SB Nation User Blog: Westwood Wizard

Random: Reggie Bush has a framed UCLA jersey in his house

Westwood Wizard — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:32:04 -0000

Via Curbed LA, Reggie Bush has put a house in the hills north of the Sunset Strip on the market. It's as tastefully decorated as you could imagine a house owned by a football player with more money than he knows what to do with being (still, amazing views). But check out the photo of the framed jerseys he has hanging by the staircase (the bottom left photo in the first set on the Redfin listing). Yes, that's a UCLA jersey. Any guesses which Bruin that Reggie chose to honor in his own house (along with the player's pro jersey)?

So alright, it wasn't someone that Reggie went up against, but still--it's a legend that played for your school's biggest rival, IMHO. What would you think if we found out that Maurice Jones-Drew had a framed Marcus Allen USC jersey in his house (please tell me you don't, MJD!). Fair, because he's a legend that came before his time, or foul, because of who he played for?

Oh, and one more thing: asking almost $400,000 more for a house that you bought in 2007, at the height of the bubble? Good luck, Reggie.

Two Bruins named to USA's U-20 World Cup Squad

Westwood Wizard — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:09:39 -0000

The US men's soccer team won everyone's attention in South Africa earlier this summer, and now there is another tournament in Africa coming up--the U-20 World Cup, hosted in Egypt. For those not familiar with the soccer lingo, U-20 is the team for players under 20 years old...hopefully, the future stars of the senior team.

Two current Bruins have been named to the roster: midfielder Michael Stephens, last season's Pac-10 player of the year and the leading scorer (goals, assists) for UCLA last season, and goalkeeper Brian Perk, who did not concede a goal in four straight games in qualification for the tournament, and who has only let in 1 goal in 8 games for the US U-20s.

Both players were recently named to Soccer America's college soccer preseason All-American team. If you want to read more about the tournament, FIFA has a page for the American team, and they single out Perk as one of the star players for the Americans. Also worth reading is a Goal.com interview with Perk. ESPN will be covering the tournament, so you can see all 3 of the USA's group games--it's definitely a tough group. Games against Germany (Sept. 26, ESPN Classic @ 6:55am Pacific time), Cameroon (Sept. 29, ESPN2 @ 9:30am), and South Korea (Oct. 2, ESPN2 @ 9:40am).

Go Bruins!

FYI - UC coaches' compensation

Westwood Wizard — Tue, 12 May 2009 22:27:46 -0000

The University of California has released the 2008 report on UC executive compensation, with base salaries and additional rewards/stipends listed for all executive UC employees. The report is here (spreadsheet starting on page 7 of the PDF, UCLA starting on page 11).

I thought some of you would be interested to see what coaches at UCLA as well as UC Berkeley made. I'm not passing any judgment on these figures--not saying that none of them didn't deserve what they earned, or that they should be making more.

In terms of cash compensation, Ben Howland is the highest paid UC employee. Much of that comes from not his annual base salary, but from other cash payments resulting from "outside events representing UCLA," which I imagine means revenue resulting from TV, sponsorship contracts, and bonus incentives.

The report specifically addresses coaches' compensation (page 4):

Awards paid to Coaches or other Athletics Personnel: The compensation for coaches is comprised of a base salary plus various types of bonuses and incentives. These bonuses and incentives are recognition awards tied to revenue streams from contracts with television and radio, marketing arrangements with equipment and clothing manufacturers, and summer sports camps. Other awards are based on specific performance goals and only pay out if attained, e.g., winning the national championship. Other forms of bonuses may include signing or retention bonuses.

The coaches shown in this report are paid from non-State funds, generally from specific gifts and donations or sports-related revenue sources. State funding is not used as a source for coach compensation. There are 20 payments (approved by the Regents or under their delegated authority) reported in this category, totaling $848,382 (17.5 percent of total payments reported).

The compensation for coaches is tied directly to market demand, with a coach’s success driving the demand. As win-records increase, national attention brings employment opportunities, which may require compensation terms to be adjusted when retention is necessary. The hiring of a new coach or the retention of an existing coach and the compensation offered to him/her is dependent upon the demand in the market to secure their services. The compensation offered to UC coaches is aligned with other coaches in the PAC-10, again, depending on the win/loss record of the coach.

Anyway, thought Bruinsnation readers would be interested in this information.

How about some love for soccer?

Westwood Wizard — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 18:31:30 -0000

I know we're all geeked over Howland landing Holiday, and are getting ready for football season.

But chances are, you've been missing some talented Bruins making a big name for themselves the past few weeks.

Some of the hottest young players in American soccer are UCLA Bruins.

You might have heard that a few weeks ago the US won the Gold Cup, the regional tournament for North and Central America, and the Caribbean (the CONCACAF federation). Perhaps you saw Benny Feilhabers's amazing volley, which was the winner against Mexico in the final.

Feilhaber played for UCLA in 2003-2004, and impressed the German team Hamburg, who signed him. Also playing that day was defender Jonathan Bornstein, another recent UCLA player (2004-2005), who now plays for Chivas USA in Major League Soccer. Going even further back, the captain of the US team, Carlos Bocanegra, is also a Bruin (1997-1999, he currently plays for Fulham in England) and Frankie Hejduk (1993-1995, plays for Columbus Crew in MLS) was also on the Gold Cup roster.

Unfortunately, Feilhaber, joined by Bornstein and another former Bruin, Marvell Wynne, have not done very well--nor has the US team as a whole--in Venezuela for Copa America, currently on-going. But there's another international tournament where current Bruins are shining. The Under-20s World Cup, going on in Canada, and two UCLA juniors, Sal Zizzo and Tony Beltran, set up goals in the last game for the US, against Poland.

Freddy Adu will get all of the recognition for his goals, but Zizzo absolutely made the first two.

You can see how our Bruins perform--the US plays Colombia in the Copa America, Thursday at 3:30pm (TeleFutura and GolTV). This will likely be the last game for the Americans in Venezuela. More promisingly, the US under-20s play the final group game against Brazil on Friday at 4:30pm (Galavision and ESPNU), and will likely advance to the next round of the tournament.