YOU GOTTA GIVE THE OTHER FELLA HELL

If you gotta job to do, you gotta do it well — The Bruins won’t Give In and Cry, as they show a Solitaire-y goal:  To See-More (00)7’s on their side of the box score (laying your fears to rest)

The Bruins will bring the Guns to the Rose Bowl, and will be shooting first and not asking questions.  Welcome to the Jungle, trojans.  This is no Civil War, and the Bruins are out of Patience — It’s time to take their Appetite for Destruction to Paradise City and kick some Axl, because Anything Goes.  Hopefully, the November Rain won’t stray into December, and the UCLA Night Train will Slash u$c.  LIVE AND LET DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get it?  I know you did, I know you did, I know you did.  Love GnR, but that song didn’t need to be covered.  And they shouldn’t remake Wizard of Oz, but they’re already working on it.  So now it’s time to re-do 13-9.  Just when you think that the Bruins aren’t capable of getting a win in the biggest game of the year… that’s when it happens.  And at the BeatSC Bonfire on Wednesday night, the Bruins had a completely different attitude from years before.

This year, the Bruins weren’t joking around and acting like little kids — Instead, they seemed more serious, and more resolved to deliver a victory on Saturday night.  They were more focused than they were at past bonfires, with a lot less trash talking and b.s.  Even their pre-bonfire practice had a different tone.  You could hear the intensity just walking by the CLOSED practice.

The only players to take the mic last night were Rahim Moore, who just said that he loved the fans, Akeem Ayers, who barely said anything at all, Richard Brehaut, who showed a quiet confidence in his brief greeting, and Lineman Eddie Williams, whose comment was also so short that Coach Rick Neuheisel made a joke about all the Speech Majors on the team.  Apparently, the Bruins had been coached to NOT give the trojans any bulletin board material.  No guarantees, no profanity, and no “F*ck sc’s.”  Looks like the Bruins are going to make their statement on the field.

The Bonfires of the recent past had been getting too comical, and too non-Football related.  The previous MC’s had really gay-ed it up, and a lot of people hated it.  Apparently, the message got back to the organizers, who substituted brevity for levity, making this one of the best ever.

The opening act was a drum group, which had a luau feel.  The MC’s were a guy and a girl, who didn’t do all the sappy skits like last year — Just a couple of lines of fluff, to introduce the next act.  There were a few dance numbers by very talented students, and a couple of a capella song numbers, including a rousing edition of “Hail to the Hills of Westwood.”  Then there was a “rap.”  Of course, I am not a Rap fan, but this was the most humorous one since “Rappin Rodney” or maybe “Springtime for Hitler.”  The whole rap was about u$c, including lines about their sanctions, their poor academics, and even their loss to Notre Dame, which means the song was edited this week.  OR, maybe they KNEW that sc was going to lose to the Irish a long time ago.  Forget Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, and any other Rapper including Snoop Dogg — This group kicked all their asses.  The group included two female “lead rappers,” and both of the coeds were awesome.

Next up was James Washington, who took over as MC.  He had all the Spirit that you could ask for, a couple of funny anecdotes, and even a couple of dance moves.  The Bruin/Super Bowl Star was a perfect touch, to keep the focus on Football.  Chancellor Block and his Wife also made an appearance, thanking everyone for coming.

When the Spirit Squad took the stage, they set it on fire.  Unfortunately, there was no light on the Cheer Squad, who performed in front of the stage, but I still got some nice shots for you.   Also, their music was about a tenth as loud as the other Dancers’ music, but that didn’t hurt the photos either, so I’m not complaining.  The important thing was the girls could hear it, so the performances were still flawless.  They look so good, you don’t have to hear the music to enjoy it.

The UCLA Gymnastics and Softball teams also went on stage, and paid tribute to the Football team, sending them some of their National Championship mojo.  Finally, Neuheisel came out with his team, offered some apologies, made some promises, and asked for some fan support on Saturday.  He said that he knows it’s Finals Week, but that the students should consider the Game like a class, and if they don’t show up, they Fail.  The players added their appreciation, and then it was bonfire time.

The fire was lit, the crowd roared as the fire roared, and the Cheerleaders danced as the imaginary Tommy burned to the ground.  The whole affair lasted just 90 minutes.  All in all, an excellent production, giving fans a little confidence that they may have been lacking previously.  But the best part of all, besides the hotter-than-hell Cheerleaders, was when they projected the heavenly image of John Wooden on the wide screens.  The crowd went nuts, while some were even driven to tears.  It was damn emotional.  Someone on stage (I forgot who) even mentioned someone’s t-shirt from the crowd, that said “They have O.J. Simpson, we have John Wooden.”  And that’s a FACT that we can hold on to, no matter what the final score is on Saturday.

Here are 40 photos from the blessed event (with 24 more [all Cheerleader pics] coming probably tomorrow).  Remember to CLICK on the photos to enlarge them, especially the horizontal ones.  You just can’t see all they have to offer until you make them full-size.