't that great either so I expect Cal to come away with the W against washington.
Cal 24 Washington 17

Notable Tweets 12/02/09

Here at RJS we would like to think of ourselves as young, hip, and with the times. Therefore, we have our own twitter account (Follow us!) and we figured we should follow some "people of interest". To be honest, we have not used this feature as much as we probably ought to, but better late than never right? Without further a-do, here are some tweets that caught our eyes:

From Pete Carroll: "i get a kick out of you by frank sinatra... goes out to TJ simers... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtwO2tKZmwQ"
To those who do not know TJ Simers, a usual hater of UCLA athletics, actually decided to insult (and rightfully so) the Trojans, their head-coach and even his own colleague Bill Plaschke. I'm assuming then that Pete's tweet is referring to this column: Never let it be said he isn't right on USC-UCLA game

From David Beckham: "Just found @lightinthebox ( http://bit.ly/litb ) a good place to find interesting Made-in-China stuff. Hey, even my tees were made in China!"
To be honest, while this is his most recent of works, it came a month ago. However, the sheer comedy that Becks exudes in his tweet is fantastic! I'm glad that he finally, after over 30 years, figured out where most of his Adidas apparel is actually made, congrats!

From Bruin great Baron Davis: "Be sure to check your beard after eating, as crumbs in the chin scruff may attract unwanted visitors..."
The man sports one of the best beards (on the right) in all of sports. Therefore, it is his civil duty to inform others how to ensure their beards stay as well groomed and perfect as his. Thank you Baron Davis, thank you.

From the Shaquille O'Neal: "How u know were I'm at, when u haven't been where I been, understand were I'm coming from"
No clue if it's his own words or not, but either way I do not believe it. I mean, the dude is 7'1" and weighs 350lbs, how can you know not where he is? I can for sure say he was in Cleveland because I saw it on Sportscenter earlier, sorry Shaq.

A Day Later... He's Still a Douche

I told myself I would wait a day from the end of the game until the time that I started to vent about this. I figured I should let my emotions cool off a little bit after seeing all of the nonsense transpire in person. Yes, I was down on the "sidelines" (because U$C makes opposing fans/bands/etc sit on the like -15 yard line), and go to see the classless thugs that is U$C bandwagon fans go crazy. Oops! I meant players and coaches. With less than a minute left, Neuheisel called a time-out after Barkley took a knee. To me, that's saying "I'm not going to surrender and show my team I don't have the fight in me" from Neuheisel. Maybe it was not the most appropriate thing to do, but this thing is done commonly by coaches when they are down a score or two towards the end of the game. What happened afterwards is where things turned ugly.

"Coach" Pete Carroll and his OC decided to not only run a play for a first down but wait for it, for a touchdown. Yes, a 48 yard pass down the middle to Damian Williams who had to go less than five yards for the score. This wasn't a let's show 'em by getting a first down and maybe more, but straight up in-your-face bomb. This should not be a surprise to anyone who has been following Pac-10 football since Pete Carroll took over at U$C. His hypocracy is amazing. He whines about his quarterbacks getting hit, but is there to defend Overrated Player of the Year Taylor Mays for his slew of late cheap-shots. And most importantly, about running up the score. Remember when the Trees from Palo Alto tried going for two points to hang 50 (which eventually they did) in South Central only two weeks ago? If you think I am too much of a UCLA homer, lets examine what some people outside of UCLA have to say about this incident:

From Seth Davis of SI: "It's official: Pete Carroll is a no-class lowlife. Does he have any notion he is supposed to be an educator?"

From Arash Markazi (U$C alum) of SI: "Consensus amongst many level headed USC fans: More embarrassed by rub-it-in TD and taunting than the Stanford game."

From Cal alum Gordon C.: "Pete Carroll is an asshole, plain and simple. Absolutely ZERO class or sportsmanship."

From George Schroeder of The Register Guard: "USC coach Pete Carroll showed no class in throwing deep for a TD with less than a minute left against UCLA."

Yeah, so while Trojans and dumb LAT columnists keep trying to spin this off, it seems like a national consensus seems to be to the contrary.

Let's hope for a Beaver win this Thursday and a "Bearing Down" by the Wildcats at the Coliseum to send U$C where it belongs.

Stay classy U$C!

The morning after...

The morning after is never fun, especially when your night could’ve been greatly improved by a brawl in south central (I was going to reference the ironic fact that the opposing sides were wearing blue and red, but to be honest I decided that would be a terrible terrible idea).

So anyway lets put aside the complete lack of class from the Trojan football team, USC completely shafting UCLA fans on tickets, and the fact that even when watching on TV the USC fight song can still be heard every 15 seconds (after a holding penalty…really?); and lets focus on what’s really important: USC’s standout academic athlete of the game (or whatever the hell Comcast Sports called it).

