Upon picking up a turkey and avocado sandwich for lunch and returing to my desk to eat it, I ran into a group of co-workers in the elevator bank. This woman who handles the Foundation's Accounts Payable was wearing a UCLA sweatshirt. Nice!
The following dialogue transpired:
Me: Hey! Nice sweatshirt. Go Bruins!
Her: Thanks! I'm going.
Me: (thinking she meant going to lunch, then quickly realized differently) wait! you're going to the game??
Her: Yeah, I'm leaving right now (I notice her luggage).
Me: (speechless then dumbfounded) to Atlanta?
Her: Yup. Go Bruins!
(elevator door closes.)
Office mate: I have no idea what you guys are talking about.
Me: She's going to the UCLA game in Atlanta!!
Office mate: (stares at me blankly)
End scene.
I stood there looking at the closed elevator doors realizing that some office accountant whose name I didn't even remember, is going to arguably one on the best Final Four's in the last 20 years. Even more shocking is that this office is about as sports savvy as a kindergarten class. Not only did I think I was the only alum here, but I also thought I was the only one who cared about these things. Everyone else is worried about more important issues like tsunami recovery in Thailand or expanding women's rights in Afghanistan. What a surprise!
Additional mojo?? I hope so.
Friday, March 30, 2007
The Rematch
Thanks to a quiet work week, I have had the chance to read everything's that's been written in anticipation of tomorrow's Final Four rematch with the Florida Gators. They are the defending champs, have zero weaknesses, and are more experienced and pretty much everybody predicts victory.
Admittedly, I am not qualified to speak objectively on this subject, but there is something in the air that makes me feel like we have a chance to pull off the upset. I think it has to do with the heart that the team plays with, their own experience in these big moments, and a little bit of magic and mystique that goes along with UCLA's basketball program.
Also, my car broke down this morning, I've had a number of bills pile up this week, and other miscellaneous personal items have made this a forgettable week. As a firm believer in karma, cosmic balance, etc., it is only right that the Bruins win tomorrow. I just hope that Championship #12 will not result in a $1,500 car repair bill.
Admittedly, I am not qualified to speak objectively on this subject, but there is something in the air that makes me feel like we have a chance to pull off the upset. I think it has to do with the heart that the team plays with, their own experience in these big moments, and a little bit of magic and mystique that goes along with UCLA's basketball program.
Also, my car broke down this morning, I've had a number of bills pile up this week, and other miscellaneous personal items have made this a forgettable week. As a firm believer in karma, cosmic balance, etc., it is only right that the Bruins win tomorrow. I just hope that Championship #12 will not result in a $1,500 car repair bill.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Planet Earth
Last Sunday, the Discovery Channel began its first of an 11-part series called, Planet Earth. Each week, the show will feature a different aspect of life on earth. Last week featured the mountains and underwater. This series is AWESOME!
I think this program has been fairly hyped, but I happened to stumble across it last Sunday and was excited to learn that this was the first day of the series.
It airs at 8pm PST/EST on the Discovery Channel, or for the majority of those readers out there, set your TiVo's accordingly.
My biggest takeaways from last week were the snow leopards (first time ever filmed in the wild) and the vampire squid (almost futuristic).
Enjoy!
I think this program has been fairly hyped, but I happened to stumble across it last Sunday and was excited to learn that this was the first day of the series.
It airs at 8pm PST/EST on the Discovery Channel, or for the majority of those readers out there, set your TiVo's accordingly.
My biggest takeaways from last week were the snow leopards (first time ever filmed in the wild) and the vampire squid (almost futuristic).
Enjoy!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Victory
I first must point out the scene in San Jose yesterday. While I have been known to be quite the San Jose basher over my lifetime, I have to admit that San Jose might be the PERFECT place to host such an event. The HP Pavilion, home of the San Jose Sharks, is a great modern facility with super spacious concourses, great viewing angles throughout the arena, and huge bathrooms with no lines. In addition, the arena is about two blocks from “downtown” San Jose, which is home to tons of restaurants and bars, perfect for pre/post-game celebrations.
