SB Nation User Blog: insomniacslounge

More photos from the UCLA vs U-dub game.

insomniacslounge — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:40:22 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

Telemachus already shared his great photoset from Saturday's game. I'd definitely recommend checking that out if you haven't already. I was on the opposite end of the stadium as he was, so I've got some shots from a different perspective. Unfortunately, my view was obscured for the three biggest plays of the game (Helmet-to-helmet on Prince, Austin's td, and Moore's int) by either the fans in front of me or players on the sidelines. I guess the only solution is that next game, I need to get front row seats. Either that, or it's time for BN to utilize their SBN and AOL affiliations and start getting some media passes!

Anyway, here's a sample of my shots from the day.

Gary Beban was the honorary captain of the game. I think he provided the offense with a lil' extra mojo:

The defense, as usual, was led by Brian Price and Rahim Moore:

Early in the game, it was Kevin Prince to Nelson Rosario. This is becoming quite a nice combo.

A good sign that Prince is becoming comfortable with the offense: an audible!

Another good sign: spreading the ball around. This time, Prince finds Cory Harkey for an early touchdown

JetSki's first fumble of the game. This is becoming a bad habit. (I love the reactions of a few of the dance team members on this one.)

With Franklin's fumbles, it became running back by committee (tho Christian Ramirez was not invited to be a member of the committee). Here's Derrick Coleman finding some room to run.

Milton Knox got some carries and the offense got some variety with the Wildcat! (And look at the opposing DB respecting Kevin Craft's speed at wideout!)

For those who couldn't make the game, here's a little flavor of the sidelines:

#18 is a freshman linebacker. He's already learning that your eyes have to be everywhere:

Kevin Prince was a bit groggy after taking a helmet to helmet hit:

But a few minutes later, he let the fans know that he was doing ok:

While the defense was maligned early, eventually they started swarming to the ball:

Reggie Carter gets to Locker:

For some reason Wash abandoned the rush, and Locker found himself under a lot of pressure:

Here's the beginning of Austin's great catch. I didn't get the end b/c everyone in front of me started jumping up and down. Hopefully one of those 9 photographers in this frame stayed with the shot.

Another photograph that got away. The UCLA helmet belongs to Rahim Moore, who had just made the game winning interception. I'm only including this shot b/c I think it's funny that the police officer is cheering. I didn't know they were allowed to do that!

After the int, Rahim Moore gives thanks:

Rick Neuheisel finally gets a chance to give a victory speech again.

One sidenote to the speech. A lot of Washington fans stuck around in the stadium just so they could boo Coach Neuheisel when he stepped up to the podium. And their voices were heard pretty loudly. Whether it's misguided or not, I admire their passion. I wish our fans would do the same anytime that Lavin announces one of our games. (I'm not saying that Neuheisel equals Lavin- only that I wish the fan response was similar.)

So that's what a victory looked like from my seats. I sure wouldn't mind seeing a few more of them.

Tyler Honeycutt out 3 to 4 weeks

insomniacslounge — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:16:17 -0000

Tyler Honeycutt out 3 to 4 weeks

"Stress reaction" to his right tibia, per UCLA Athletics twitter feed.

...tough start for the kid.

Broke the $3000 mark today- Thank you, Bruins!

insomniacslounge — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:12:22 -0000

Tonight, I received yet another donation from a generous Bruin to Dribble For The Cure, bringing the total raised in my son Tyler's honor to over $3000! Your generosity has been overwhelming. The event is this Sunday, and I hope that I will be able to thank some of you in person- but as I realize that many of you are not able to attend the festivities, allow me to do so in this space: Thank you all so much for your very heart warming and supportive gestures. You make me even prouder to be a Bruin.

As for Tyler's condition, he just can't seem to get over the hump. The good news is that the donor stem cells have successfully engrafted in his bone marrow and are producing new white blood cells. The bad news is that because of the immunosuppressive therapy that is part of the transplant regimen, he keeps getting secondary infections which require him to stay in the hospital. Three weeks ago, on the eve of his scheduled discharge actually, he found himself with a 104 degree fever as a result of an opportunistic infection of the BK virus. He had just started to shake the virus this last weekend and was scheduled to be discharged this Wednesday. Unfortunately, today he tested positive for C. difficile, a bacterium found in everyone's gut that is usually held in check in otherwise healthy individuals. I won't go into the details of the symptoms and possible complications, but I'm sure you all can imagine what happens when an intestinal bacteria runs rampant. It's not pleasant. Fortunately, the hospital lab was at least able to isolate the cause of his symptoms so that he was able to begin treatment today.