Meet Abe Markowitz. He plays on the offensive line. During yesterday’s game Comcast cut away from the action to show us this fine young man and his academic exploits which are apparently a source of great pride at the USC athletic dept. Now sit down and strap in folks because our boy Abe is the proud owner of a staggering 2.9 GPA. I know, I didn’t think it existed either.

Now to be honest I know that the occasional intelligent student-athlete does find his/her way into that school, so why show off this guy? Well it just so happens Mr. Markowitz is in line to be a King of Tonga (according to CSN Bay Area). Yeah that’s right, he’s THAT kind of academic standout, the “it’s not what you know, but who you know” kind of standout. It’s like calling George W. Bush a scholar (only without the cocaine and DUI’s and whatnot).

I for one say screw Tonga. Half their population lives abroad and the half that doesn’t will be underwater by the end of the century (provided our boy hasn’t run the country into the ground by then). Forgive me green lobby, but this time Global Warming can’t come soon enough.



This message was brought to you by the gratuitous use of parentheses.


I'll shut up now

Week 13 Pac-10 Predictions

Week 13 Pac-10 Predictions
(Last week Truebluebruin 3-1, 1-3 against the spread. Blueandgold 3-1, 2-2 against the spread)
(Overall Truebluebruin 46-22, 26-36-2 against the spread. Blueandgold 47-22, 30-31-3 against the spread)

Washington State @ Washington (-26)
(Truebluebruin) I suppose if Washington State is going to win a pac-10 game this year, this would be their chance. Not that they have much of a chance, the team is simply atrocious. UW will be fired up after last year’s debacle, and unlike WSU at least have a few play makers. I’m not sure, however, that UW can cover the spread.
Washington 30 Washington State 10
(Blueandgold) So again the Apple Cup will be between two bottom feeders in the Pac 10. Although Washington has improved over last year's season, they still have to put up a tough fight to avoid the "upset". Really no one outside of Washington will care about this game, because unlike last year, it was between the worst two teams in college football. Washington should win to regain the title of the best in the Evergreen State, but not by the spread.
Washington 27 Washington State 10

Arizona (-3.5) @ Arizona State
(Truebluebruin) I think the only reason this line is so close is because Arizona has lost two tough games recently. They played Oregon very tough in a heartbreaking loss, and the only thing that could hurt them is a fired up ASU against an emotionally drained Arizona. It’s definitely possible. I think it’ll be close for a half, but Arizona will take over in the 2nd half
Arizona 28 ASU 13
(Blueandgold) Arizona is coming off a tough loss to Oregon, but showed they have the fire to compete with the Pac 10 elite. Although they are in a little rut, they are the better team in AZ. ASU is in a major rut, losing a ton of their last few games. I don't really see an upset in the making in this one, especially with ASU's offense and turnover proneness. Arizona is looking to gain some momentum going into a tough game against SC next week.
Arizona 24 ASU 13

Notre Dame @ Stanford (-10)
(Truebluebruin) Notre Dame is a tough team to figure out this week. They may come out fired up to save their coach with a big win, or perhaps the team is too distracted with questions about who their next coach will be. Despite a close loss to Cal, Toby Gerhart is still Toby Gerhart and should be able to lead the cardinal to victory.
Stanford 31 Notre Dame 17
(Blueandgold) Will Charlie Weis be fired at the end of the season. All logic points to yes especially with a mediocre 6-5 record for the Irish. However never count the guy out until the pink slip is officially handed to him. Stanford choked last week at maintaining pressure on Oregon that might have affected the outcome of the Oregon-Arizona game. Toby Gerhart will tear up the Irish defense, especially with the game being at home. Looks like the Irish are in for a .500 season.
Stanford 28 Notre Dame 21

UCLA @ USC (-13)
(Truebluebruin) I promised myself that I would not make any homer picks this season, so I’m trying to approach this game rationally. UCLA has beaten every team below them in the pac-10 and lost to every team above them. Stanford and Oregon, who were able to beat SC, were able to do so with a dominating running game. Unfortunately, UCLA doesn’t have that. UCLA is going to have to win the turnover battle in a big way to win this game. I think UCLA makes it close, but I honestly can’t pick UCLA, no matter how much I hope I’m wrong.
USC 24 UCLA 20
(Blueandgold) Here we go, the game that decides LA, and this year looks like it will deliver fireworks, at least on paper. UCLA is on a 3 game winning streak, with an offense that is clicking under Norm Chow's play calling. USC has had a disastrous few weeks in November (presumably Pete's best month all time), with losses of more than 20 points at the hands of Oregon and Stanford. The Pac 10 reign is over, now it's time to determine if they are still at the top or middle of the conference. Bruins smell blood and I am actually going to pick the upset in the coliseum.
UCLA 19 USC 17

Why I really, really hate U$C: One Bruin fan's memory of the 2007 game

I really, really hate U$C.

