Several Bruins won individual championships (1 NCAA, 1 Pac-10 title) in their respective sports this weekend.  

In Gymnastics, Senior Tasha Schwikert added to her impressive all-around title with a win on the uneven bars.  Schwikert beat out teammate Kristina Comforte  and Georgia's Katie Heenan with a score of 9.9375. From the offical site

Schwikert, who won the NCAA all-around title on Thursday, showed perfect form, solid release moves (Shaposhnikova, shoot-over half to handstand, Tkatchev) and a stuck double layout dismount for a 9.9375, taking the lead after eight competitors. Comforte gave Schwikert a run for her money four competitors later with a Shaposhnikova, piked Jaeger and a stuck double layout dismount, scoring 9.9 to move into a tie for second place. Schwikert was still in first when Bruin sophomore Anna Li (Aurora, IL) took her turn, and her massive Tkatchev drew gasps from the crowd. Li stuck her double layout dismount but bent down at the waist to do so and scored 9.8125 to place 15th. Schwikert's score held up for the rest of the competition, giving the senior her first individual event title to go along with a pair of national all-around titles (2005 and 2008).

Schwikert had a chance for a third title this year, competing on floor exercise. She needed to score 9.9625 to match Georgia's Courtney McCool, who had a pair of 10s from the six judges. Schwikert gave it her best effort, sticking both her half in half out mount and her double pike dismount. The only deduction from the judges may have come on her middle pass, when she popped up just slightly on her double full/punch front, and she received a 9.9500 to finish second behind 2004 Olympian McCool.

And finally, in tennis, 3 Bruins won in the Pac-10 tournament in Ojai.  Senior Riza Zalameda avenged her loss on April 18th to USC's Amanda Fink by beating her 6-3, 6-4 to become UCLA's first individual Pac-10 champion since Sara Walker in 2000.  Fellow Senior Alex McGoodwin won twice on the day.  First, she beat Arizona State's Wendy Pilecka, 7-6(7), 6-1 to claim the title in the invitational draw.  McGoodwin then teamed with Freshman Andrea Remynse to defeat Cal's Rachael Dillon/Daron Moore 8-1, to win the invitational doubles final.  

NCAA Tournament Selections are announced on Tuesday.

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

The 7th ranked UCLA Women's tennis team looks to claim at least a share of its first ever Pac-10 title when it faces #10 USC on Friday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.  UCLA is coming off big wins against the desert schools this past weekend.  Neither Arizona nor ASU won a single point from the Bruins as the girls posted 7-0 victories over both teams.  

On Friday, UCLA made quick work of the University of Arizona.  The Bruins claimed the doubles point by winning all three matches in fairly easily 8-3, 8-4, and 8-2 at courts 1,2, and 3 respectively.  The Bruins carried that momentum over to singles play where they quickly jumped out to an insurmountable 4-0 lead by winning in straight sets on courts 4,5, and 6, losing only 4 games on those courts. Elizabeth Lumpkin (ranked #94 nationally) picked up the decisive win on court #4, with Alex McGoodwin and Anna-Viktoria Lind winning on courts 5 and 6.  Tracy Lin (ranked #43) and Freshman Andrea Remynse (#52) followed with straight set wins to extend the lead to 6-0.  The last match came down to court 1 where #11 Riza Zalameda disposed of #38 Danielle Steinberg to blank the Wildcats.

On Saturday, UCLA looked to avenge its 4-3 loss earlier in the season to the 14th ranked Arizona State Sun Devils.  The Bruins once again started out strong by taking all 3 doubles matches, including court 1, where the 11th ranked duo of Tracy Lin and Riza Zalameda defeated the 31st ranked Abdala sisters of ASU, 8-3.  The back courts once again started out strong as Alex McGoodwin and Elizabeth Lumpkin quickly won in straight sets.  Tracy Lin followed win an easy win over #26 Kelcy McKenna to clinch the match.  Freshman Andrea Remynse also won in straight sets.  Courts 1 and 4 proved to be the toughest of the day for the Bruins.  At court 4 Yasmin Schnack (#48) dropped the first set, yet rebounded nicely by winning the next 2 sets, including a 10 point "super" 3rd set. (Once the match is clinched, if a  3rd set is needed it goes to a first to 10 "super" set).  Riza Zalameda (#11) also ran into some trouble on court #1.  However, she eventually pulled out a win over #31 Nadia Abdala, also in a "super" set.

UCLA improves to 17-5 overall and 6-1 in the Pac-10.  #10 USC comes to the LATC on Friday at 1:30pm.  The Bruins beat the Trojans 6-1 on March 13th at USC, however only the second match counts for Pac-10 results.

If you are in the area, I strongly suggest you come out and support the Bruins as they look for their first Pac-10 title ever in womens tennis.  As for students their will be free pizza.  The match is also free to everyone.  

GO BRUINS!!! BEAT THE TROJANS!

In another shocker, former $UC running back Lendale White was cited by police in Tennessee.

Denver police issued a citation to Titans running back LenDale White early Saturday morning and he has a court date to answer to two charges: destruction of property and disobedience to a lawful order/ interference and resistance.

