Drone On:  UCLA overthrows Utah 76-49, without breaking a sweat

The Utes of ill-repute need new recruits, or they mey never taste the fruits of victory again.

After UCLA’s 76-49 total annihilation of Utah on Thursday night, the only remaining question is, how did Utah win two Pac-12 games?  UCLA started slowly, struggling to acheive an 11-11 tie, then asserted themselves to build a 15-point lead by Halftime. Utah never threatened after that, as the Bruins extended the lead to 30 before finally settling for a somewhat-boring 27-point win.

No Bruin played over 32 minutes, as Ben Howland cleared the bench for the final few minutes.  Because the game wasn’t close, Continue Reading »

Pats and Giants sneak into the big game thanks to two goats:  The Raven Kicker who shanks an Overtime-forcing chip shot in the final seconds, and a Niner Returner who coughs up the ball twice, including once in Overtime to set up the game-winning Field Goal

Millions of fans in Baltimore and San Francisco are distraught tonight, but no one feels worse than Billy Cundiff and Kyle Williams — nor should they.  Cundiff and Williams EARNED the right to feel horrible about themselves — ala Donnie Moore — and that’s more than I can say for New England and New York, who didn’t truly EARN their Super Bowl Berths.

Baltimore’s Cundiff hooked the potentially game-tying, 32-yard Field Goal with 15 seconds left against the Patriots, allowing NE to escape with a 23-20 victory, while Frisco’s Kyle Williams muffed one punt in the 4th Quarter that led directly to a Giant Touchdown, then fumbled another one in Overtime, which gave the ball to NY already in Field Goal range.  The ensuing kick — not shanked like Cundiff’s — meant that the Giants were handed a 20-17 triumph.

Now don’t get me wrong — I’m not saying that Baltimore or San Francisco deserved to win or were the better teams — I’m just saying that both these wins were UGLY, and relied on the charity of the other team. Continue Reading »

The Ugly Duck Game — Bruins blow 13-point Halftime lead to fall 75-68 in Oregon, their SIXTH STRAIGHT LOSS outside of Los Angeles

Apparently, staying in a Holiday Inn Express is NOT making the Bruins experts at Basketball.  I actually have no idea which hotel chain has been housing the Bruins when they travel this year, but whichever one it is, it isn’t working.  Not counting the spanking they inflicted on last place usc at the nearby Galen Center, UCLA has now lost 6 straight (real) road games, after their 75-68 collapse in Eugene on Saturday afternoon.

The Bruins started out fired up and sharp, shooting out to a 13-4 lead, with David Wear scoring 7 of their first 9 points.  The domination continued throughout the 1st half, as the Bruins played efficiently on Offense, while holding the ice cold Ducks to 21% shooting on the other end.  But everything turned upside-down right after the Intermission, with Oregon running off a 15-2 spurt to tie the game.

It stayed close the rest of the way, but Continue Reading »

Bruins Crash in Corvallis, as Beavs’ Cunningham and Collier Control Contest by Connecting Consistently

The cowardly Captain of that Italian Cruise Ship that capsized is being called the Chicken of the Sea.  Next time UCLA faces Oregon State, they might be Chicken of the C’s, because they won’t want to see Jared Cunningham and Devon Collier again.  The Bruins had no answer for those two, who scored 21 and 20 respectively, in OSU’s 87-84 victory, which wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.

Oregon State got off to a fast start, jumping out to an 8-0 lead, but the Bruins went on a 10-1 run to storm back and take a lead.  The game stayed very close for an hour after that, as the Wear Twins helped the Bruins keep pace.  But in the 2nd Half, the Beavers outplayed the Bruins, by running a more efficient Offense, getting better shots, and playing tighter Defense.  OSU built an 11-Point lead, and the Bruins never recovered.

The Beavers made adjustments, and neutralized the Wears, which allowed OSU to hold onto the lead.  The Bruins cut the lead to 6 late in the game, but they couldn’t get over the hump.  A huge Three by Ahmad Starks put the lead back to 9 with just four and a half minutes left, and then a strange thing happened:  The Bruins showed no desire to avoid the loss.