Most Bruins share my sentiment on principle, but my hatred reached a whole new and personal after the 2007 game at the Coliseum. The end score was 24 - 7, but this had nothing to do with it. Here's what went down.

In 2007 I played tenor sax for the UCLA Marching Band. I knew that as a UCLA band member I was going to be the target of severe disrespect and hate but I knew that and I was cool with it. During the pregame show I anticipated the boos and heckling, but I certainly did not anticipate seeing 10,000 U$C students turn their backs to us and flip us off. And it wasn't even like it was a couple douchebags doing it; the douchebaggery was consistent across the entire student section. So whatever, I learned long ago that the Trojan stereotype of being arrogant and classless jerkoffs is NOT a stereotype. It is well rooted in solid fact. So I was like whatever, I can take this.

Then we get back to the stands to set up for the pep band. That's where I found out that U$C has not allotted a single seat in the Coliseum for the band, something that we do for their band and all other visiting bands at the Rose Bowl as a common courtesy. Instead, U$C built us a metal pen, which is probably better described as a cage for us in somewhere off to the side of the stadium. Wtf. It gets worse. Our band was very close to their band (which is a really bad idea, the bands hate each other with as much fervor at the football teams do). Now objectively speaking, the U$C band is extremely inferior to the UCLA band in terms of the fact that they suck ass at marching and music, essentially meaning they can't do either part of marching or being a band. Case in point: their band was microphoned. Apparently they can't be loud enough on their own, they have to be electronically amplified. I'm was with that, but I was NOT ok with the fact that they placed two giant speakers facing towards our band, effectively drowning us out and giving Bruin fans a disgusting and endless regimen of Conquest, Fight On, et. al. F*cking assholes. I can't believe their arrogance.

But the worst was yet to come. In terms of arrogance, I have not and will never in my life experience anything more ridiculous than the 4th quarter 'lighting of the torch'. Oh. My. God. I was pretty much already throwing up in a trashcan from all the tooling/douchebaggery that happened throughout the day. But the torch lighting thing really takes the cake. If anyone here reading has been to a U$C football game you know what I'm talking about when I say the lighting of the torch. For those who don't this is how it goes down.

So the 3rd quarter ends and as a football fan you expect the 4th quarter to begin promptly. No no, not so at U$C. The band plays that song that they play every damn second again and Tommy Trojan starts prancing down the field on his horse toward the torch. For those who don't know, the Coliseum was built for the 1932 Olympics and used for the 1984 games, where the opening ceremonies were held. That torch is still there. So while the whole crowd throbs with their "V" fight on fingers and their Conquest playing and their Trojan prancing, the whole place stews in a U$C spirit soup. It's foul. With much regalia and pomp and circumstance, the Trojan points his sword to the torch where it explodes into flame. The crowd goes completely out of its mind, I finally cave and go in search of the nearest trashcan/U$C sweatshirt.

This description does not convey even one-tenth of the arrogance of the scene. I seriously don't have the words to describe how ridiculous it is. I've seen tradition in college football. I've been to a Notre Dame home football game and they have their historic traditions too. But none of those scream cocky arrogance. Furthermore, I must say that Notre Dame fans are very classy individuals; when I was there I experienced little to no animosity. U$C fans on the other hand are probably the most classless and despicable fans in college sports. Their sense of entitlement and arrogance is astounding. There was one thing that made up for it just a little bit though. During the 3rd quarter I was walking around getting food, still dressed in my band uniform obviously. We had just completed our halftime show and I was hungry. I was stopped by at least three or four U$C alumni and parents who thanked me for putting on an awesome and entertaining field show. They told me they wished their band had half the skill and precision that our band had, and they considered their band a disgrace. So shove it U$C band. Oh and while we're on this train of thought of bands and arrogance, do you know what the tagline for the U$C band is? "The Spirit of Troy: The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe."

God I hate U$C. For all you Bruins who will be invading the Coliseum, be sure to wear as much true blue as possible. For those of you who will be going to the Coliseum for the first time, bringing a trashbag might be a good idea: you have yet to see how sickening their arrogance is.

USC Standard Application for incoming freshmen

I didn't create this. I can only applaud those who did.

Mascot Wars: Beat $C Edition!!!

Hello RJS readers. Apologies are in order: I realize I have not written in a very long time. There were so many delicious mascots ripe for the lampooning (I can't believe I missed Oregon State Beavers...) but I was too busy failing left and right. I hope that we can move on and that you'll forgive me for my indiscretion. Today's subject is none other than the junior college over cross town: University of Southern California Trojans. If you're unfamiliar with USC, click here.

As one of college sport's most iconic mascots, the image of Tommy Trojan and Traveler (his mount) strike up feelings of school spirit and pride among many spoiled children around Southern California. He prances around the Coliseum like a pretentious douchebag. But what exactly IS a Trojan? Many people have no idea what a Trojan is outside of the ones that come in blue boxes behind the counter at Chevron. That's where I come in. Below I will clear up some myths and lay down some facts about our neighbors over in South Central.