Another thing that has made me want to apply for a job with the San Jose Chamber of Commerce is that I left SF which was blanketed in fog and emerged in San Jose an hour later to a gorgeous 80 degree, blue-sky day. Perfect California weather coupled with outdoor drinking bars filled to the brim with UCLA fans made me almost feel like victory over Kansas would make the day too good to be true.
The one downside is that San Jose is a bit too far from SF. After the victory, I definitely wanted to celebrate, but the older, wiser me thought better of driving the hour up the 101 after having a few brews and decided to just head back to the fog-belt basking in the glory of another hard-nosed UCLA win.
I would approximate that the ratio of fans at the Shark Tank yesterday to have been about 12,000 UCLA fans to about 3,000 Kansas fans. It was truly like a home game and the place exploded after every Collison steal, Afflalo jumper, and Mbah a Moute rebound. Truly one of the best crowd experiences I have ever been a part of.
I scored seats thru my buddy Derek’s hook-ups through the UCLA Athletic Department. Although we were in the upper bowl, the seats were great. (Unfortunately, this is the one game I did not bring my camera. I didn’t want to get sweated by security in case they don’t allow my size camera in the house and have to trek all the way back to the car. An un-wise choice upon further reflection.)
Our seats seemed to be in the section of some of the biggest UCLA basketball boosters. It was primarily old-timers who probably know John Wooden first-hand and likely give piles of cash to the program. The older woman behind me was super-excited, mentioned that she goes to every game with her husband and you could just tell she probably lived in Beverly Hills or Brentwood or something. The only bummer was when she tapped me on the shoulder to talk a bit of strategy in the first half with the game very much in doubt. “They should go to the middle more, why aren’t they going to the middle and why are they taking such bad shots? We usually do much better,” she exclaimed. She was a nice lady though and I tried to listen without cringing or talking to many x’s and o’s with her, so all I could say was “you know this team Kansas? They’re actually pretty good too.” Alls well that ends well as we exchanged high fives after Luc Richard Mbah a Moute’s dunk to finish off the victory.
Great times! I feel like a proud father over the effort the fellas showed yesterday. I remember driving home and thinking how satisfied and content I was over this victory. For some reason, my mind jumped back to having the same feeling when I was in the 4th grade and we won the Catholic school city championship over the Salesian Boys Club from North Beach. (I had 4 big points that day including a driving layup through traffic ala Afflalo. I have the photo evidence to prove it.) Crazy how memories like this come up. I hadn’t thought about that day in years. I guess it takes the glow of the return of the UCLA basketball dynasty to recall the glory days of my own.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Twice in a Month?
Yesterday on my daily MUNI ride back to the Richmond after work, I heard a nearby car blaring Justin Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body.” I happened to look over to see who would be pumping the melodic pop tunes of a former Mouseketeer, when I saw a crazy sight for the second time this month.
JT’s club classic banger was emanating from a red convertible Corvette. Behind the wheel was an overweight, balding, 40-something dude smoking a cigar and nodding his head back and forth to the beat like he was a bobblehead. The image made me chuckle to myself. Then the guy reaches over and starts caressing the neck of the woman sitting shotgun. Obviously, I had to get a glimpse of the co-pilot and noticed that the lass sitting there was a young, attractive woman likely in her 20’s wearing a fancy dress; she gave the driver a bit of a smile when the neck massage began.
Craziness! This was like Staples Center all over again--an old fat dude rolling with a hottie that is way out his league. The only difference was that the guy in the Corvette was more like a Tony Soprano-type, which I guess some women find attractive. I’m sure this phenomenon is not unique, Kanye West even has a song about it, but for some reason its always jarring to see. Kind of like when you see a three-legged dog or pictures of Britney Spears circa 2007.
