SB Nation User Blog: isodore

Love of Life

isodore — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:06:56 -0000

It seems as the season progresses, the more we hear about Kevin Love and what a great guy he is.

Yahoo sports despite employing liars like Dan Wetzel has put out a nice touchy feely piece on our favorite freshman center.

Here are some bits from the story. It is too long to copy and paste even if I wanted to. So some highlights:

Eight months into his career as a UCLA Bruin, and Kevin Love can't even get a burrito.

At least not without an interruption.

Last week, as Love made his way to Rubio's Baja Grill, the freshman center was approached by a pair of fawning coeds at the Ackerman Union.

"Oh ... my ... God - Kevin Love!" one of them said. "You are such a good basketball player!"

Jason King is very concerned with burrito consumption, but we all have our obsessions. Either way the story goes into great detail on who Kevin is as a person and what an overall quality human being he is. On a mantle in his school - close to the jar filled with glass from the backboard he shattered - is a picture of Love sitting in the middle of his high school gymnasium, surrounded by a group of children.

Love made a habit of pulling up a chair after each of his games to talk with and get to know the kids who view him as an idol. The personality trait is one that began to reveal itself at an early age.

When Love was in elementary school he befriended a young boy named Billy who was born with a mental handicap. When Billy invited his entire class to his birthday party, Love was one of the few who actually showed up. And he spent the night.

"They got to high school," Karen said, "and Kevin was walking down the hall one day and saw some kids were teasing him. Kevin walked up, put his arm around the kid and said, 'You don't ever mess with him. He's my friend.'"

When Love was a senior at Lake Oswego, a parent jokingly sent word to Love about how great it would be if he could show up at his son's birthday party that weekend. Needless to say a few jaws dropped when Love walked through the door.

"It was fun," Love said. "We ate ice cream and played dodge ball."

While most of the article is stuff we all know, it is nice to see it on display. Plus it gives even more reason to love him. (Pun not intended, but left in anyway.)

The Late Spring/Summer Doldrums

isodore — Wed, 09 May 2007 20:08:29 -0000

Bumped from the diaries. Drinking beers (legally of course) = always a great topic to discuss. GO BRUINS. -N

So here we are, it is May already. The (now yearly) vacation to the Final Four is over and beginning to fade from our immediate attention. Recruiting Big names in Basketball seems to be old hat at this point, and as much as we enjoy discussing how well certain players will perform, it pales in comparison to actually watching them in action.

Spring sports are fun and deserve attention, but are not as thrilling to the whole of BN as Football and Basketball. Plus they win with such regularity, we often take them for granted.

Football is still 4 months away, and there really isn't anything new to add to the discussion yet. Plus with the program firmly rooted in mediocre results on field, it is hard to get "up" for the new season.

We are fans wading through the Doldrums of college sports, and as the Silverlakebruin episode shows, we are all a bit sensitive right now. We don't have an outlet for our passion and frustrations.

I know what it has done in the past. 2(?) years ago I was mildly attacked for stating my opposition to Dorrell bashing without provocation. Basically people were going on and on about KD's flaws to the point I was sick of hearing it. As were others. That was misinterpreted as being Pro-KD when I just wanted to save the discussion for a better, more appropriate time, like when we get news of his latest blunders.

We all have to remember we are on the same page, and have to show each other some respect by not attacking just because someone thinks KD being in shape is a positive quality. It is. So are remembering birthdays and brushing your teeth at night. That doesn't mean anybody thinks it makes up for poor results on the field.

We need to get through the summer focused on holding KD's feet to the flame. In order to do that we need to avoid fighting each other, and remain honest about our program.

So that being said, I thought we could discuss what I saw in the Daily Bruin today. ASUCLA has approved a plan to put a Pub on campus. I don't know if it will happen (probably not with the current administrators) but it is an interesting point of discussion. Will the new Chancellor bring a more relaxed tone? Or will he continue the current trend of uptight, shortsighted Carnesale. The kind that hired KD and shielded Lavin and Dalis. I think we need that kind of establishment for camaraderie on campus, since there isn't really a destination like that in Westwood. Sure there are a couple bars, but not a campus landmark steeped in school pride.

Ok now discuss!

Here's a little note on Pauley Pavilion's Progress

isodore — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 07:33:39 -0000

As I have stated a few times, I am privy to some little tidbits here and there about the campus. One of those tidbits, which I have not seen posted elsewhere, is that there were a series of meetings yesterday to discuss the Pauley renovation between the various departments associated with Pauley Pavilion and people representing the architecture firm hired to revamp Pauley. This was a large scale meeting, held as a series of small meetings, to discuss the improvements needed. There has not been a specific plan set as of this time, but the concept will be on a very large scale, and much of what we know as Pauley will be changed.

The price tag I heard about 2nd hand from a conversation Wooden had was in the $120 million range and that there has been a $25 million donor. The changes will include the removal of the inside concourse between the 200 and 300 levels, expanding the guest accomodation facilities, a complete overhaul of the outdoor food court setup on the spaulding field (south) side and more.

So at this point it does look like it will be a reality, especially since they have already set the dedication date for Coach Wooden's 100th. However it is still in the early stages, and I wouldn't expect a blueprint for months.

Attendance at Pauley

isodore — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 00:02:35 -0000

Since we have been talking a bit about attendance and the problem with filling Pauley I thought I would compile some of the numbers for last years attendance versus this year.

This Year Last Year Diff
G1 5,707 5,144 563
G2 7,538 4,898 2,640
G3 9,297 6,285 3,012
G4 8,428 7,791 637
G5 8,397 7,247 1,150
G6 7,945 6,194 1,751
G7 8,612 6,044 2,568
G8 7,458 7,738 -280

So we are doing better, except for the last game when we had 280 less than the corresponding game last year. We need to keep filling the seats. Last season the first 2 games we broke the 10 thousand mark were Cal and Stanford at the very end of the year. Michigan better break that for us this year.

Jordan got a call from Kobe

isodore — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 17:07:29 -0000

Not alot new, but still kind of a nice article about Jordan being embraced by the Lakers. Find it here.

Creating a sea of blue!

isodore — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 00:30:12 -0000

As I have said before I have a connection in the store which I won't reveal so as not to compromise him when he tells me things going on in the store. But I have been asking him for a while now what kind of new stuff we'll be seeing for football season. As of right now they haven't placed any orders or decided on artwork, but as you know they tend to have a wide array of colors of T-shirt and a couple sweatshirts and all that standard stuff. But they would like to know what kind of artwork or slogans and stuff the fans would like to see on a "True Blue" color T-shirt. Kinda like the "Den" shirts, but for everybody.

Now unfortunately they won't do any $c bashing T-shirts. Sc won't license out their name or something. So I'd like to pass along any suggestions the bruinsnation might have so that we can turn the Rose Bowl blue and maintain a surge in fan pride, KD issues aside.

Also I was told that they want make an inexpensive shirt to replace the Moute shirt. So I will pass along Basketball suggestions as well.

In your face Lavin!

isodore — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 21:28:23 -0000

If we won that one last game I would have made up some T-shirts proclaiming that title. But even still, I think our guys performed remarkably. They didn't give up, they played with class, and they deserve our respect. So basically I want to extend a big F-You to Steve for saying anything short of a national title is not good enough for fans like us. We are proud of our team!