A: A hot, stokin’ SLAM, a pot-smokin’ SHAM, and a not-token “BAM!”

Q:  Name the Play of the Day for UCLA, the state of decay of Mayo, O.J., and what Madden did say, aimed M J-D’s way

You know it’s a good day when the National Highlights are dominated by Bruins.  The #1 highlight-reel play yesterday was supplied by UCLA Guard – and best 6th Man in the Nation – Russell Westbrook.  Russell took a ball from halfcourt against Cal and drove to the the key where he launched over a defender into a ferocious tomahawk dunk.  Or should we say “to-mOhawk,” in reference to the “Flaming Mohawk” hairdo that Russell was sportin’ at the start of the season?

Westbrook has jettisoned the ‘do, but has not lost anything else, except his starting slot.  Coach Ben Howland wants a Guard coming off the bench, so RW is now a reserve, even though he gets twice as many minutes as his replacement in the starting line-up, Alfred Aboya.  And that’s all Russell cares about, so his attitude has been positive, and his play is showing it.

Besides, the show-stopping dunk, Westbrook was continuously outjumping guys much taller than him to keep plays alive and keep the Bruins in front of the Golden Bears.  UCLA was leading by about 8 for most of the game, except for one brief Cal spurt, which the Bruins answered with gusto.  UCLA, led by Kevin Love’s 19 Points and 14 Rebounds, beat Cal (who beat sc by 10 on Thursday), 70-58.

The Bruin Defense was again the difference, making Cal stars Ryan Anderson and DeVon Hardin struggle Offensively all day.  Hardin also made a fool of himself, by dancing like an American Idol reject after a great play.  After the game, he was probably more like has-been BILLY Idol, sneering, and Dancing with Himself.

As the Bruins complete an impressive Northern California Sweep, the FORMERLY-RANKED usc trojans choked away BOTH games on the trip, falling to 0-2, and LAST PLACE in the Pac-10.  O.J. Mayo was playing out of control, scoring a lot in the loss to Cal, and still gunning but going ice cold in the loss to Stanford.  Near the end of that game, the Cardinal fans were barraging the trojans with painfully taunting chants of “Just Like Football!” in memory of the biggest choke in Sports History, which, looking back, really DID cost sc an MNC. 

And speaking of subjective accolades, Maurice Jones-Drew’s photograph is now adorning John Madden’s Horse Trailer, as one of the Players of the Game for his inhuman performance in the Jaguars’ win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in last night’s Wild Card Playoff game.

M J-D started off with a 96-yard Kickoff Return, that led directly to Jacksonville’s first Touchdown.  Then he scored two TD’s himslef, one on a short pass, and one on an end run.  He also made several notable pass blocks of Blitz pick-ups that kept Jacksonville’s Offense from disaster.  Jones-Drew’s UCLA and current teammate Marcedes Lewis started for the Jags, but didn’t see many balls.  He dropped a really tough catch late in the game, but a 4th & 2 David Gerrard QB Run was the memorable play that set up the Game-Winning Field Goal in the 31-29 victory.  The Jags will need to utilize Lewis more if they expect to advance any further, as their next opponent will be either Indy or New England on the Road.  Jones-Drew is a wrecking ball all by himself, but the Jags will need ALL their weapons to beat either of those squads.

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In other notes, there was a letter to the L.A. Times on Saturday that pointed out something that we meant to point out earlier:  The two main photos that The Times used for the Rose Bowl coverage, were of two different ILLEGAL MOVES by sc.  Leave it to the trojan times to GLORIFY the SCumbags’ most pathetic attribute:  Severe lack of class.

Also — If you get the UCLA Magazine, you can read about a UCLA Baseball player who was recruited by sc, but didn’t like them, because – surprise, surprise – they were full of sh!t.  The word they used was “dishonesty,” but let’s call a SCum a SCum.