SB Nation User Blog: BruinFanBaby

Flowers Commits to UCLA

BruinFanBaby — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:48:26 -0000

Flowers Commits to UCLA

This 3-day camp is going well. Minutes after Dohn reported that Brett Nottingham committed to UCLA, he reported that Wesley Flowers has committed as well.

"I'm going to be able to play football for great coaches," he said. "I'm going to have an...

BruinFanBaby — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:46:07 -0000

"I'm going to be able to play football for great coaches," he said. "I'm going to have an opportunity to have a great degree from there and have fun doing it, and learn a lot about football."

Brett Nottingham tells Brian Dohn why he committed to UCLA. Congratulations, Brett. Welcome to Westwood.

Just how interested are the Rams in Mark Sanchez?

BruinFanBaby — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:23:29 -0000

From Steve Wyche of NFL.com:

The Rams, who hold the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, have purchased a plane ticket for USC quarterback Mark Sanchez to fly from Los Angeles to St. Louis on Sunday, when the team plans to introduce its top selection.

This is interesting, to say the least. We've heard rumors about Sanchez going to the Rams all day long, and this would appear to add validation to those rumors. If it were to come down to Sanchez, Jason Smith or Eugene Monroe, who would everyone here pick?

If this pick is about need, then the Rams should flip a coin between Smith and Monroe and choose one of them. If it is about selecting the best player of the three, then Sanchez is the way to go. I personally think he will have a better pro career than Matthew Stafford, and I actually think he would be a very good fit for the Rams in a year or two. While he doesn't have the arm strenght of Stafford, he is much more accurate and an excellent decision-maker. He's also more mobile then Stafford, and I think he will prove to be an outstanding leader and face of the franchise for years to come.

Carolina's role players will win out

BruinFanBaby — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 17:31:07 -0000

While I would love to see Blake Griffin absolutely destroy Tyler Hansbrough and the Sooners advance to Detroit, I don't think it is going to happen.

This game is being billed as Hansbrough vs. Griffin, but much-hyped games like this one tend to come down to each team's role players and not its stars, though Carolina does have another star that Oklahoma will have a tough time dealing with in Ty Lawson. Lawson now looks 100 percent healthy, and I wish Austin Johnson the best of luck in keeping up with him. When Lawson is rolling, so are the Heels, and boy are they rolling right now.

Wayne Ellington has emerged for the Tar Heels as a go-to shooter, and his production seems to improve every game. Against Gonzaga, for instance, he was 7-13 from the field with 19 points and seven rebounds -- solid numbers.

Danny Green, Ed Davis and Larry Drew II have also stepped up as of late.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, saw Tony Crocker go off for 28 points against Syracuse, but that's because the Orange devoted all of its attention to Griffin, leaving Crocker wide open to shoot threes. Johnson and freshman Willie Warren are good, but are not the same caliber of players as Green and Ellington.

The Tar Heels are more have better players, are more athletic across the board and have role players that will lead Carolina to Detroit.

I'll stand by this team, no matter what

BruinFanBaby — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:46:16 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

~~Today’s~~ Saturday's loss was tough, to say the least. This team clearly hasn’t developed the heart of previous Ben Ball Warrior teams.

Imagine JF and AA letting Arizona beat them by playing physical, all-out basketball. It wouldn’t happen, because they wouldn’t LET it happen. DG was and still is correct when he said that this team lacks heart.

The four game winning streak was absolutely incredible, but all of the wins came at home. Championship teams need to know how to win on the road. They need to learn how to take a punch and get back up and continue to fight. Today, our Ben Ball Warriors didn’t do that.

Our Warriors let Arizona thoroughly beat them down by playing with fire. The Bruins didn’t have the fire to fight back. We did see glimpses of fight when the Bruins cut the lead down to 9 late in the game, but they didn’t have enough to finish the deal.

But you know what? It’s OK. Everyone who is bashing CBH right now is not a true Bruins fan. CBH has led this team to 3 straight Final Four’s, and I am completely confident that he will instill in this team a toughness that is unmatched across the nation. The season is a marathon, not a sprint. CBH still has the rest of this month and the Pac-10 tournament to prepare this team for March Madness.

I was at the game today, and a U of A fan sitting next to me asked me I wasn’t absolutely furious with the end result of the game.

My response? “I will always be a Bruins fan, no matter what. Just because we lost doesn’t mean that we still don’t have a good basketball team. Being completely furious with this team is irresponsible, considering how young they are.”