For some inexplicable reason, the Bruins showed NO URGENCY, playing as if there were still 15 minutes left. Continue Reading »

The Rapture — No Divine Intervention needed, as the Bruins Crucify usc In The Beginning, building an 18-point lead by Halftime, and causing a Mass Exodus of troy Disciples while Smiting the trojans 66-47 in the Galen Center

Holy Annihilation!  No one ever said that the Galen Center was a College Basketball Cathedral, or, God forbid, a Shrine to the Sport.  In fact, the trojans have sucked the whole time they’ve been playing there (and a lot longer, actually).  Unfortunately, the Bruins haven’t been much better (except for a recent three-year span), so no game against the trojans is a guaranteed win for UCLA.  In fact, the Rivalry game on Sunday was deemed fairly even going in, with oddsmakers installing a betting line of UCLA minus one point.  But on this day, the spread was never in doubt, as UCLA demolished the outmanned trojans, 66-47.  Southern cal was up 7-4 in the first few minutes, until the Bruins exploded, outscoring sc 20-3 to take a 24-10 lead which they would never relinquish.  Behind the Paint Domination of the Wear Twins and Anthony Stover, the Bruins completely shut down the trojan Offense. Continue Reading »

Angels of (Lord Have) Mercy — I don’t want to Harp on it, but when you say Halo to this Heavenly pictorial of Celestial Bodies, it should give you Wings

If you were an L.A. Baseball fan in the 70′s, you might remember that the California Angels had a theme song on the radio that went:  “California Angels, A-OKAY, California Angels, A-OKAY…”  Well, those Angels are now the California Angels of Anaheim, but they aren’t California’s ONLY angels.

In Palm Desert, California last weekend, about 400 of the most gorgeous girls in the World congregated to battle for supremacy in the world of Beauty Pageants.  About 50% of each pageant was dedicated to Swimsuit Competition, Continue Reading »

Representing Hoag Hospital, Natalie Pack is crowned Miss CaliforniaUSA for 2012;  Katie Wee also succeeds, beating out over 260 contestants to make the Top 20, in her very first Pageant

The 2012 Miss CaliforniaUSA Pageant started out on Sunday with the hostess calling out the 20 names — out of nearly 300 contest hopefuls — who would advance from Saturday’s Preliminaries, to the Semifinals, to still be alive for the crown.

As they started to be called, the tension thickened, and heartbeats quickened.  Name after name was called, but no Hollywood Heights.  Was Katie going to be overlooked?  The thought was not pleasant.  Then I heard the word “Hollywood,” but it wasn’t Hollywood Heights, it was just Hollywood, as Miss Hollywood made the cut.  The list kept growing, and still no Katie.  12, 15, 18… I was trying to come to grips with what looked like a disappointing outcome, until, with only ONE name left to be announced, HOLLYWOOD HEIGHTS, KATIE WEE!!!!!

Katie made it!!!!  She was the last one called, just as I was giving up hope.  That one moment of hearing her name ring out over the speakers was exhilirating.  I will never forget it.  I was screaming, and so were her friends, who had come to Palm Desert from as far away as San Francisco just to support her.  And that one moment frozen in time made everything totally worth it.

Katie lived on to perform with the other 19 Finalists, as they went through another Swimsuit Competition, and even got to individually introduce themselves to the crowd.  I had forgotten how cute Katie’s voice is Continue Reading »

Miss Orange County is the brand new Miss California Teen USA, just a month after losing her father in a car accident

So you say there’s no Justice in the World?  Then you weren’t at the McCallum Theater in Palm Desert, California on Sunday afternoon, when Miss Orange County Alexa Jones won the title of Miss California Teen USA for 2012.

During her “Question” portion of the Finals, Alexa talked about the tragedy, and how she was persevering with the Pagenat to help inspire others to fight through their own hard times.  Her eloquence and REAL emotion must have made an impact on the judges, as they voted her the winner of the contest.

A couple of the other Finalists MAY have had more “classic” beauty, but Continue Reading »

UCLA Spirit icon Katie Wee — aka Miss Hollywood Heights — takes Palm Desert by Storm

Former Captain of the Bruin Dance Team Katie Wee always represented UCLA well.  Now, she’s putting Hollywood Heights on the map.  Wearing the sash for that community, Katie took part in her very first pageant on Saturday night, in the Miss CaliforniaUSA Pageant, and she performed like a seasoned veteran.