Trojans have nothing to do with a Coliseum. The Coliseum was not in Troy, not in Greece, but in ROME. They certainly didn't play American football their either although did they did play similar games called 'Gladiator' and 'Christians to the lions.' They also had things like chariot races and some legends assert that the Coliseum was once filled with water and they had a naval battle inside of it which sounds pretty freakin sweet. But again, this has nothing to do with Trojans.

Trojans aren't rugged. Trojans are stupid. This is an entirely objective and historical fact. What are the Trojans most famous for? Having their city burned to the ground and destroyed so concretely that we still aren't sure where Troy was (props Greeks). Let me recount the story of the Trojan War for you to see what I'm getting at.

Once upon a time in ancient history, the Trojans came over to Greece and stole Helen. Even thousands of years ago, Trojans were lacking in moral character. Some things never change. She was a looker for sure because as history indicates her face launched a thousand ships i.e. the Trojan War. All the all-stars came out for this war like Odysseus, Paris, Agamennon, etc. They had a battle royale outside the walls of Troy, but eventually it was fought to a standstill. So the Greeks devised a plan. They built a giant horse, filled some soldiers in it, and planned on bursting out at night to open the gates for the regular army. This plan, that a 5 year old could see through, worked.

How dumb do you have to be to fall for this??? I suspect the conversation went something like this:

Trojan soldier: Hey boss, the Greeks are gone and they left behind a giant horse.
Trojan captain: They left behind a what??
Trojan soldier: A giant horse boss. Wooden. Looks like a Florida Cracker.
Trojan captain: There is nothing sketchy about this at all. Let's bring it inside.
Trojan soldier: Tight.

The Greeks wait until night, emerge from the horse, and throw open the gates. The Greeks roll in, still in shock that the Trojans fell for this plan, and proceed to slaughter the hapless Trojans and erase their city from the archeological record (for further reading see Homer's Iliad).

In short, the Trojans are best remembered for being complete and total fools. Normally I'd wonder why a school would choose this mascot but when considering that it is U$C, its just fitting. Have you ever wondered what a tool looks like?Tooltooltooltooltooltooltooltool.

So tomorrow regardless of the outcome, take comfort in the fact that the Trojan heritage is being dumb and sucking at life. And also take comfort in the fact that as a Bruin, you'll never be represented by this guy seen above.

Why the Bruins Will Win

Here are the top 10 reasons why a Bruin victory on Saturday could happen (with a pictural tribute to Reggie Carter, this was 3 years ago):

1. Rahim Moore/ATV v. Matt Barkley - Matt Barkley loves throwing INTs. Well... I don't know if he loves it, but he does so anyways. Moore leads the nation in INTs and ATV just had another pick-6 last weekened.

2. Brian Price - Sure the U$C OL was touted as the best in the conference, but Brian Price dominated the Tennessee and Stanford ones, so why not them?

3. Kai Forbath - Duh.

4. Jeff Locke - another Duh.

5. Nelson Rosario - the kid has come into his own since the Oregon State game, and we know it's a matter of time before Taylor Mays hits him late after a catch and UCLA gets 15 more yards (sounds familiar Trojans?).

6. Norm Chow - Without him Pete Carroll offenses are clueless if they have talent even remotely close to their opponents. Chow knows the Pete Carroll defense, and this year he actually has competent components to try and shred it apart.

7. Akeem Ayers - This guy has been unbelievable the second half of the season. It would be a surprise if DC Chuck Bullough doesn't use him in multiple ways to disrupt Barkley and the U$C OL.

8. Rick Neuheisel - He knows how to beat the Trojans (though hasn't yet as the Bruin coach), and how to get into Pete Carroll's head. Hopefully he'll join Jim Harbaugh and do so on the field as well.

9. IQ - sure U$C might be more talented, but we all know their players lack the brain cells UCLA players have.

10. Want - it seems like the Bruins want it more, plain and simple. The Trojans have the talent, but do they really want it? Not by what I've been reading.

Beat $C!

With the annual Crosstown Showdown, or whatever the heck the official name of the game is, it is time to start preparing for this monumental showdown. Sure both teams are not ranked in the top 10, let alone top 20, but this game has plenty of implications on the landscape of college football for the future. For the Trojans, a win will still solidify them as the rulers of LA (though I'm sure if they lost they would still be getting paid), and thus will not see much decrease in their recruiting efforts. For the Bruins, a win will give them a claim to the town for the first time since 2006, and for only the second time this decade. It will also exponentially (for any Trojans reading this, exponentially is a mathematical term commonly used since high school) increase the talent level that will choose to commit to CRN and his UCLA team. Furthermore, it will set up a scenario in which U$C could end up with the same amount of wins (omg!) as UCLA for the season pending their final game against Arizona. I mean, even if the Wildcats were to lose to the Trojans on December 5th, it would mean that the Bruins would be only a game behind U$C, and who would have thought that'd happen so soon? Throughout this Thanksgiving week we shall bring more sights and sound to help build up to the big game at the Coliseum on Saturday Night.