Today is the 62nd consecutive day that Tyler has been in the hospital, and it's indefinite how many more there will be before he can get out of here. It has certainly been a day when we could have used some good news, and getting an email that Tyler's page had surpassed the $3k mark was one of the few times that I smiled today.

Thank you, once again.

-Derek (Tyler's dad)

UCLA, Class of '95

Russell Westbrook featured in NY Times article about NBA players returning to school

insomniacslounge — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:33:21 -0000

Russell Westbrook featured in NY Times article about NBA players returning to school

Honestly, he doesn't come off that great, but I still have to give him props for going back to work towards his degree.

UCLA v Oregon kickoff at 12:30; Regionally televised on ABC

insomniacslounge — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:04:01 -0000

UCLA v Oregon kickoff at 12:30; Regionally televised on ABC

Just an FYI for those that need to plan ahead. Please don't ban me for looking ahead a game. :)

Dribble for the Cure at the Galen Center

insomniacslounge — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:37:15 -0000

BUMPED...It is times like these that we need to put the rivalry aside and come together to work for a worthy cause. I asked Derek to post this because I have kept tabs on his family's situation over the last 24 months or so and have always asked if there was anything I could do...now, I can. Please consider this, not just for Tyler, but the many kids that are affected by this terrible disease. - P

This October 26th, in conjunction with the men's basketball team's Cardinal and Gold game, USC will hold it's 4th annual Dribble for the Cure event at the Galen Center. All proceeds will be split evenly between the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation and Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The event was founded by the late Al McGuire at Marquette University and later introduced to Southern California in 2006 by then head coach Tim Floyd, who wanted to establish a similar tradition at USC. Since that time, UCLA has followed USC's lead and held their own Dribble for the Cure event at UCLA to benefit PCRF and the Mattel Children's Hospital.

The festivities will include entertainment by the USC band and dance team, game booths, face painting, free throw shooting contests, a silent auction, a drawing for the usage of a 16 person suite, free admission to the intra-squad game, and an autograph session with the men's basketball team and Coach O'Neill. I'd encourage anyone who can make it out to register for the event and spend a Sunday at the Galen Center. Even if you can't make it to campus, there are still ways to support this worthy cause:

I will be participating at the UCLA event this November in honor of my seven year-old son, Tyler. As those who keep an eye over at BN or who used to read my old blog may know, my son has been battling Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma for two and a half years now. This summer has unfortunately been a very difficult one in which Tyler has had to confront many setbacks, including relapses in his central nervous system that required a reservoir to be implanted into his brain, some impairment of motor skills, Bell's palsy, and the migration of cancer cells into his bone marrow. This last event has necessitated a hematopoietic (blood) stem cell transplant. This post is currently being written from his bedside at City of Hope, where Tyler has just completed his conditioning regimen comprised of total body irradiation and high dose chemotherapy. He is scheduled to receive stem cells from an unrelated donor late Tuesday night. At that point, he'll have a whole new battle to deal with.

He will still be in isolation when Dribble for the Cure rolls around, but I (or a relative depending on the circumstances at the time) will be attending to get him an autographed ball from the team. If you would like to show your support for him with a donation, you may do so by visiting his pledge page at:

http://pcrf.kintera.org/ucladribbleforthecure/guttylittlebruin

I know it may seem unusual for an alumnus of UCLA to be soliciting funds at a USC blog. But many of you here have been very supportive of me in the past, and besides, some things supersede rivalries. Also, Tyler received a great deal of his treatment at Children's Hospital Los Angeles under the direction of a physician who is a professor at Keck School of Medicine of USC, and this is an important enough cause that I wanted to get the message out in any way possible.

I should also note that while cancer has ravaged Tyler's body, his spirit is still as strong as ever. He still makes me laugh every day. He still amazes me with something new every day. And he still dreams about playing hoops for the Mighty Bruins.

photo taken 08/30/09

Dribble for the Cure at Pauley Pavilion, as well as an update on my son

insomniacslounge — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:59:24 -0000

Bumped. We have said over and over and over again, how this place is a family. Time for all of us to step up and show we mean it by supporting our BN family. GO BRUINS. -N

Last year, Coach Ben Howland, former NCAA champion guard John Vallely, and the current UCLA basketball team held the inaugural Dribble for the Cure event at Pauley Pavilion to benefit the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation and Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA. The event saw 343 participants enjoy the festivities at Pauley and raised over $60,000 to fight children's cancer.

UCLA has recently announced that the basketball team will continue this new tradition Saturday, November 1, at Pauley Pavilion. Last year's festivities included prize giveaways and an autograph session with the entire team. I would expect them to do the same this year. I'd encourage anyone who can make it out to register for the event and spend a Saturday morning at Pauley Pavilion.