It's amazing that current and former thugs of $UC continue to get in trouble with the law.  When is this going to end?

As I still have more to write to meet the minimum,  I would like to congratulate our Bruins on obtaining the #1 seed in the tournament.  I was also pleased with the wins of $UC in the past week by Basketball, Womens Tennis, and Womens Water polo.  Also, Riza Zalameda (ranked 7th nationally) came within a win of reaching the main draw of the Pacific Life Open by beating a player ranked in the low 100s worldwide.  We will soon be well on the way to #200.  I would also like to thank Nestor and the other mods for making this one of the few sites, besides facebook that I can procrastinate on while trying to study for finals.  Congrats Bruins, lets go beat the Delta Devils!  

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The 7th ranked UCLA womens tennis team has a huge week ahead of them.  They face 3 teams that are ranked in the top 11 nationally.  They play No. 8 Baylor (9-1) at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The Bruins and Bears were originally scheduled to play back on Jan. 25, however rain forced the postponement of that match.  No. 3 Stanford (6-2) and No. 11 Cal (6-2) come to town for the weekend.  UCLA plays Stanford on Friday at 1:30 and Cal on Saturday at 12.  UCLA is coming off a loss at #18 Arizona State on Sunday, after defeating Arizona on Saturday.  This was the second loss of the year for the Bruins (UNC at USTA/ITA National Team Indoors).  

After a very good fall, we have been injury depleted in the Winter/Spring.  Yasmin Schnack hasn't played in weeks after hurting her hamstring.  She is ranked #40 and usually occupies the 2 spot in the lineup.  Schnack is also the doubles partner of Riza Zalameda (#10 in singles)  , which is UCLA's highest ranked doubles team at #18.  Anna-Viktoria Lind just came back from a shoulder injury and has played in the 5 and 6 spots in the lineup.  Tracy Lin has also been injured in the recent weeks, although she is still competing in the 2 spot.

Freshman Andrea Remynse (#27 in singles) has been a bright spot for the Bruins, competing in the 2 and 3 spot.  She also pairs with Tracy Lin in doubles.  They are ranked 51st.  Two other doubles teams are ranked; #30 Tracy Lin/Zalameda, #49 Elizabeth Lumpkin/Stephanie Wetmore.  Stephanie Wetmore opened the spring in the 6 spot.  However, she has struggled in the last few weeks and has lost her spot in the lineup.

This will be a long week for the ladies but lets hope they can work through all of the injuries and come out on top.

As a member of the Den the last 2 years, I have camped out at many of the basketball games.  This includes big camp-outs and the not so popular Oregon St. camp-outs.   Reading the Daily Bruin yesterday,  I was quite upset with Jason Feder's article on his  GameDay experience.  

You sit down with some onion rings and a cheeseburger with everything but onions, without even realizing the irony of what you just ordered. It's 1 a.m. on Friday night. There will be no more roll calls at the Pauley Pavilion campout, and electing to sleep in your own bed instead of on a cold chair is an easy choice. A burger on the way back is a no-brainer.

With ESPN nationally broadcasting SportsCenter and College GameDay from Pauley six hours from now, you can rest easy.

http://dailybruin.com/news/2008/feb/04/gameday-passion-knows-no-bounds/

It is pretty easy to cheat the system at a campout.  If you have ever attended one, you know that the last roll call is done around 12-12:30.  That means you are free to do whatever you want until 6:30, when they pass out the priority numbers.  I can tell you right now that camping out is not fun.  It is cold, the ground is hard, and it sucks to get up early.  However, this is all part of the experience.  I would NEVER, and have NEVER, cheated at a campout.  I feel that staying for the campout makes it seem that you earned your spot in the front of the student section.  It is not fair to all of the people that stay out in the cold.

It is absolutely amazing that the assistant sports editor would write an article saying that he cheated at a campout.  This just promotes other people to cheat.

Bumped. A weekend post that deserves more attention heading into this week's homestand. For the record one more time - we love the Den. GO BRUINS. -N

There has been a lot of talk in the past couple days of the actions of the Pit Crew.  Many have compared and contrasted that actions with that of our own Den.  Yes, the Den is not perfect.  As a member there are times at which I am embarrassed.  The fact is we are much more mature and organized than many student sections.


Photo Credit: Jack Rosenfeld

In the Den, we try to focus of efforts on intelligent ways to make the players feel uncomfortable.  A flier is handed out at every home game with a scouting report and a "dirt" section on the other team.  The dirt is extensively researched and includes only information that can be backed by a source.  It is real easy to take heckling material from the dirt and unleash yourself on a player.  There is no way the den would ever start a "___ is a pu**y" chant.

I do agree to the notion that "F*ck $c" is inappropriate.  Many members that sit at the front of the den refrain from using bad language at all. I also hate the bullsh*t chant too.  We can show our displeasure another way.