Here are some photos from the Beat $C Rally which was held at UCLA last night:

Is Reeves Nelson the New Jon Brockman?

Last night I was watching the game at Pauley, I could not help but notice something positive in the sea of missed shots, missed assignments, and general disarray (no, not the South Park character). What was it? Reeves Nelson. Sure, there were times that he looked like a complete freshman out there, and not the way Kevin Love looked like a freshman. However, his hustle, rebounding, and energy made up for it. He played as well as anyone out on the court. Ok, no one played that well, but still. Throughout the first half I couldn't help but get the feeling that he could be the next Jon Brockman. I kept telling my friend Jeremy that he reminds me of Brockman with his nack for the ball off the boards, power play in the paint, and the passion for the game. Yes, I realize it has only been one game (officially) into the young season, but with the loss last night, I have to try and find optimism in something. At the bottom are the dimensions of each player in terms of height and weight. What jumps out at me from those numbers is the difference in weight. While Nelson has an inch over Brockman, he is outweighed by 27 pounds. However, that weight is the one Brockman was listed under during his final year at Washington (per their athletic website). Nelson has plenty of time to develop an even bigger and stronger body than the one he already has, so no need to worry there. The way he is already knocking bodies around on the floor after only one game as a freshman serve as good indication as to what the kid can do. I think that I can speak for all UCLA fans when I say that if Nelson develops into what Brockman became after his freshman year for the Huskies, we will all be very very happy.

Name
Height (ft)
Weight (lbs)

Reeves Nelson
6'8"
228

Jon Brockman
6'7"
255

A look back at our weekend...

Before I start I need to explain something. For those of you who don’t know I’m a die-hard Bay Area Sports fan, Giants, 49ers, Warriors, Sharks and I’m going to throw UCLA in there too for no particular reason. Now I’m no fair-weather fan but to be honest watching sports events I am emotionally invested in has been one of the most depressing uses of my time since the 2002 World Series…or really since Steve Young retired. This weekend, however, was a little ray of sunshine on the cloudy day and I thought I’d share it with you since you started reading this anyway.

49ers (and Jay Cutler) beat the Bears
Going into this game I was assuming Alex Smith would be the quarterback who would lead the 49ers to victory (if they won that is). I was wrong. They still won, but Jay Cutler did more for Mike Singletary than the Niners’ passing game could dream of. Thanks to his efforts the 49er defense had more total yards receiving than all but one of the Chicago receivers (90 yards). Who’s wondering what Rex Grossman’s up to?

UCLA destroys Wazzu
No one’s saying this shouldn’t have happened. Washington State blows. But it’s nice to see our boys in blue stick it to someone for once. Prince looked comfortable in the pocket and made plays, the receivers caught their passes, and for some reason Coach Neuheisel decided Chane Moline should get every potential touchdown run. 1 win away from bowl eligibility wooooo!!!

Stanford takes USC behind the barn and shoots it
What a mess this was. It’s not just that USC got its vaunted ass handed to it. It’s not that it happened at home. It’s not even that Pete Carroll’s golden boy Matt Barkley threw 3 interceptions. It was Pete Carroll’s face after the game as he walked to shake Jim Harbaugh’s hand (and presumably lecture him on running up the score, ironic much?). The game Saturday wasn’t a tricky win, just a straight up beating issued by Stanford’s offensive line that effectively ended the Trojans’ hopes of being at all relevant this year. This wasn’t a win for Stanford; it was a win for America.

San Jose Sharks
I hear they’re doing pretty good. Ok, to be honest it’s too early for hockey. Moving on.

Warriors wi-…Warriors almost win!
How often does a team score 125 points in regulation and not win. But then again how often does a rookie score 55 points against them…during his seventh game ever in the NBA…without any overtime. There’s no denying it now, our boys might have a problem on defense…might. However, assuming they were a normal team and could play even acceptable defense there’s no question they’d have won. I’ll scratch that down for a win for Don Nellie and his Warriors.

And then…

Warriors trade Steven Jackson!!!
Thank god, I’ve been saying we should drop Jackson since Baron Davis got the hell out of dodge and ended up on the seasonal powerhouse LA Clippers (HA!). So anyway this story didn’t ruin my weekend until I read the whole headline: “Warriors Trade Steven Jackson…to the Charlotte Bobcats.” As good as Michael Jordan was at playing basketball, he’s that much worse at managing basketball teams. Under his guidance Charlotte has become a wasteland of mediocrity that simply boggles the mind. The only saving grace of a trade sure to bring us a heaping pile of nothing is that the Warriors somehow pushed Capt. Jack onto a team with less of a future than they do.

