SB Nation User Blog: gilbert

Game 3 at 9 a.m.

gilbert — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:34:33 -0000

Game 3 at 9 a.m.

That's what it says both on MLB.com's schedule and the official site, Game 3 is scheduled for 9am PT in Boston on Sunday.

Way too early.

Lorenzo Mata-Real is shown at about 0:15 in this video making a dunk for the Mexican National Team...

gilbert — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 07:52:20 -0000

Lorenzo Mata-Real is shown at about 0:15 in this video making a dunk for the Mexican National Team against Uruguay.

Unfortunately, that's not why this video has gotten big -- there was a ridiculous brawl in this game, and chairs were thrown. I couldn't find any wrongdoing by Lorenzo in the video (he's a Bruin, we wouldn't expect any), but this video was so bizarre I had to share this with someone else.

Angels have the best record in the AL

gilbert — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 07:51:17 -0000

Angels have the best record in the AL

Not bad.

First time this has happened all year I think, and only 2 games back of the Dodgers for best record in all of baseball.

UPDATE: Men's tennis advances to semifinals

gilbert — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:57:10 -0000

UPDATE: Men's tennis advances to semifinals

The Bruins beat #2 Mississipi to advance to the semifinals, 4-3. UCLA will play #3 Ohio State Monday at 11 a.m. PT, and you can see live stats and live video here.

OTHER SPORTS:

Softball won its regional final against Fresno State today, 9-5, advancing to the super regionals, where they will play unseeded Missouri. The Bruins will likely host the series starting either Thursday or Friday (TBD)

Men's golf won the Central Regional, advancing to the NCAA Championships, which start on May 27.

Thanks to jaffa, templarknight and PEDBruin for updating the scores.

Rich Thompson's back in the majors

gilbert — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 06:58:38 -0000

Rich Thompson's back in the majors

Looks like we got what some of you have been wishing for. Ash Thompson scoops the rest of the media.

UCLA gets #1 seed with win and UW loss

gilbert — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:05:14 -0000

UPDATE: ryebreadraz beat me to this in a comment in his fanpost from earlier this week.

I haven't seen this anywhere else yet, and correct me if I'm wrong, but the Bruins get the #1 seed in the Pac-10 Tourney with a win and a Washington loss no matter what now. Nothing else matters anymore, not even the Cal-Arizona State game.

Here's why:

Scenario #1: Cal beats ASU

This would put UCLA and Washington tied for first at 13-5, with the first tiebreaker being head-to-head, where the teams split. The next tiebreaker would be results against the next best team, which in this case would be Cal, finishing third. UCLA swept Cal, Cal swept Washington, so UCLA would get the #1 seed

Scenario #2: Arizona State beats Cal

In this scenario, UCLA and UW would be tied at 13-5 and would still be tied in the first tiebreaker, head-to-head. Cal and Arizona State would be tied for third at 11-7 and under Pac-10 rules, you take head-to-head results against tied teams as a group, and UCLA and Washington both went 2-2 against these schools. So the next tiebreakers would be head-to-head results against the next best team. Both UCLA and Washington would've split against Washington State, split against Arizona, swept USC, swept Oregon State, swept Stanford and swept Oregon.

Here's the Pac-10 tiebreaker rules from their media guide (PDF):

1. Two-team tie
a. Results of head-to-head competition during the regular season.

b. Each team’s record vs. the team occupying the highest position in the final regular standings, and then continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.

When arriving at another group of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s record against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to that group’s own tie-breaking procedure), rather than the performance against individual tied teams.

c. Won-lost percentage against all Division I opponents.
d. Coin toss conducted by the Commissioner or designee.

a) and b) would be even as I established already. For the whole season, UCLA would be 24-7 and Washington would be 23-8, so UCLA would get the #1 seed by tiebreaker c).

And to think, had Washington won one more non-conference game (or UCLA lost one more) -- this could've gone to a coin toss.

(Cross-posted from my blog.)

Jeff Miller on Game 4???

gilbert — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:11:04 -0000

Jeff Miller on Game 4???

I don't read the OC Register all that often, so maybe someone can explain to me why Jeff Miller wrote a blog entry titled "Angels lose Game 4"?

Wow, that's some bad journalism.

UPDATE: New magic number: 1

gilbert — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:25:37 -0000

***9:03 PM UPDATE: With the Angels win, the magic number is now 1.

The Angels can clinch home-field advantage in the first round tonight with a win and a White Sox loss.