I take offense to a comment in a recent diary that criticizes the leadership of the Den.  The fact is the leaders do not start chants.  That is the job of the yell crew.  The "UC clap clap LA clap clap" chant on offense is meant to be slow.  All is takes is for one yell crew member to stand on one side of the Den and another to stand on the other side to lead a slow chant.  It sounds impressive when we are all together and loud.  The fact is most people think the chant speeds up, which leads to its death around 15 seconds left in the shot clock.

When people started camping out for the $UC game on Thursday morning, some people were upset.  They were upset because in all reality the campout could've started around 2 maybe 3 in the afternoon.  However once the first person goes down there and sets up a tent its like a snowball effect.

If you think that the people running the Den don't strive for excellence then come to the Den meeting and speak up.  They occur every couple of weeks in the Morgan Center Press Room inside the Hall of Fame.

I recently sent an email to Nestor updating him on the situation regarding Kevin Love's cell phone number being released.  We found out the culprit behind the release was Daniel Cogan, president of the Pit Crew.  We were able to obtain his number and, with some help from a friend, many of the numbers that had called Kevin.  These numbers received text messages and phone calls.  Not just one, but many many text messages.  If you mess with Kevin, you mess with the Den. Kevin relayed to us how mad he was with all of the phone calls(he even blocked his number for 24 hours) and also thanked us in the media:

Howland said the team prepped Love plenty for the hostility directed at him and said Love never let remarks affect him. Even the days before the game, Love said he received plenty of messages from Oregon fans on his cell phone, though the Bruin student body sent out false numbers to misdirect Duck fans.

"I did get a lot of calls," he said. "We outsmarted them a little bit. I had some people back at The Den (UCLA's student section) mess with them a little bit, so I felt good about that. I'm real proud all the way."

Bumped from the diaries. The point about Davis yelling at KD is very interesting given all the speculation of Dorrell "losing" his players following the game. -N GO BRUINS.

Because he absolutely forgot mine.  Saturday was probably the most frustrating birthday in my short life.  I woke up Sunday morning sick to my stomach  (Yes I admit part hangover)  But, it was more a feeling of "How in the hell did we lose this game?"

Being a Sophomore, I have only seen a few losses in person. ('06 WSU, '06 Men's volleyball against $UC, @Utah, ND)  They all hurt.  However, with football I feel like its a disgrace.  After traveling to Utah, and watching us not show up, I felt cheated out of my money.  It was unbearable walking out of the stadium in Den shirts while the Utah fans would joke, "Champions Made Here. Ya right.  Champions made on the field in Utah."  I had no energy to argue with them.  But the fact is we have 100 championships and football is still a joke.  Its also hard to argue walking out of the stadium after losing to an 0-5 team.  That is not the way I wanted to spend my birthday.  

In Utah, we sat next to a player's parents.  I felt terrible for them as we watched the game, knowing that their son was wasting his talent playing for a joke of a coach.  Working with the basketball program over the summer, I realized that the players have a genuine respect for Howland and the rest of the coaching staff.  

I love Bruce Davis.  Yes he may run his mouth too much at times (or all the time), but I feel terrible for him.  Their was a point on Saturday where he was yelling at KD.  I'm not sure what about but I think we can all get an idea. I feel terrible for our defense.  Yes they have given up lots of yards this season to crappy teams.  It also doesn't help that they are on the field pretty much the whole game because our offense is crap.  They do talk a lot which at times I think is stupid.  I do, however, like their fire.  To see Davis walking the sidelines yelling at the defense, trying to get them fired up, is what I like in a player.  No one on the offense seems to want to step up.  

You can't blame BT for this game.  He is in way over his head.  But as a coach there are ways to instill confidence into your players.  KD did not let him throw a pass in the Washington game.  He even let his HB throw a pass.  What does that say to BT?  "I trust my non-QB's arm more than yours sorry"  Why not bring in BT at the end of the Utah game and let him throw?

As for the rest of the season:  I will still attend games.  I will still support this team.  However, they all need to keep their mouth shut.  Let your play on the field do the talking.  We had a basketball player in my high school team that liked to run his mouth.  The point is we sucked.  Let your play do the talking and the rest with follow.  

Thank you KD.  I will never forget my 19th birthday.

So a few updates from the basketball program...

Mustafa Abdul-Hamid has switched to #4.   Its going to be weird to see Mustafa wearing Arron's old number.   He apparently is in line for a scholarship next year if he keeps working hard.  I'm not sure how all of this works out but he seemed confident that he has a shot at getting a scholarship.

Coach Howland was in the mid-west on a recruiting trip this week.  Joe Hillock seems like a nice guy.    I met him last week.  He's a little strange and very friendly.  He seems like he's a good fit for the job.

Cedric Bozeman stopped by UCLA.   He played in Europe last year after playing half the season in the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks and won a championship with a team in Belgium.

I didn't realize that Clay McKnight, the video coordinator, is the son of Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight.  This gives us a very good shot at landing the Wear twins in the 2009 class.

GO BRUINS! GO BRUINS! GO BRUINS! GO BRUINS! GO BRUINS! GO BRUINS!  GO BRUINS! GO BRUINS! GO BRUINS! GO BRUINS! GO BRUINS! GO BRUINS! GO BRUINS! GO BRUINS! GO BRUINS!