Unlike many of her almost 300 competitors, Katie traversed the stage with grace, took her turns with style, and timed everything perfectly.  You’d be amazed how many girls “milked” their moment, dragging it out to the point that the judges must have been rolling their eyes.  And an equal amount of girls barely posed for the judges, as if they were too shy or nervous to do what they were supposed to do.  But Katie did everything flawlessly, never dropping her world-class smile (another thing many of the others had trouble with).

On Saturday night, Katie did everything she possibly could to advance to the Finals.  And she did everything right HEADING INTO Saturday too.  The selection of the sexy Pink bikini and the exquisite blue gown were perfect — Not too flashy, or too conservative, like Continue Reading »

Sweet 16 — Here are the first 16 photos from the Miss Teen CaliforniaUSA Preliminaries;  The Miss CaliforniaUSA Prelims are coming next

I wish they all could be UCLA Girls — The Miss CaliformiaUSA and Miss Teen CaliforniaUSA Pageants are taking place this weekend in Palm Desert, and because former UCLA Dance Team Captain Katie Wee is a contestant, I am here in the desert to support her.  Yeah, I know… “What a chore!  What a sacrifice!”  Okay, so it’s a labor of love.

I will be posting more and more photos as the competition continues, but I wanted to get this first batch out to you now, so you Continue Reading »

[Updated w/1 correction, 1/8/12]

Adding insult to insult of injury — Arizona fans start their “U of A” chant while Tyler Lamb is on the floor writhing in agony, and UCLA makes them regret it with a painful 65-58 beating

“Class” was NOT in session on Thursday night at the Honda Center, when the Arizona Wildcat fans showed their true colors.  Bruin Tyler Lamb took a hard fall, and was on the floor in pain, grasping his knee as the second half was halted.  It looked like an ACL tear at the time, as even TV viewers could hear Lamb’s cries of pain.  But then, Lamb’s moans were drowned out, by Arizona fans’ sudden chorus of “U of A.”

Bruin fans were so appalled that they booed the Cat fans into submission… and then the Bruin players PLAYED the Cats into submission.  Ever since a 10-0 run about 5 minutes into the game, the Bruins held the lead, which fluctuated between 3 and 11 Points for the rest of the night.  Despite being without concussed Josh Smith for the whole game, the Bruins dominated the Paint, and controlled the pace of the action throughout.  The Wear twins led the way, seeming to thrive without Smith in their way.  Travis Wear scored a career-high 20 Points and brother David added 14, while (both) also playing tough Defense in the Bruins’ rejuvenated Man-to-Man scheme.

With Anthony Stover coming in and adding resistance to their penetration, the Wildcats resorted to Continue Reading »

WHO is the NFL’s Leading Rusher for 2011?  UCLA’s Maurice Jones-Drew, that’s WHO — MoJo, who bounces off would-be tacklers like a PINBALL and was a BARGAIN for the Jags, runs like a MAGIC BUS for 169 yards in the finale to lock up the season’s Rushing Title

Extra, extra, read all about it — Extra!  The 31 NFL teams who passed over Maurice Jones-Drew in the 2006 Draft are all telling themselves “We Won’t Get Fooled Again.”  It’s now 5 years later, and Jones-Drew is the new Reigning King of All Running Backs.  This season he gained 1606 yards, a whopping 242 yards more than his nearest competitor, and 520 yards more than ex-trojan Reggie Bush, who was drafted much higher than MJD, with much loftier expectations.  And this was Bush’s best year ever by far, and no other ex-trojan came close. In fact, not one ex-trojan SKILL PLAYER made the Pro Bowl, like Jones-Drew did.

Not only is Mo at the top of the heap, but he has been one of the top scorers in the League ever since he became a Starter several years ago, despite playing on a lousy team.  For all those years, Jacksonville has been poorly Coached by ex-trojan Jack Del Rio, who was finally relieved of his duties this year.  Maybe next year, under a new Offensive philosophy, the Jags can ride the best RB in the World to more points and more wins.  It won’t be easy, if young QB Blaine Gabbert doesn’t improve quickly.  This year, as a Rookie, he was one of the worst Passers in the NFL, statistically… and that’s despite having the League’s best Rusher in his Backfield.

I’m sure Jones-Drew — the ultimate TEAM player — would gladly trade his Rushing Crown for a few more W’s, and a spot in the Playoffs.  But he will have a lot of company as a spectator in the Postseason.  A lot of his “friends” from U$C will also be watching on Television. Continue Reading »