So much for this weekend. I wonder what’s going on in Politics.

The Whacky Pac-10

This conference is insane. Really. How can so many teams still have a shot at a trip to Pasadena on January 1st? What more insane is that all those teams sport respectable records and a Top-25 ranking. Here is a link to a post I did two weeks ago about the state of the Pac-10 after Week 9. Now, look how the conference looks right now (courtesy of ESPN):

Here is what jumps out to me with the current state of the Pac:
1. U$C is in 5th place and will probably not finish higher than 3rd.
2. 6 teams have earned bowl eligibility, with UCLA one win away, and ASU having a shot at it too.
3. While Arizona is in 4th, they still control their destiny.
4. Stanford is 2nd, and would probably not fall beyond 5th.
5. A 3 way tie, if not 4 way tie is still not out of the question.

Oh by the way, I am pretty sure that I correctly gave props to Stanford a month and a half ago, after just 5 weeks into the college football season. Furthermore, I also knew Andrew Luck was a special player (took me a game in person to do it, but still) in addition to TG. Then again, if Cal beats Stanford in Palo Alto next Saturday, it can all change once again. How can anyone NOT love this???

And So It Begins...

College basketball is officially upon us! The season officially started this past Monday, as North Carolina donned some really ugly throwbacks in its rout of FIU. Today many more teams such as Georgetown, Kentucky, and Washington began their quest to reach the NCAA tournament. While all those three teams will end up with a strong seed come March, it would be unfair to overlook the way college basketball actually pans out in the 4.5 months leading up to the Madness. Remember last year's "strong" Big East? Yeah... how'd Notre Dame and the aforementioned Hoyas end up doing? So who knows. I mean, sure you have your sure bets in Michigan State, UNC, and Kansas, but who really knows what will happen? What if Cole Aldrich sprains an ankle and he's out during the meat of the Big-12 season? Or if Zeller/Davis of UNC get injured as they are tall and skinny guys and UNC drops a couple games including one to hated Duke?

The beauty of the basketball season as opposed to the football season (and I'm not even talking about a legitimate determination of a champion) is that it is longer and much more intriguing even though many of the top teams maintain their preseason position, but it is easier for teams to move up and earn strong bids, just ask Kansas circa 2009. As a UCLA student and an avid fan, it could be easy to be slightly discouraged because for the first time in my four years here we are not the favorites to win the Pac-10. However, I see no reason why a Howland coached team with so much promise (how about two top 10 recruiting classes) cannot challenge the likes of Washington and Cal for the top spot. Sure, they have heavy guard play which is exactly what UCLA will lack, but UCLA has a huge height advantage, which could be served as a positive sign. I can go on and speculate and ramble on about what could happen, but the beauty of the basketball season is that we get to see these great match ups not only once like football, but twice! Well, at least in the Pac-10 since it plays a true round robin. Oh basketball, how have I missed you...

Pac-10 Week 11 Predictions

Week 11 Pac-10 Predictions
(Last week Truebluebruin 4-1, 1-4 against the spread. Blueandgold 3-2, 1-4 against the spread)
(Overall Truebluebruin 40-19, 21-32-2 against the spread. Blueandgold 40-19, 25-27-3 against the spread)

UCLA (-20) @ Washington State
(Truebluebruin) Finally, UCLA gets their first Pac-10 victory and are back in the hunt for a bowl berth. This could be a “trap game” for the bruins as this is really the only team UCLA could possibly overlook. However, WSU is so abysmal in most statistical categories and now their starting quarterback is injured. The only thing that could hamper the bruins is possibly the weather.
UCLA 31 Washington State 7
(Blueandgold) Ucla is finally looking like the team that many were anticipating then to be near the beginning of the year. The offense is clicking especially the o-line while defense still needs to improve. Wazzu is the doormat of the league and will continue to be for the rest of the season. Ucla though must be ready to contain Tardy in order to maintain their bowl prospects.
Ucla 28 washinton state 17

Stanford @ USC (-10)
(Truebluebruin) USC is coming off a blowout loss to Oregon and a struggle against ASU. Stanford is coming off of a dismantling of Oregon. Stanford should win, right? I don’t think so. Stanford has been a MUCH different team at home than on the road, and while their offense is clicking, their defense got torched by the ducks. Gerhart will keep the game close, but USC wins it.
USC 28 Stanford 21
(Blueandgold) USC has defenitely fallen from it's high point but teams need to finish them off. Stanford can do it behind Toby gerhart and this is a huge game for both teams. Stanford looks good and their dline is q strong point especially against true freshman matt barkeley. I am gonna risk my credibility on Harbaugh pulling off an upset for the second time at the coliseum.
Stanford 28 Usc 24