Even if you can't make it to campus, there are still ways to support this worthy cause:

I will be participating this November in honor of my son, Tyler, who (as many of you know) has been battling Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma for two and a half years now. This summer has unfortunately been a very difficult one in which Tyler has had to confront many setbacks, including relapses in his central nervous system that required a reservoir to be implanted into his brain, some impairment of motor skills, Bell's palsy, and the migration of cancer cells into his bone marrow. This last event has necessitated a hematopoietic (blood) stem cell transplant. I am actually writing this post from his bedside at City of Hope, where Tyler has just completed his conditioning regimen comprised of total body irradiation and high dose chemotherapy. He is scheduled to receive stem cells from an unrelated donor this Tuesday. At that point, he'll have a whole new battle to deal with.

He will still be in isolation when Dribble for the Cure rolls around in November, but I (or a relative depending on the circumstances at the time) will be attending to get him an autographed ball from the team. If you would like to show your support for him with a donation, you may do so by visiting his pledge page at:

http://pcrf.kintera.org/ucladribbleforthecure/guttylittlebruin

I don't typically solicit funds on a fan blog. But as has been demonstrated repeatedly- this site isn't just about fandom. It's about family.

-Derek (UCLA, Class of '95)

P.S.- I should note that while cancer has ravaged Tyler's body, his spirit is still as strong as ever. He still makes me laugh every day. He still amazes me with something new every day. And he still dreams about playing hoops for the Mighty Bruins.

photo taken 08/30/09

Photo Essay of UCLA Scrimmage

insomniacslounge — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:44:15 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

Everyone has already done a tremendous job providing their impressions of the scrimmage, and there definitely appears to be a consensus as to what did and did not work for the Bruins at Drake. For those that weren't able to make it, here are some photos to give an idea of what the afternoon was like. (As per the information provided in an earlier post, I've done my best to eliminate shots which showed any formations.)

Norm Chow had a keen eye on Ricky Marvray. Marvray saw a lot of action in the game and while he didn't make any catches in the scrimmage, he was very active.

More after the jump.

If you were making a kid's book about football and asked the illustrator to draw a giant defensive lineman who was a force of nature unto himself, it would look like Brian Price:

Norm Chow offers Brian Price a meal coupon (do they still have those?) in exchange for taking it easy on his offense. As it turned out, Price would not oblige:

The entire team simulates the experience of trying to block Price:

I know the athletic department doesn't want us showing any pictures of formations, but I thought it was only fair to warn SDSU about our new 4 QB, multiball offense we're implementing this season. It's going to revolutionize the game!

Christian Ramirez looked good in 1 on 0 drills:

However once Ramirez met the first team defense, it was another story:

Here's a scene that Bruins fans became all too familiar with last year. The QB (in this case Prince) is under immediate pressure...

and floats the ball to a wide open....defender (Moore)

who takes the ball to the house

But things looked better when they handed the ball to Johnathan Franklin (this sequence is all from the same carry):

Milton Knox is the kind of guy who can hide in a crowd. Want proof? He has the ball in this photo. Try to find him.

For a little guy, Milton Knox has great forward lean:

Damien Thigpen was quick to hit the holes:

Jerry Johnson makes the catch while another Jerry looks on:

Overall, it was a rough day for the WRs. This time it was Randall Carroll who found himself on the ground without a football.

The TEs looked great, however. Here's Ryan Moya and the art of the stiff arm:

As noted in other posts, the defensive secondary was grabbing and holding a lot. I like the aggression, but they'll have to clean that up.

This was pretty representative of what the return game was like. Coverage guys off balance and reaching while a returner (Viney here) runs free. If you're an optimist, it means we have gamebreakers on special teams:

This picture does show the Bruins in formation, so if you need to remove it, I understand. But I just wanted to illustrate how amazing it was to watch UCLA football with Royce and Powell in the background.

Overall, it was great to see that there are some playmakers emerging on this team. As we all know, there are going to be some growing pains with this team. But at least at means there's growth ahead.

Go Bruins!

TWolves now feature two Bruins

insomniacslounge — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 04:52:29 -0000

TWolves now feature two Bruins

Minnesota has signed Ryan Hollins to a 3 year, $7 million offer sheet, which the Mavericks have said they will not match.

Congratulations to Ryan, who put it all together at just the right time for UCLA in 2006 and is now getting some serious coin (relative to the general population, at least).

White's Weight Loss Plan: Stop swilling tequila

insomniacslounge — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:34:45 -0000

White's Weight Loss Plan: Stop swilling tequila

I suppose congratulations are in order to LenDale for realizing that he had to curtail his drinking. But dropping 30 pounds by making no changes other than giving up tequila? That's a helluva lot of Patron.