ONLY “CUT” IS CUT TO THE CHACE

Bruin Spirit Dream Team wins the chase to stay in place, but dispirited Bruin Chace will chase his dream in another place

It’s Official:  All your favorite (non-graduating) UCLA Spirit Squad members will return for an encore performance that lasts a whole year.  All nine members of the World’s Greatest Dance Team have been held over for 2008-09, and according to our readers, every Cheer Squad member from last season who tried to come back, succeeded as well.

Congratulations to all the Girls (and guys), who obviously did nothing to deserve being “kicked off” the team.  We honestly don’t think that the Judges give too much love to Returnees  — We just think that they earned it.  Check the comments from yesterday to see both sides of this controversy.  We’re just glad that none of these extremely sweet young ladies had to go through the emotional experience of “turning in their uniforms” prematurely.

Speaking of which:  Bruin Guard Chace Stanback, who just completed his Freshman year, has announced his decision to transfer from UCLA.  Stanback had nothing but nice things to say about Coach Ben Howland and UCLA, but felt that he needed to go in a different direction.

The decision could be good news in disguise for the Bruins:  It is possible that Stanback already knows that Josh Shipp is returning for his Senior year.  Or, he has seen the incoming Recruits play in the National All-Star games, and knows that he’ll never get any substantial minutes over those guys.  One other possibility is a longshot, but not entirely out of the question:  Howland might have initiated the process out of compassion, setting Chace free from the Bruin pine to actually PLAY at another school (all while freeing up another roster spot for a much-more needed big man).  Doubtful, but not exactly an INSANE crackpot conspiracy theory, either.  Much more likely:  Stanback just wants to go play somewhere where he isn’t overshadowed and out-competed by superstars.  That’s our guess, and we’re sticking to it… until he signs with North Carolina and makes us look like idiots.

Speaking of us looking like idiots, according to yesterday’s L.A. Times, the Denver Nuggets were NOT the first 50-win Team to be swept out of the NBA Playoff’s’ 1st Round as we had “reported.”  We were actually just “parroting” what the TV announcers and graphics operators were trumpeting repeatedly during the broadcast.  And the mistake wasn’t due to some obscure 1940’s wartime Replacement Player loss to the Washington Generals — Apparently, it was the Lakers who swept someone out in the early 70’s.  Sorry for the mis-information — We TRY to “get it right,” but we never claimed to be Fox News (!), so you really shouldn’t be using this as a Reference Site, or be wagering on the ultimate veracity of anything you read here.

And speaking of blatant lies and the people who get away with them, trojan Favorite Son O.J. Simpson is back in the news again.  He just got snubbed by his buddy Donald Trump, who has refused O.J.’s request to be a contestant on “Celebrity Apprentice.”  It looks like despite his bad taste in hairpieces, Trump doesn’t want bad taste on his TV show.  When David Letterman announced O.J.’s rejection to his audience, they gave the news a rousing round of applause.  Apparently, there are some people who are sick of O.J., and don’t want him soiling more air waves than he already has.   Trump usually has a nose for what makes money, and right now, he is saying that O.J. would be ratings poison.

And speaking of crimianlly-negligent trojans losing millions of dollars, it was mentioned in yesterday’s Times that ex-trojan DUIayne Jarrett, who came out early last year but didn’t get picked nearly as early as he would have liked, would have been a lock to be this year’s FIRST Wide Receiver taken.  If that were the case, Jarrett would have netted a much, much more lucrative contract than he has now.  Of course, if he doesn’t snap out of whatever funk kept him from being productive last season, he won’t have any contract at all.

And finally, from contracts to petitions:  We have already preached to you about the glory of the Blue jersey versus Red jersey Rivalry Battle, and now our trojan friend Adam Rose is passing along a cyber-petition for fans to use, to lobby the NCAA for an exemption to their Home jersey versus Home jersey ban.   If the petition works, the visiting team wearing their dark jersey would NOT be penalized a time out, and the Home team wouldn’t have to waste one of theirs to even it up.  But even if the petition doesn’t work, the Rivalry Coaches will still go through with it, along with the wasted time outs.  We think it would be nicer if it were sanctioned, and they didn’t have to jeopardize the “integrity” of the game by calling a “fake” time out, out of good sportsmanship.  Once they are on the field against usc, good sportsmanship should NOT be the Bruins’ first priority, because you KNOW it isn’t the trojans’ first, second, or even third priority, and you have to fight fire with fire.

To join us and this petition, just click this link:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/bruin/2008/04/petition-for-tr.html

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Below is a collage of the eight Girls listed as making the Cheer Squad.  Congratulations to all the Girls of the 2008-’09 UCLA Spirit Squad, on this proud achievement.