Arizona (-2) @ Cal
(Truebluebruin) Arizona is on a hot streak, Cal is not very impressive. Over their last 5 games, Cal has lost 3 to Oregon, USC, and OSU, and beating only UCLA and WSU, the bottom two teams in the conference. Arizona is a program on the rise and should be too much for Cal to handle.
Arizona 38 Cal 20
(Blueandgold) The PAC 10 has some very good match ups this week and this one is a dandy too. Arizona has the balance at the QB, RB and WR positions. They haven't played the elite teams in the conference though. Cal lost Best past week to a nasty fall and are coming off a tough loss. I'm going with the Wildcats.
Arizona 28 Cal 17

Arizona State @ Oregon (-17)
(Truebluebruin) Oregon is facing the opposite of what they faced against Stanford: ASU presents a tough defense and a mediocre offense at best. Though Stanford beat the Ducks, they didn’t stop the ducks from pilling on the yards and points. Even if ASU holds Oregon to less than they normal produce, that should still be more than what the ASU offense can muster
Oregon 35 ASU 17
(Blueandgold) Wow Oregon had the Pac 10 in the bag if they would have beat stanford last week. But the defense let them down giving up 51 points and now have to play an Asu team that almost upset USC. I still have to go with Oregon on this one.
Oregon 35 Asu 17

Washington @ Oregon State (-10)
(Truebluebruin) I’m surprised that this line is so low. Washington is plummeting, OSU is rising and playing at home. This should be an easy win for the beavers.
OSU 37 Washington 20
(Blueandgold) Well Washington continues to lose and were never the 25th best team in the country. I don't see their defense this week from containing the Rodgers brothers. The wild beaver will produce scoring drives and the exposure of lockers weaknesses out of the pocket will cause another lost for the huskies.
Osu 28 Washington 14

The Stupidity of the Polls

This past weekend in college football was an exciting one as many top teams fell to lesser opponents most notably Oregon and Iowa. The most disturbing development in the aftermath of these upsets in my opinion is how Oregon is down in the polls behind none other than, wait for it... U$C. When I first saw the polls on Sunday, I plainly responded with a "Say What?" How is it possible that both teams have the same overall record, Oregon holds the better conference record by one game, and Oregon destroyed the Trojans a week ago yet are four and six spots lower in the polls? Short term memory much? Perhaps. More disturbing is the fact is that U$C was facing a potentially winning drive by ASU, a team that is far from being bowl eligible. Earlier in the day up in Palo Alto, Oregon lost to Stanford. Stanford's record is 6-3, ASU's is 4-5. Both the Ducks and Trojans have another blemish on their record. U$C lost to lowly Washington which has a record of 3-6, and Oregon lost to Boise State, which has yet to lose a game.

To summarize: the teams that beat Oregon have a record of 15-3 while those that beat U$C have a record of 7-11. Additionally, Oregon handed U$C it's worst loss of the decade with a pounding on Halloween night only a week ago. My question is, who are the morons that are allowed to vote in these polls? I mean, it's not like national championships and millions of dollars are on the line here, right?

OMG She Pulled My Hair!

Today I got a text message from one of my dearest friends Matt, and he told me to go online and check out the video highlights of the BYU v. New Mexico game. Sure, why not? but they did not have a game yesterday in football. Odd right? Well, not so much. He was referring to the women's soccer match between the two schools. The shocking part was that he would tell me about this. Generally speaking, I am the one who follows the smaller sports and informs him about anything exciting. With that thought in mind, I realized how this must be real good, something super exciting. I was right. I have personally never seen something more ridiculous than what occurred in that game. Here is the video of what actually happened:


These actions were so unsportsmanlike that I honestly have no idea where I would even begin dissecting this girl's behavior. Furthermore, there is no reason to even refer to her by name because she does not deserve it. It is one thing to slide late one time to send a message to the opposing team. It's another to commit a hard foul up top. To do both, and worst of all pull on another girl's pony-tail in such a violent fashion is practically unheard of. When was the last time ESPN showed a women's soccer game from the collegiate level that was not a post-season match? Never. These chain of actions by the New Mexico defender were so heinous that they chose to air it on SportsCenter, and already has multiple videos on YouTube, averaging over 300,000 hits each. I'm glad the player is suspended indefinitely because what she did was probably the worst thing you could do on the grass pitch. Good for you New Mexico, MWC, NCAA, and anyone else who came up with the idea to suspend her, suspending her sends a clear message to the rest of the NCAA in all sports about how you are not supposed to conduct yourself.

Here is a picture to sum it all up:

PS. By rest of NCAA I don't include U$C and Florida (right Urban Meyer?)