My reasoning:

The Angels are 93-59, the White Sox are 84-68. If the Angels finish ahead of the White Sox, the worst they can possibly do is be the #2 seed in the AL, because:

* The Halos would have a better record than any AL Central team
* If the wild card comes out of the East, the Angels would play the wild card team, and the wild card team never gets home-field advantage.
* If the wild card came out of the Central, even if the Angels had a worse record than the AL East winner, the Angels would still have a better record than the Central winner, meaning the Angels would have home-field in the first round.

Game 1 will either be Oct. 1 (Wednesday) or Oct. 2 (Thursday).

Note: I first posted this at Bugs & Cranks. I'm usually not one to promote my stuff, but I hadn't seen anyone else mention this here. (I didn't want to start another epic post like Hostility Abounds a couple of days ago.)

[FINAL daily update] -- Bruins at the Olympics

gilbert — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:16:41 -0000

Bumped. Folks if you haven't done it yet, please join us in giving Gilbert a huge thanks for his incredible effort last two weeks. Of course it goes without saying congrats to all our Bruin men and women for their amazing efforts in Beijing. GO BRUINS. -N

(Cross-posted from my blog.)

UCLA medal winners: Dawn Harper, gold (track, 100m Hurdles); Monique Henderson, gold (track, 4x400m relay); Lauren Cheney, gold (USA soccer); Mark Hunter, gold (rowing, lightweight double sculls); Sheena Tosta, silver (track, 400m Hurdles); Andrea Duran, silver (USA softball); Tairia Flowers, silver (USA softball); Stacey Nuveman, silver (USA softball); Natasha Watley, silver (USA softball); Adam Wright, silver (USA men's water polo); Brandon Brooks, silver (USA men's water polo); Natalie Golda, silver (USA women's water polo); Jaime Hipp, silver (USA women's water polo); Kim Vandenberg, bronze (swimming, 4x200 relay); Tanya Harding, bronze (Australia softball).

WEEKEND UPDATE:

Sorry I didn't get to this sooner. I was gone and/or busy all weekend. This is my final scheduled update of this post. If I have time this week, I'll put up a special post recapping the medal winners.

Track and Field: Saturday, UCLA's Monique Henderson ran the third leg for the USA 4x400 relay team that won the gold medal. It was Henderson's second gold medal, she was also on the team that won in Athens. The team ran in 3:18.54. Congrats to Monique.

Men's Water Polo Gold Medal game: Hungary 14, USA 10 -- Hungary was the heavy favorite, as they've now won three straight gold medals. The U.S. team battled and kept it close until the fourth quarter. One bright spot for the U.S. was UCLA's Brandon Brooks, who was the backup goalie but came into the game when the starter was struggling and made several big saves to keep the game close. Bruin Adam Wright had an assist. It's USA's first medal since 1988.

FULL LISTINGS BY SPORT (aftter the jump)

TRACK AND FIELD (10 Bruins)

Amy Acuff (High Jump), Jeanette Bolden (Head Coach, team USA), Jessica Cosby (Hammer), Dawn Harper (100m Hurdles), Monique Henderson (4x400 relay), Yoo Kim (Pole Vault, Korea), Suzy Powell-Roos (Discus), Sheena (Johnson) Tosta (400m Hurdles), Rhonda Watkins (Long Jump, Trinidad and Tobago), Jonathan Williams (400m Hurdles, Belize)

Aug. 15 -- Discus qualifying rounds (Suzy Powell-Roos -- 15th)
Aug. 15 -- Men's 400m Hurdles round 1 (Jonathan Williams -- 4th in heat)
Aug. 17 -- 100m Hurdles round 1 (Dawn Harper -- 2nd in heat, qualifies for semis)
Aug. 17 -- Women's 400m Hurdles round 1 (Sheena Tosta -- 5th in heat)
Aug. 17 -- Hammer throw qualifying rounds (Jessica Cosby -- NM)
Aug. 18, 4:40 a.m. -- 100m Hurdles Semis (Harper wins semifinal)
Aug. 18 -- Women's 400m Hurdles Semis (Tosta wins semifinal)
Aug. 18 -- Long Jump qualifying rounds (Rhonda Watkins 19th in qualifying)
Aug. 19 -- 100m Hurdles finals (Harper wins gold medal, link to video)
Aug. 20, 5:40 a.m. -- Pole Vault qualifying rounds (Yoo Kim, NM)
Aug. 20 -- Women's 400m Hurdles finals (Tosta wins silver medal)
Aug. 20 -- High Jump qualifying rounds (Amy Acuff, 9th)
Aug. 22 -- 4x400 Relay round 1 (Henderson's USA team wins heat)
Aug. 23 -- 4x400 Relay finals (Henderson's USA team takes gold!)

