WHERE THE RED BURN GROWS

A Classic Tale — After the Rivalry Game, it could be “That’s all she wrote” for UCLA’s Coach, so he needs to beat the team whom the NCAA “threw the book at”

The UCLA Football team’s motto is “Burn The Boats,” and their die-hard fans burned Tommy Trojan last night, echoing the mantra that there is no turning back.  A victory means the Pac-12 South Championship, but a bad loss could mark the final chapter in the Rick Neuheisel Era in Westwood.  This compelling story is a real page-turner for the boat-burners.

On Monday night, Bruin students turned out en masse, joined by a handful of fanatic alumni, to salute their Football team at the BeatSC Bonfire and Rally.  Apparently, the event organizers heard our complaints about how they “Gayed it up” in recent years, and they fixed it.  This year was almost entirely devoid of all the stupid skits and juvenile antics, instead concentrating on actual entertainment.  Although there was no live rock band this year, they did have a Bruin acapella singing group that did a great version of Proud Mary with special anti-trojan lyrics.  Also appearing were three modern dance groups, also made up of Bruin students.  The routines were tight, well-rehearsed, and entirely professional-looking, and the crowd responded with passion.

Those singers and dancers were followed by half of the World Class UCLA Spirit Squad. The other half is in Maui for the Basketball team, so I felt sorry for the ones who didn’t make that trip to the Tropical Paradise, and instead had to perform in the chilly, 40-degree night on campus.  But they didn’t appear bitter, as they performed two routines and fired up the bonfire crowd with their enormous energy.  Of course I loved it, BUT — It was way too short of an appearance.  Last year, they stayed on stage for the lighting and burning of the bonfire, allowing me 15 more minutes of Kodak Moments.  So this year, there are a lot less photos.  Sorry.

After the Cheerleaders finished, Wayne Cook took over the emceeing, and introduced the National Champion Women’s Golf team, as well as the Women’s Volleyball team, and the Men’s Soccer and Water Polo teams.  Then the Football team made a grand entrance in a big spotlight, marching from one of the buildings, over to the stage.

Rick Neuheisel thanked the crowd for their undying support, mentioning that this was the first year in a long time where the Bruins won ALL their Conference Home games.  Neuheisel introduced Jonathan Franklin, who introduced Kevin Prince.  Datone Jones and Cory Harkey also made brief comments, before Neuheisel brought out Tevin McDonald, whose brother plays for $C.  Then McDonald brought out Malcolm Jones, who also has a brother playing for the trojans.

When Neuheisel asked Tevin which McDonald brother was going to play better on Saturday, Tevin said:  “The one in Blue!”

Surprisingly, there was no bulletin board material, no trash-talking, and no cursing.  The players were confident and excited, but not cocky, obnoxious, or immature, like I’m sure they will be at the rally across town.  The rhetoric in Westwood was all about still having a shot at the Championship, Burning the Boats, having no retreat, and fighting their way off the island.

The players seemed to appreciate that the fans supported them through all the low points of a tough season, and emphasized how much it means to them to hear the Bruin fans in the crowd, even on the road.  It was cool to see the Bruins showing sincere gratitude, in this situation that usually inspires rambunctiousness and regrettable behavior.  Regardless of what happens this weekend, the Bruins are going to go out with class.  CLASS –something the trojans know nothing about, in more ways than one.

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Speaking of stuff $C knows nothing about, there was a Basketball game on Monday night, which saw the Bruins return to form with a 32-point thrashing of Chaminade in Maui, 92-60.  It was a 2-point game at the Half, then UCLA started making some shots to slowly pull away.  Reeves Nelson sat out the first Half for missing the flight, then came in, and despite scoring only 1 Point, made an impact.  The team finally gelled, and played together as a team, with Nelson pulling down 5 Rebounds in only 11 minutes.  Guards Lazeric Jones and Jerime Anderson led all scorers with 19 and 18 points respectively, and Anthony Stover returned to the line-up with 2 of the Bruins TWELVE Blocked Shots, as the Defense woke up, especially after Intermission.  Joshua Smith had 4 Blocks, and Tyler Lamb had 3 Blocks, 2 of which were spectacular perimeter rejections.  Lamb also showed that his shooting slump is not permanent, going 6-for-11 from the field.  He still hit only 1 of 5 from behind the arc, but his mechanics looked improved anyway.  Anderson made 4 Three’s, Jones hit 2, and so did Norman Powell, showing that the Bruins might be able to bust some Zone Defenses as the season wears on.

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Below are 19 photos from the Bonfire and Rally — Click on the horizontal ones to enlarge them.