It's that time of year again.  Some call it Rivalry Week, others Blue and Gold Week.  I think of it as "I Hate Their Guts And Now I Can Show It Week."  I suppose that the official kickoff is Monday, but that is purely semantic.  It is going on right now, it was going on last week, and it will continue even after the game.  It is a rivalry, and it does not stop.  Last year, we were caught with out pants down, plain and simple.  Some U$C punks defaced our bear, and as a result made our entire student body look weak and apathetic.  In case you need a reminder:

via cdn0.sbnation.com

This was all a result of USAC's version of the Bruin Bear Security Force, which decided that no mischief could possibly occur after midnight.  They abandoned their post before most college students go to bed, and we all abandoned our responsibility by trusting them.  Furthermore, their half-assed response embarrassed the hell out of me and everyone else in this community.  When that happened I promised that there would be a change, and that is exactly what I am doing.

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Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

I know that given the extreme frustration surrounding the Washington game and this season as a whole, a lot of people are choosing to simply focus on the remaining two games.  For me however, even if we beat ASU, SC, and win the ensuing bowl game, I will still view this season as a failure and strikes one and two against Neuheisel.  Therefore, I cannot help but focus on the offseason and the decisions to come.  The coaching staff will certainly need an overhaul starting with Bullough, but I don't think that is the most pressing issue. 

For me, the first and most important decision CRN must make will be whether or not to stick with the pistol offense.  I have not heard much regarding this, both in BN and in the MSM, so I wanted to throw it out there and see what everyone thinks.  Analysis after the jump...

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Bumped. I believe this is first post we have featured on the frontpage from our students. To no ones surprise it's Sideout11, who has always been one of the most eloquent representatives of our student body. We hope we will hear more from you in the coming days. GO BRUINS. - N

Photo Credit: E. Corpuz

It has been 24 hours now, and just like N and I'm sure many more of you, I am having a lot of trouble putting my thoughts about Coach into words.  I have been sitting here for 5 minutes simply trying to think of a title for this post.  Despite not knowing what to say, I want to get my thoughts and emotions down while they are still raw.  I will be writing stream of consciousness and unedited (something I have never done before), so I apologize if this ends up being a jumbled mess of nothing.

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There will be absolutely no apology for the harsh criticisms directed towards the students for their boneheaded decision to rush the court. I also don't find the arguments in support of that (spontaneous) decision convincing. That said bumping up this post because I do appreciate the students being passionate about our sports team. I just hope they channel that passion to ensure that they also demand accountability when our teams are not doing what they can to play up the standards of UCLA in a consistent basis. GO BRUINS. -N

I'm not sure if I should even be posting this because frankly the issue needs to go away, but I also think that it has been blown way out of proportion and a lot of the views expressed here have reflected poorly on this community.  I am talking about the attempted storming of the court last night against Washington.  I am in the corner that it was utterly stupid and yet completely justified at the same time (hear me out and this will make more sense).  I have also seen some great comments defending the Den's actions, and I wanted to organize them all into one place.

I will start with full disclosure by saying that when it happened I was one of the people that sort of half rushed it.  Of course, when I saw police flying at me, I quickly did an about face and spent the rest of the melee pushing people back towards the sideline.  Needless to say reality set in at that moment, and I realized that rushing the court against an underachieving Washington team was stupid.  In fact, I'm sure that everyone who did so looks back today and is saying the same thing, "What was I thinking, we're UCLA." 

This brings me to my first point:  Rushing the court is spontaneous.  As always Fox presented the case well:

If you plan it, it's wrong. If it's purely spontaneous, you really can't help it. My instinct on things like that is to jump. If the den’s instinct is different, then so be it. Planning it sounds a lot like the things going on with all the student movements (not CTS’s movements) in the years of student unrest where you would see a printed handbill announcing the spontaneous demonstration that was going to be held as such and such a place and time.

More after the jump...

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Bumped. This post/thread is a great starting point to think about solutions to some of the issues we have been discussing re. attendance. GO BRUINS. -N

So here it is.  There is one painfully simple way to make sure the student sections of Pauley are filled every game, and that is to implement a ticket transfer system.  First though, a quick description of the student ticket process for those of you who aren't familiar.

Every year students who want tickets enter a lottery, because the demand for basketball tickets far exceeds the supply.  The packages available are the blue package, the gold package, and for those lucky enough a full package (both blue and gold).  Each package contains tickets to all home football games, all non-conference basketball games, and half of the team's Pac-10 games.  For the 2 biggest games of the year, $C and whichever marquee non-conference opponent we play (i.e. Kansas), one game is a part of the blue package and the other is a part of the gold.  The reason they split the games up into 2 packages is so that more students are afforded the opportunity to attend, and of course to make more money.