SOFTBALL (6 Bruins)

Players on Team USA: Andrea Duran, Lisa Fernandez, Tairia (Mims) Flowers, Stacey Nuveman, Natasha Watley
On Australia: Tanya Harding (I couldn't find their schedule)

Note: A lot of these games are at 9 p.m., watchable for us West Coasters.

Aug. 11 -- USA 11, Venezuela 0 (Watley home run -- link to video highlights)
Aug. 12 -- USA 3, Australia 0 (Watley RBI single)
Aug. 14 -- USA 8, Canada 1 (Duran 2 RBI, link to video)
Aug. 14 -- USA 7, Japan 0 (Watley home run, link to video)
Aug. 15 -- USA 7, Chinese Taipei 0
Aug. 17 -- USA 8, Netherlands 0 (Flowers home run, link to video)
Aug. 17 -- USA 9, China 0 (Flowers 2 RBI, link to video)

Australia: Finished 5-2, third place in group play.

Aug. 19 -- Semifinal #1 vs. #2 -- USA 4, Japan 1, 9 inn. (Link to video)
Aug. 19 -- Semifinal #3 vs. #4 -- Australia 5, Canada 3
Aug. 20 -- Bronze Medal game: Japan 4, Australia 3, 12 inn. (Australia gets bronze)
Aug. 21 -- Gold Medal game: Japan 3, USA 1 (USA gets silver)

MEN'S SOCCER (3 Bruins)

Players on Team USA: Benny Feilhaber, Patrick Ianni, Marvell Wynne

Aug. 7 -- USA 1, Japan 0 (Wynne assist, link to video)
Aug. 10 -- USA 2, Netherlands 2
Aug. 13 -- Nigeria 2, USA 1 (USA eliminated)

WOMEN'S SOCCER (3 Bruins)

On USA: Lauren Cheney, Jillian Ellis (assistant coach)
On Canada: Kara Lang

Aug. 6 -- Norway 2, USA 0
Aug. 6 -- Canada 2, Australia 1 (Kara Lang scored game-winning goal)
Aug. 9 -- USA 1, Japan 0
Aug. 9 -- Canada 1, China 1
Aug. 12 -- USA 4, New Zealand 0
Aug. 12 -- Sweden 2, Canada 1
Aug. 15 -- Quarterfinals: USA 2, Canada 1
Aug. 18 -- Semifinals: USA 4, Japan 2
Aug. 21 -- Gold Medal Game: USA 1, Brazil 0 (USA wins gold)

WOMEN'S WATER POLO (3 Bruins)

On Team USA: Natalie Golda, Jaime Hipp, Guy Baker (head coach)

Aug. 11, -- USA 12, China 11 (Golda scored four goals -- video highlights)
Aug. 13 -- USA 9, Italy 9
Aug. 14 -- USA 12, Russia 7 (Golda scored three goals)
Aug. 18 -- Semifinals: USA 9, Australia 8 (Golda goal)
Aug. 21 -- Gold Medal Game: Netherlands 9, USA 8 (Golda goal, USA gets silver)

MEN'S WATER POLO (2 Bruins)

On Team USA: Brandon Brooks, Adam Wright

Aug. 10 -- USA 8, China 4 (Wright assist, link to video)
Aug. 11 -- USA 12, Italy 11 (Wright goal)
Aug. 13 -- Serbia 4, USA 2
Aug. 15 -- USA 7, Croatia 5 (Wright goal)
Aug. 17 -- USA 8, Germany 7 (Wright two goals, USA gets bye to semfinals, link to video)
Aug. 22 -- Semifinals: USA 10, Serbia 5 (Wright three assists, two steals)
Aug. 24 -- Gold Medal Game: Hungary 14, USA 10 (Brooks four saves, Wright assist)

The U.S. wins the silver medal, its first medal since 1988.

