Powell foul makes Howland growl — #11 (not for long) Bruins blow 18-point 2nd Half lead, and fall to lowly Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 70-68, after stupid foul when game was tied with 11 seconds left

The Howland-Haters got a whole bunch of ammunition on Sunday night, as a post-Thanksgiving crowd at the new Pauley Pavilion saw a turkey of an effort by the (supposedly) new Bruins.  Even with all four Freshmen phenoms playing, and both Wears healthy and in the line-up, and even Josh Smith logging minutes, the Bruins phoned in a sluggish effort that saw them barely grabbing the lead at Halftime, before building up — and then blowing — an 18-point lead to a local mid-major, and going down to a humiliating defeat, 70-68.

The Bruins only showed up for 8 minutes — the first eight minutes of the 2nd Half, when they blew out Cal Poly 20-4 to take the 18-point lead.  But then they went back to sleep on both ends of the court, as CP chipped away until finally tying the game with a few minutes left.  The Bruins were down 2 when Shabazz Muhammad battled for a Rebound, and the opponent came down with it, but got called for Travelling.  That allowed the Bruins to tie the score on a Jordan Adams lay-up with about 20 seconds left.

But on the ensuing possession, Continue Reading »

Hunger Game — The more-needy Stanford Cardinal overpowers UCLA 35-17 to force a rematch with the Bruins next Friday in Palo Alto, when both teams will have the same amount at stake

There’s an old saying in Sports:  The team that “wants it more” usually wins.  And wanting it more usually comes from motivation — How badly do you NEED to win a game?  In Saturday’s match-up between Stanford and UCLA at the Rose Bowl, the Bruins had a lot less to play for.  They were already guaranteed a spot in Friday’s Pac-12 Championship game, while Stanford had to win to get in.  That extra urgency was evident, as a more fired-up Stanford team thoroughly handled UCLA 35-17.

UCLA wasn’t just going through the motions.  It wasn’t a meaningless game — Even though the earlier Oregon victory had taken home field advantage in the Championship game off the table, an elusive and unprecedented 12-win season was still there for the taking, as well as a chance to end up in the National Rankings’ Top Ten.  But Stanford’s do-or-die scenario proved a much bigger motivator.

Stanford scored first on a long drive, then UCLA tied it up with a drive of their own, culminating with another diving TD catch by Joseph Fauria.  But then Stanford took over the game, Continue Reading »

New and improved Pauley hosts Women’s Basketball, Irish-style, and the UCLA Dance Team, Gangnam-style

I’ve been so busy, working 70-hour weeks and getting tons of calls needing help during my “off” days, I hadn’t had a chance to see New Pauley until Friday.  I have this week off for Thanksgiving (although the calls asking for work help never seem to stop), so when UCLA offered me (as a Football Season Ticket holder) FREE TICKETS to the UCLA-Notre Dame Women’s Basketball game, I took them up on their offer.

I’m not a huge Women’s Basketball fan, but I wanted to see Pauley, I wanted my Wife to see Pauley, and I was hoping that some of the Spirit Squad would be there as well.  On that count I lucked out, as 10 of the 11 Dance Team girls were indeed in attendance, performing.

The game itself was not great, as the #7 Fighting Irish handled the #19 Bruins fairly easily.  UCLA got off to a 6-0 lead, and held it for about 12 minutes, but Continue Reading »

Ex-u$c stars Sanchez and McKnight fumble on back-to-back plays and thankful Tom Brady’s Patriots return both for TD’s  in 49-19 trouncing of the Jets on Thanksgiving night

This is not a good week to be a trojan… unless you enjoy watching your players choke…and choke again.

After Saturday’s upset at the Rose Bowl, where the trojans threw two Interceptions, had two kicks blocked, missed a field goal and extra point, committed 6 penalties, fumbled twice losing one, and missed about 20 tackles, you wouldn’t think it could get any more humiliating.  But then on Thursday night on NBC National TV, two ex-trojans committed back-to-back gaffes that cost their team a big game.

It started with the most comical play of the year.  The Jets’ QB Mark Sanchez — who is starting over Tim Tebow WHY? — took a snap, realized that it was a broken play, and ran full speed RIGHT INTO THE ASS of one of his own linemen.  It looked like his eyes must have been closed as he rammed into his teammate’s backside.  The impact was so severe that it jarred the ball loose, and a Patriot scooped it up and returned it all the way for a Touchdown.

Then, ON THE ENSUING KICKOFF, Joe McKnight tried to return it, got hit and fumbled, and this one too was returned for a Touchdown, and the rout was on.  The Pats went on to win 49-19, in front of a hostile and disgruntled New York-area crowd.