Pac-10 Now and In Five Weeks

Currently, the Pac-10 football standings are as follows:

Oregon	7-1 (5-0)
Arizona	5-2 (3-1)
Stanford	5-3 (4-2)
U$C	6-2 (3-2)
Cal	6-2 (3-2)
OSU	5-3 (3-2)
ASU	4-4 (2-3)
UW	3-5 (2-3)
UCLA	3-5 (0-5)
WSU	1-7 (0-5)

However, there is a long way to go, as many teams will be playing 4/9 of their conference games in the next month. Honestly, it would not shock me if the entire conference, with the exception of the top and bottom spots will change drastically in November/December. Why? Well... Stanford still has to play Cal/U$C/Oregon. Arizona too has the Ducks left on its schedule (though an upset could be in order as the game is in Tucson). Oh, it also has to go to downtown LA and Berkeley. Cal and U$C have favorable schedule since they got most of their remaining tough competition at home and have both already played Oregon. Oregon State has Cal/Oregon left in their last third of the season, both of which could be losses (though OSU owns Cal lately in Berkeley). ASU has to travel to Pasadena to take on UCLA, play Arizona, U$C, and Oregon, those could easily be spell an extension of its current losing streak by four more.

The teams that I believe can climb up from their current positions are the California teams that wear some sort of yellow/gold. U$C as mentioned has a pretty favorable schedule the rest of the way, and when was the last time they lost THREE games in a season? Cal also has a nice schedule, though it has to play the big game against Stanford on The Farm, which in 2007 meant a loss. Lastly, UCLA gets Washington at home, which should be a sure win considering UCLA has more talent, Jake Locker is slightly injured, and UW has not won in Pasadena since 1995. Then, the Bruins travel to Pullman, get ASU at home which should be a win, but is pretty even in my opinion. Finally, they have the crosstown showdown on Thanksgiving weekend against the Trojans, a game that though is at the Coliseum, could maybe be labeled a trap game? But maybe I'm just an optimistic Bruin. With that said here is what I project to be the final Pac-10 standings after the first week of December (just in order and with bowl eligibility):

Oregon-YES
U$C-YES
Cal-YES
Arizona-YES
Stanford-YES
OSU-YES
UCLA-YES
UW-NO
ASU-NO
WSU-NO

Where did they Go? World Series Edition

With about half of the world series over with, there is no more appropriate time to examine which college is represented the most in this year's fall classic. If you do not know who to root for, we are RJS give you a team to choose based on your collegian allegiances, or a team to really hate. Here is the comprehensive list of colleges/players/team in alphabetical order according to college:

Alabama:
David Robertson - Yankees

Arkansas:
Eric Hinske - Yankees
Cliff Lee - Phillies

Calhoun (CC):
Jorge Posada - Yankees

College of Charlseton:
Brett Gradner - Yankees

Georgia Tech:
Mark Teixeira - Yankees

Kentucky:
Joe Blanton - Phillies

Miami-Date (CC):
Raul Ibanez - Phillies

Nebraska:
Joba Chamberlain - Yankees

Notre Dame:
Brad Lidge

Northwestern:
J.A Happ

Ohio State:
Nick Swisher - Yankees

Oklahoma:
Gregg Dobbs - Phillies

San Joaquin College (JC):
Phil Coke - Yankees

San Jacinto North (CC):
Andy Pettite - Yankees

Southern Idaho (JC):
Scott Eyre - Phillies

Southern Illinois:
Jerry Hairston Jr - Yankees

Southwestern Louisiana:
Paul Bako - Phillies

Southwest Missouri State:
Ryan Howard - Phillies

Stanford:
Eric Bruntlett - Phillies

UCLA:
Chase Utley - Phillies
Ben Francisco - Phillies

Conclusion: UCLA and Arkansas both lead colleges represented with two each.

Halloween=Duck Time

With four games left on the Pac-10 schedule, it might be a bit premature to declare Oregon the king of the conference. However, with the thrashing, well destruction of U$C tonight, things are looking really good up in Eugene. I was just reading Ted Miller's blog over at ESPN.com and he gave a very cool stat: The 47 points given up by the Trojan defense were the most since giving up 48 to UCLA in 1996. That is pure insanity. I saw Oregon beat UCLA in person three weeks ago and they did not look this good. The last few weeks though they have been unstoppable on offense, and the defense has been really really good. It honestly is amazing how things change so fast in the world of college football.

Remember Thursday Sept 3rd? Boise State does. That game was a giant embarrassment to Oregon, the Pac 10, and Nike wearing people et al. Oh, how badly Oregon looked. Things change quickly huh? Oregon has not lost since, having taken down such powers as Cal, Utah, and U$C in the process. Add to that a couple nice road wins against the Bruins and rival Huskies, and you got yourself a legitimate case for why Oregon should be playing in the "other" game in Pasadena in January. Unfortunately for Oregon, the road to Pasadena is not so easy. They have to play tough games at Arizona and Stanford, both of which sit at #2 and #3 in the conference respectively. Add to that the Civil War game against the Beavers, and you got yourself a recipe for disaster. Personally, I feel that the Ducks can pull it off, maybe dropping one game in the process and make it to the Rose Bowl. However, as Oregon has shown us, things change a lot from week to week in college football. I guess that that is why you play the games right?