WRITE IT OFF TO A MAYOJUANA CONTACT HIGH

Bruins play as if THEY were the ones with a Weed-stained past, watching their late lead go up in smoke on the way to getting stoned, 72-63 (wasting the euphoric, natural high created by the Spirit Squad’s pre-game meet ‘n greet, and the noticeable absence of the sc Band and Song Girls) 

We SHOULD start by telling you how horrible the Officiating was.  First of all, Kevin Love was repeatedly brutalized by thugs, as if they knew they weren’t going to get called for it, and the trojans got away with Traveling, Pushing Off, Flopping, and Reaching In, all game long.  On a day being called “Upset Saturday” by ESPN, where #1 North Carolina also got upset as a big favorite, fans are wondering if the fix was in. 

But we CAN’T complain about the Officiating, because trojans will whine about sour grapes, and someone connected to Officiating will write us another scathing letter, demanding that we stop impugning the integrity of those hard-working men in stripes…  Well, sorry, buddy, but you need to watch this game closely, and then explain all the screw-ups.  In the first half, there were three different missed calls that even the legally-blind TV Announcers noticed — One, a hit on a Westbook’s elbow while shooting, another, a push in Love’s back, and another, a trojan flop.  It went on throughout the game, causing the suspicious crowd to dust off the old “B.S.” chant several times.  Of course we’re sure it was just incompetence, not trojan fans’ death threats, or Mafiosa payouts.  But assuming that UCLA and NC were taking a lot of action, like they usually do, you can figure that the guys running the Sportsbooks released all of the hostages (the Ref’s daughter?) unharmed.  [Now seriously, save your letter, guy — We’re just blowing off steam.  It’s not like the refereeing was that much worse than it usually is]

And there are others who performed like they had loved ones being held at gunpoint.  Russell Westbrook had his worst game since becoming a candidate for early entry into the NBA.  He sure picked a lousy f-ing time to go 2-11 with 5 Turnovers.  He DID do a great job Defensively on Mayo in the first half, as O.J. went 0-for-4 from the field before Intermission.

But it wasn’t enough, especially with the Cameroonian Duo having a groin-pull of a game.   Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Alfred Aboya combined to go 1-11 from the floor, and then Luc went to the bench early with a concussion, and Aboya fouled out.  Before Luc left, he might have ended all the talk of HIS going Pro early, as he took several ill-advised shots, turned the ball over three times, and pulled down only two Defensive Boards in 19 minutes.

Luc was part of a Defense that you could always count on, until this game.  The Bruins got beat repeatedly, and were not nearly as aware and alert as they usually are.  Their communication sucked, and their effort was lacking.  The energy just wasn’t there.

This is the problem with Ben Howland’s refusal to elevate this game to a higer level of importance.  The Bruins try hard to treat this game like any other game, and this time, it led to a LACK of fire and intensity.  They played like it was “Just SC,” and it showed.  Time and time again, Darren Collison and really, ALL the other Bruins, were caught standing around, watching the trojans beat them to the hoop.

Kevin Love did all he could to avoid the upset, while getting mugged, scoring 18 and grabbing 12 Boards and 5 Steals, and Josh Shipp led the Bruins with 21 Points.   And the game was even with just a couple of minutes to go.  But the trojans closed out the game with a 21-6 run, where the Bruins got lousy shots, and couldn’t hit them.

The trojans shot 61% on the day, the second-worst Defensive performance EVER by the Howland Bruins.  After the game, Love said that when these two teams meet again in a couple of weeks, he “believes that the outcome will be different.”  It better be.

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Now, on to the GOOD NEWS of the day:

The UCLA Spirit Squad will be in the Student Store to autograph posters and talk to you, BEFORE EVERY SINGLE HOME GAME!!!!  (BEFORE AND AFTER Saturday games).  There is NO crowd, hardly any line or wait (just a couple of minutes at the most), and there are several Squad members there.  The posters are great, with photos of everyone, and they are only $6 (and NO, WE don’t get a cut).  They also allow you to take photos of them with your cell phone or personal cameras (don’t forget to use your flash).  We strongly urge you to take advantage of this unique opportunity, because we want them to have proper funds, and because we want you to see how amazingly cute they are up close.  All the Photoshopping in the World can’t do justice to the visual sensation of being 12 inches away from so much beauty.  It is simply HUMBLING.

We witnessed a bizarre phenomenon while the girls were signing:  Dozens of pairs of young men would check out the set-up, then stand about 25 feet away, debating with their friends, trying to muster up the courage to go up to the girls.  The Intimidation Factor was palpable.  So LISTEN UP:  These are NICE, FRIENDLY girls.  Don’t be afraid.  They don’t bite.  They are so SWEET, that Splenda is trying to duplicate their molecular structure.  These are NOT the stuck-up, sterotypical Fig Tech Song Girl, who would roll their eyes at such “public service.”

And speaking of the Dark Side, it was a MAJOR BLESSING that new rules prohibited the sc Band and Song Girls from attending the game on Saturday.  It was bad enough that there were two totally obnoxious, chest-bumping trojan fans in our otherwise all-Bruin section.  In fact, one of them, you may have seen, with 30 seconds left in the game, took a dramatic tumble on the stairs, face-down into his seat.  We hope he or his longtime male companion is reading this, so that he can know for sure that it was NO ACCIDENT, and every time he pulls that crap in Pauley, he’ll be leaving in the same shape that he did today.  Maybe he’ll think twice next time before he puts his hands on a Bruin.  Or better yet, maybe next time he’ll just stay home and watch it on a Plasma TV (instead of needing a plasma infusion).  Just thinking about it right now leaves us in stitches, too.  Self-Defense Violence has never felt this good.

But back to the Band Ban:  Because of the renewed excitement in The Rivalry, and the increased interest in UCLA Basketball, it has been decided that the Visiting team’s Band and Spirit Squads will no longer attend UCLA-usc games.  The Athletic Programs prefer to SELL the seats to paying customers.    So thankfully, we were spared the  low-class antics of their Band members, not to mention the off-key droning of their instruments.

The SAD part of this is that the Bruin Band and Spirit Squad are NOT going to be at the Rematch in Galen next month.  They want you to know that it is NOT their fault — They wish they could be there rooting the team on, but the new policy doesn’t allow it.  They will likely be there as students on their own, but just not in Uniform, and not performing as a unit.

The one good thing about that is that the Bruin Girls don’t have to endure the unbelievable ABUSE that rains down on them from the trojan faithful.  Every year, they are barraged by nasty trojan SCum, who call them whores, and worse.  How much of that reprehensible bullsh!t should these sweet, innocent girls have to put up with?  We say NONE.  We would totally understand if they just blew off Galen on their own, but that ISN’T what happened (just so you know).

[Late notes:  After reviewing the tape, there were at least three sh!tty calls in the last two minutes, that turned a 1-point game into a 9-point W, with an asterisk***…  And, how the Hell could O.J. Mayo (16 points on 5-for-12 shooting) be Player of the Game over Davon Jefferson, who scored 25 (on 10-for-15 shooting) with 9 Rebounds?] 

Below are 14 more photos of the Girls and the Game.  They have hidden, “mouse-over” captions, and you can ENLARGE the pics by clicking on them.