Someone call the Elias Sports Bureau — Could this be the first time in NFL History that Continue Reading »

The Bruin celebration continues, while trojan fans melt down, and call for their Coach’s head

The Bruin Basketball team won a Nationally-televised game against the University of Georgia on Tuesday evening.  They were led by the Nation’s #1 recruit, Shabazz Muhammad, who scored 21 points in only his second collegiate game.  That being said, let’s talk about Football some more instead.

The Football Bruins are still basking in the afterglow of knocking off the much-hated and formerly over-rated trojans 38-28.  u$c was favored by about 4 points in that game, so officially, the Bruin victory can be classified as an upset, despite the fact that the Bruins came into the game with a superior record and a higher National Ranking.  The recent history of the Rivalry caused the betting line to favor troy — The majority of bettors finding it hard to believe that Jim Mora’s collection of 2 and 3-star players could beat Lane Kiffin’s amalgam of High School All-Americans.  Few trusted that a Redshirt-Freshman QB could outplay the preseason Heisman favorite.

But Brett Hundley bucked the odds, and didn’t even show any gametime jitters.  Hundley started the game going 10-for-10.  That’s right, Hundley completed his first ten passes in a row… and the heralded Matt Barkley failed to complete any of his first 4 attempts, and had his first one Intercepted by Aaron Hester.

The Bruins rode this discrepancy to a 24-0 lead, before the trojans finally Continue Reading »

Wet Dream — Bruins drown trojans 38-28 in the rain, starting off with a 24-0 deluge, then icing it with a ballsy, aggressive TD drive (instead of just trying ”not to lose” by grinding down the clock)

The sun will come out, to Mora… And if you bet your bottom dollar on sc, you would have lost it, Daddy Warbucks.

What a difference a year makes.  And a Coach makes.  Jim Mora outcoached Lane Kiffin on Saturday, taking a less talented but more motivated group of players, and upsetting u$c in the Rose Bowl to win the Pac-12 South.  UCLA ended a 5-game drought to their Rivals, as the fired-up Bruins intercepted overrated Matt Barkley on the game’s very first play from scrimmage, and rolled out to a 24-0 lead in the 1st half.  Led by the super-poised Brett Hundley  (234 yards passing, 1 TD, plus 2 TD’s rushing) and Jonathan Franklin (171 yards rushing and 2 TD’s), the Bruin offense continuously converted big third downs, and put up 406 yards of Total Offense for the game.

But sc came back strong, scoring 20 straight points, cutting the lead to 24-20.  The Bruins scored again, but sc countered with another TD and a 2-point conversion to cut the lead to three.  There were about 7 minutes left in the game.  Terry Donahue and Rick Neuheisel would have Continue Reading »

Ball-sacked!!!  Trojans nailed for cheating, AGAIN — This time, u$c gets caught red-handed, in the act of deflating footballs used in their loss to Oregon

They cheat, and cheat, and cheat and cheat and cheat — the Kiffy and Haden Show.  When the trojans’ season got off to a weak start, the trojans decided to do something about it.  First they illegally switched jersey numbers to confuse opponents.  But when that didn’t work, they decided to take the ball by the horns.  Before the Oregon game, and AFTER the Refs checked to make sure the game balls met NCAA standards, u$c purposely deflated them, to make them easier to throw and catch.  And since the home team gets to choose which balls are used by which teams, only sc got to handle the special balls.

But even with the extra help, sc still couldn’t handle the Ducks, losing 62-51 as the wheels fell off the trojan bus.  And after the trojans were busted and fined, Lane Kiffin threw an equipment manager under that bus.  U$c says that a lone staffer did the deflating all by himself, with no instruction from the Coaches.  And you know what?  Only riders of the SHORT BUS believe this B.S. excuse.

Lowly equipment managers don’t take it on themselves to do something radical that may alter the result of a game.  Maybe the same guy who used duplicate jersey numbers in a devious scheme to trick Colorado (Lane) had something to do with this decision instead.  Ya think?

AND SPEAKING OF SHRIVELED BALLS…

Ex-trojan and admitted steroid-pumping cheater Mark McGwire will be the Dodgers’ new batting coach. Continue Reading »

“Grave Secrets” premieres on Nickelodeon this Friday night at 8pm, as the first episode of a new series called “Deadtime Stories.”  PLEASE watch it, DVR it, and tell your friends about it (especially the ones between the ages of 7 and 12)

If you have ever wanted to support me (without spending a cent)… if you have ever appreciated what I do… if you have ever enjoyed a UCLA Cheerleader pictorial posted here for your enjoyment…  now’s the time to pay it forward.

A movie that I worked on last summer, and then proceeded to acquire a vested interest in, is finally making it to the public.  The movie was called “Grave Secrets,” and now it has been trimmed down to be the first episode of a new Series on Nickelodeon called “Deadtime Stories.”  All the episodes come from the kids’ book series of the same name, and we are now in production, shooting these follow-up episodes to the “Grave Secrets” “pilot.”