Hours later, I stand by what I said. This team is still developing, and I am completely fine with that. In the postgame thread, Tydides said that he is still having fun watching this team. So am I. It’s fun to watch a team start out so young and inexperienced, and watch them grow game-by-game. There have been numerous games this season where afterwards, I have sat back and said: “Now that was FUN!”

I am confident that our Warriors will learn from this game. Hopefully they will be extremely disappointed with themselves, and vow to never let something like this happen again. If that happens, then we will know this team has grown up.

In the end, I love this team. Despite ridiculous attacks from bandwagon fans, I love CBH. I love UCLA, and one loss is NOT going to change that.

Now that Jim Haslett is out of the picture to become the non-interim coach of the Rams, the leading...

BruinFanBaby — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:48:17 -0000

Now that Jim Haslett is out of the picture to become the non-interim coach of the Rams, the leading candidate to get the job is believed to be Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.

Per Adam Schefter of NFLN, the Rams are expected to announce their decision by Saturday, and the guy currently expected to get the job is Frazier.

This comes from PFT. It looks like the Rams are close to making a decision.

Sporting News says UCLA is going bowling

BruinFanBaby — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:44:47 -0000

Sporting News says UCLA is going bowling

Sporting News has picked the matchups for all 34 bowl games this college football season, and it predicts that UCLA will be playing in the (drumroll please...) Sun Bowl against Pitt.

Notes on Rams WRs

BruinFanBaby — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:41:26 -0000

The Rams finished up their joint practices with the Titans on Thursday, and some interesting notes on the wide receivers -- easily one of the most intriguing positions to keep an eye on this fall -- came out of the sessions, via Bill Coats of the Around the Horns blog. First off, Drew Bennett had a less-than-impressive showing in the presence of his former team:

WR Drew Bennett had a rough day, with two outright drops and another ball that he should’ve caught in the end zone.

Bennett will be an important piece to the receiving corps this season, taking over for Bruce at the No.2 spot. We all know he was very uncomfortable in the slot last year, so hopefully he will feel more at home being the No.2. But it's not good to hear that he was dropping passes in camp. His numbers have dropped dramatically since he had his career year in 2004, and in order for him to come anywhere near that 1, 247 yard season, he certainly can't be dropping passes. It should be interesting to monitor his progress in the preseason.

Moving on, VanRam noted yesterday that Avery has been out since July 29. It appears that he may be returning to the field soon:

Rookie Donnie Avery, who has been out nearly two weeks with a small fracture in his pelvic bone, ran routes with the other WRs and appears close to getting back onto the field.

Good news.

VanRam also noted in the post that it could be Keenan Burton emerging as the No.3 if Avery isn't ready to go by September 7. Well, Burton is making a strong case, highlighted by a great catch yesterday :

Rookie WR Keenan Burton made a terrific grab, outbattling two defenders for the ball, on a pass from Trent Green that netted about 30 yards.

Should be interesting to watch this battle develop and see if Avery can come back strong. If he can play a few games in the preseason and look sharp doing so, the spot is his. Burton would then become a serviceable backup and nice option in 4-wide sets.

Go Rams.

Rams and Titans scuffle in Nashville

BruinFanBaby — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:12:45 -0000

The Rams are in Nashville for joint practices with the Titans, and things got heated quickly. From Bill Coats at the PD:

Cheap shots by Tennessee defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch (shown below, with shaved head) and defensive tackle Antonio Johnson set the tone early in what amounted to a full-scale scrimmage. When safety Calvin Lowry hit Torry Holt high, knocking off Holt’s helmet after a 15-yard catch, the intensity picked up even more.

And sure enough, skirmishes soon began breaking out. Rams wideout Reche Caldwell tangled with cornerback Cortland Finnegan and Rams tackle Mark LeVoir squared off with defensive end Sean Conover.

In the main event, Rams offensive lineman Adam Goldberg, having seen enough of Vanden Bosch’s tactics, decided to take action after Vanden Bosch clubbed Rams rookie guard Roy Schuening on the back of the head. They went to the ground, but no damage was done, and the battle was ruled a draw.

Good to hear that the Rams have their competitive juices flowing and are ready to hit anything and everything. I doubt anything will spill over to the preseason game on Saturday, but it certainly add a little more intrigue to the game against the Titans.

Bruce Davis Inks Pro Contract

BruinFanBaby — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:52:22 -0000

Bruce Davis Inks Pro Contract

He signed a three-year deal with a signing bonus of around $500,000. Way to go, Bruce.