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Obviously it has been noted here before, and any fan will currently admit, that this year's struggles seem much graver than years past.  The simple explanations I have heard is that we seem to be we are getting worse not better, or we are too inconsistent, or we are not playing to our potential.  These are all true, but I think this season's issues go deeper.  What concerns me is that the team chemistry and identity is falling apart.

"It hurts.  I'm just lost right now.  I'm confused."  -Brian Price

"Three losses in a row is something that you're definitely not expecting with the talent that you have on this team."  -Alterraun Verner

(OC Register and LA Times)

Quotes like these, in combination with things like the Randall Carroll twitter fiasco, have me wondering if our team still thinks that they are one team.  Last year, we heard a lot of "there is no offense or defense, there is just team."  Not so much this year.  I for one do not know what is going on.  I don't know if it's a rift between the young guns and the upperclassmen, or between the offense and defense, or between the coaches and the players.  Frankly, the thought of any of those scares the crap out of me, because these are problems that no UCLA team in recent memory has had to face.  All I know that if team unity is coming unraveled, that would certainly explain the lack of progress, lack of identity, and questionable coaching calls.

As an example, I will use Sheldon Price.  I sort of ignored all of the criticism towards him up until now.  Not that I thought he should be playing, but I always trusted that the coaches were making the right football decision.  However, after watching today's game and seeing Sheldon get driven into the ground over and over again on runs to his side, I can't help but think that the decision to play him was more that an Xs and Os move.  There is just no way that Courtney Viney or a converted Tony Dye get taken out of every play the way Price does.  Maybe the coaches are using him to send a message or punish some (ie Viney).  Again, I don't know, but playing Sheldon because he is our best option doesn't seem true.

I know that all of this may seem like a conspiracy theory, but it could also be entirely possible and I think it is worth debating.  If you ask me, everything began falling apart with the suspensions after Tennessee.  I'd like to hear everyone else's take on this, because it could have some serious consequences for the program's direction.

via whinesisters.com

It's been a hectic and exciting couple of days here in Lakerland with the news of Artest, Ariza, and Phil.  However, today is a day of rest and festivities as we celebrate America's 233rd birthday.

Feel free to share your plans for today in the comments section, or do so on Monday for those of you taking a true vacation.  As for me, I will just be barbecuing and watching fireworks, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Go Purple & Gold!

I have a confession to make: I was wrong.  I was wrong about Fisher, and I was definitely wrong about Phil Jackson.  I know, it's shocking right?  Me not knowing what's best for the Lakers, who would have thought.  Now I know that I was not the only one screaming for more Farmar and UPS, so if anyone else would like to out themselves and publicly apologize, now is the time to do so because come next year, you and I will be criticizing every wrong move yet again.  It's inevitable, but it's fine because it means we're fans (it also means that championships are now officially more addictive than crack, unless of course you a Cubs fan).

Speaking of championships, congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers, 2009 NBA Champions!!!  I know it's one game premature, but c'mon, this thing is O-V-E-R.  The proof is in the pudding.  If you're a stat junkie consider this: the Lakers have 3 chances to win just one game, 2 of which are at home.  Now, considering that we have the second best home record in the league, have yet to lose two games in a row in these playoffs, and have yet to lose 3 games in a row since Pau joined us last year (did I mention that he is underrated?). I'd say that those are pretty good odds.  For those of you who ascribe to more of a Zen Master mind-game philosophy, last night's win was like telling Orlando that not even their own mamas love them.  It was the soul-crusher, the dagger to the heart, the realization that despite 5+ chances to be up 3-1 instead of down, they just can't close the Lakers out.  As far as Orlando winning 3 straight games, have crazier things happened?  Yes, but if you look closely none of them happened with KB24 on the floor.

And for those Orlando fans and MSMers (I'm looking at you Wilbon) who want to say that the Lakers are lucky or that Orlando should be up 3-1 right now, that's a bunch of bull.  I'm a firm believer that luck is when preparation meets opportunity, and the Lakers are just more prepared than the Magic.  Not only that, but when the Lakers have won they have played better.  I don't care what the game felt like, when you turn the ball over and miss your free throws, you're asking for a world of trouble.  Orlando did neither of these in Game 3, and surprise surprise, they won.  A win is a win, and even if it means that the only 2 threes you make all night happen to be the 2 biggest shots of the game, that is earning it in every sense of the word.  After all, there's a lot to be said for being your best when your best is needed.

Wait, there was a game last night?  Why didn't somebody tell me?  And here I've been just been rambling about Zen something and planning where along the parade route I am going to stand.  Click on the jump, and I promise that there will be at least 2 sentences about the play in Game 4.

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