So the agenda now is to get as many people as possible to watch the show, DVR the show, talk about the show, and share information about the show on Social Media.  The series’ target audience is 7-12 year olds, but it is entertaining for the whole family.  If you know any kids, please tell them about the series.  And whether you do know any kids or not, you shoud try to check it out yourself.

Here is a link to a promo for it on Nick’s website:  www.nick.com/videos/clip/halloween-2012-deadtime-stories-special-friday-N16525-02.html

“Grave Secrets” stars Jennifer Stone from “Wizards of Waverly Place” and three-time Academy Award Nominee Diane Ladd.  It’s a lot of fun, and I really hope you like it.  If you do, please tell a friend or twelve, and let’s make this series last for a long, long time.  Taking photos of the UCLA Spirit Squad is fun and all, but it definitely doesn’t pay ANY bills.

Despite u$c’s preseason hype and the uncertainty about UCLA’s new Coach, the Bruins are now shockingly ranked higher than the trojans, for the first time in almost a dozen years

Where’s Matt Leinart — and his “F*ck the BCS” t-shirt — now that the trojans need him?

For the first time since 2001, UCLA is ranked higher than u$c in the BCS and Associated Press Polls.  The Bruins are 18 to sc’s 19 in the BCS, and 17 to 21 in the AP.  The Bruins are 7-2 on the season to sc’s 6-3, and sc is coming off consecutive losses where their Defense got absolutely torched.

Bruin fans should enjoy this while they can, because the Bruins have a trap game in the tough, icy environment of Washington State coming up.  WSU’s record is so bad, that tripping up next Saturday would send the Bruins toppling downwards, well below the trojans.  Then, on the 17th, the Bruins face the trojans head-to-head.  Don’t let the last two weeks fool you — The trojans’ more-than-formidable Offense could easily put another 50 points on UCLA, just like the same players did last year.  It’s possible that the Bruins could also break 50, but Continue Reading »

No hallucination — Navy-clad UCLA scores 66 points to acid-wash Arizona, and Oregon puts up 62 to Beat SC

Psychedelic Payback in Pasadena, and at the Coliseum too.  Last year, the Bruins went to Arizona, and got beat so badly that the Coach was as good as fired.  The Wildcats exploded out of the gate that night, taking a 42-7 lead into the locker room at Halftime, and won easily, 48-12.  Apparently, the 2012 Bruins REMEMBERED that beating, and decided to do something about it.

Not only did the Bruins avenge that humiliating loss, but they actually out did it in every way.  On Saturday night at the Rose Bowl, the Bruins led at the Half 42-3, and kept the accelerator down, galloping to a 66-10 triumph.  It was by far the best performance by the Bruins since Jim Mora took over, and probably since the Bruins upset Troy in 2006.  And it was the Bruins’ best 1st half in AGES.  Not only did the Offense dominate on the ground and through the air, but the Bruin Defense also controlled the line of scrimmage, forcing 3-and-outs repeatedly until the game was already in hand.

The UCLA Offense rolled behind Jonathan Franklin’s 162 yards Rushing and 2 Touchdowns.  The O-Line was opening holes the size of Matt Barkley’s ego, and whenever a Wildcat DID show up in his path, Franklin either faked him out or ran right over him.  The first defender virtually never brought Franklin down.  Jonathan’s stellar effort was easily enough for him to become UCLA’s All-Time leading Rusher, breaking Continue Reading »

The quality of the UCLA Spirit Squad cannot be exaggerated, but when it comes to trojans in the NFL, several of them are vastly overrated, according to all the guys who play with and against them;  Sanchez and Bush are near the top of the list

When a College team stacks the deck with Steroids, illegal benefits, cash incentives, dirty play, and manipulation of Officials, the players can end up looking a lot better than they really are.  That would explain why so many trojans get drafted and then fail miserably to live up to the hype.  The most obvious case in point is Matt Leinart, who can’t shed clipboard-holding duties in the Pro’s.  Many other trojans make NFL rosters, then epic-ly fail to meet expectations, like John David Booty, LenDale White, Joe McKnight, Chauncey Washington, Taylor Mays, Damian Williams, Curtis Conway, Dwayne Jarrett, Mike Williams, and Marc Tyler, just to name a few.

But some of them become starters, and get plenty of playing time, and lots of credit… that they apparently don’t deserve.  Sports Illustrated just released a poll, voted on by current NFL players, that lists the 20 Most Overrated Players in the League, and trojans landed in positions #2, #6, and #17.  First of all, to show that the poll is legit, #1 is Tim Tebow, the genuflecting QB who can’t even beat out lackluster Mark Sanchez for the starting gig for the Jets.  And guess who is #2 — That’s right:  Mark Sanchez.  Half the back-ups in the League could outplay Sanchez and Continue Reading »