TENNIS (2 Bruins)

Bruins competing: Mark Knowles (Bahamas), Marcin Matkowski (Poland)

Both are competing in doubles. Knowles’ parter is Devin Mullings, Matkowski’s partner is Maruisz Fyrstenberg. There are 32 doubles teams in the single-elimination tournament.

Aug. 12 — First Round: Matkowski/Fyrstenberg def. Yu/Zeng (CHN) 6-3, 6-4.
Aug. 12 — First Round: Knowles/Mullings lose to Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan 6-2, 6-1.
Aug. 13 — Round of 16: Matkowski/Fyrstenberg def. Damm/Vizner (CZE) 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5.
Aug. 14 — Quarterfinals: Matkowski/Fyrstenberg lose to Aspelin/Johansson (SWE) 7-6 (5), 6-4.

SWIMMING (2 Bruins)

Bruins competing: Kim Vandenberg, 4x200m relay (USA), Nicolette Teo, 100/200 breast, relays (Singapore)

Aug. 10 --100m Breaststroke heats (Nicolette Teo 1:10.75 -- 7th in heat)
Aug. 13 -- 200m Breaststroke heats (Teo 2:34.60 -- 6th in heat)
Aug. 13 -- 4x200m Relay heats (Vandenberg's team wins heat, 7:52.43)
Aug. 13 -- 4x200m Relay finals (Vandenberg not in final race where team won bronze, but she gets a bronze medal anyway.)

BEACH VOLLEYBALL (3 Bruins)

Bruin competing: Elaine Youngs
Bruins coaching: Bob Alejo, Liz Masakayan

Elaine Youngs and her partner Nicole Branagh are in Group E. Each group has four teams, the top two teams and some third-place teams go to the Round of 16.

Aug. 9 — Youngs/Branagh def. Kadjik/Mooren (NED) 21-19, 27-25. (link to video)
Aug. 11 — Youngs/Branagh def. Pohl/Rau (GER) 21-17, 21-16
Aug. 13 — Youngs/Branagh def. Ribalta/Crespo (CUB) 21-19, 13-21, 15-12. (link to video)
Aug. 14 — Round of 16: Youngs/Branagh def. Grasset/Peraza (CUB) 21-15, 21-13.
Aug. 17 — Quarterfinals: Youngs/Branagh lose to Xue/Zhang Xi (CHN) 21-17, 21-13.

ROWING (2 Bruins)

Bruins competing: Mark Altman (USA), Lightweight Fours; Mark Hunter (Great Britain), Lightweight Double Sculls

Aug 10 -- Heats: Bruin rowing assistant coach Mark Hunter easily won his heat with partner Zac Purchase, advancing to the semifinals. The other Bruin, Mark Altman's team finished fourth in their heat.
Aug. 12 -- Repechage: Altman's team finsihed third, which looks like enough to advance to the semifinals. (Link to video)
Aug. 15 -- Semifinals: Hunter/Purchase won their semifinal (link to video).
Aug. 17 -- Finals: Hunter/Purchase WIN THE GOLD MEDAL! (link to video)

GYMNASTICS (1 Bruin)

Bruin competing: Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs (Canada)

Aug. 10 -- Women's Qualifiers -- Hopfner-Hibbs finished 19th in the All-Around (out of 98), which as freesia39 pointed out in the comments, is good enough to advance to the finals.

Aug. 14 ---Women's Individual finals: Hopfner-Hibbs finished 16th overall. Very impressive, and she's just going to be an incoming freshman this year.

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL (1 Bruin)

John Speraw is an assistant coach for Team USA. Since there are no Bruins actually competing, I didn't list the games.

EDIT: Team USA won the gold medal.

(My sources were UCLABruins.com, NBC, USA Softball, USA Water Polo and the official Beijing 2008 site.)
(Last updated on Monday, Aug. 25 at 10:45 AM.)

Bruin Kara Lang scores a goal at Olympics

gilbert — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:21:56 -0000

Bruin Kara Lang scores a goal at Olympics

UCLA's Kara Lang, playing for Canada, scored a goal in Canada's 2-1 win over Argentina early this morning. It was the first game at the Olympics (soccer always starts a few days before every other sport).

I thought that was kind of cool.

Also, to keep you in suspense, I'm working on a giant schedule and list of when every Bruin is competing at the Olympics. I'll post it here in the fanposts and at my own blog when I'm done (hopefully later today).