JT’s club classic banger was emanating from a red convertible Corvette. Behind the wheel was an overweight, balding, 40-something dude smoking a cigar and nodding his head back and forth to the beat like he was a bobblehead. The image made me chuckle to myself. Then the guy reaches over and starts caressing the neck of the woman sitting shotgun. Obviously, I had to get a glimpse of the co-pilot and noticed that the lass sitting there was a young, attractive woman likely in her 20’s wearing a fancy dress; she gave the driver a bit of a smile when the neck massage began.
Craziness! This was like Staples Center all over again--an old fat dude rolling with a hottie that is way out his league. The only difference was that the guy in the Corvette was more like a Tony Soprano-type, which I guess some women find attractive. I’m sure this phenomenon is not unique, Kanye West even has a song about it, but for some reason its always jarring to see. Kind of like when you see a three-legged dog or pictures of Britney Spears circa 2007.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Side Order of Mojo
I have received a few emails asking why there was no pre-game entry in advance of tonight’s UCLA Sweet Sixteen match-up v. Pitt.
I think I’m consciously trying to curb my enthusiasm this year. Last year, I felt the mojo strong. I remember that I just “had a feeling” that we would make a strong run through the tourney. This year, our play has up-and-down lately and its hard for anybody to really get a sense of how we will show up tonight. I feel strongly that we will emerge victorious tonight but, unlike last year, their recent play leaves a tiny thread of doubt.
As the game gets closer (5 hour countdown), I am getting more and more stoked for the game. This is fairly typical for me.
On deadspin.com, they gave a breakdown for tonight’s game, but looked at atypical factors that may sway the game one way or another. For this game, the writer mentions that having Jessica Alba (boyfriend’s Dad is former Bruin hoopster) and Brooke Burke (former student) as supporters may be just enough to push the Bruins a step closer to Atlanta and the Final Four. I believe! Go Bruins!!
(Note: Although I am known to wear UCLA blue t-shirts over white long sleeve shirts, any suggestions that I am the owner of the arm cropped out of the Alba pics is purely speculative.)
I think I’m consciously trying to curb my enthusiasm this year. Last year, I felt the mojo strong. I remember that I just “had a feeling” that we would make a strong run through the tourney. This year, our play has up-and-down lately and its hard for anybody to really get a sense of how we will show up tonight. I feel strongly that we will emerge victorious tonight but, unlike last year, their recent play leaves a tiny thread of doubt.
As the game gets closer (5 hour countdown), I am getting more and more stoked for the game. This is fairly typical for me.
On deadspin.com, they gave a breakdown for tonight’s game, but looked at atypical factors that may sway the game one way or another. For this game, the writer mentions that having Jessica Alba (boyfriend’s Dad is former Bruin hoopster) and Brooke Burke (former student) as supporters may be just enough to push the Bruins a step closer to Atlanta and the Final Four. I believe! Go Bruins!!
(Note: Although I am known to wear UCLA blue t-shirts over white long sleeve shirts, any suggestions that I am the owner of the arm cropped out of the Alba pics is purely speculative.)
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Lemons Into Lemonade
After a very disappointing Thursday and Friday that prevented me from heading to New York, I tried my best to make the best of the weekend. (Sidenote: I also learned that I missed a great sighting in NYC this weekend. While in a cheese shop, Natalia stood in line behind Tom Brady and Brazilian model, Gisele Bundchen. Great sighting. Apparently, both are very good-looking in person. Who knew?)
Derek, Eric and Ross joined me on my mission to have a banner Saturday afternoon. On a whim, we decided to make the 90 minute drive to Sacramento to catch Round Two of the West Regional in the NCAA basketball tournament. Who was playing there you ask? Game One featured Vanderbilt versus Washington State and Game Two was a battle between Indiana University and my alma mater, UCLA.
Ross and I scored scalper seats and wound up approximately 10 rows off the floor. Great seats! And although many casual viewers will tell you that the Indiana-UCLA game was poorly played, the end was pretty dramatic and the Bruins gutted out a victory. Good times!
Check the link for pics from Arco Arena in Sacramento.
Derek, Eric and Ross joined me on my mission to have a banner Saturday afternoon. On a whim, we decided to make the 90 minute drive to Sacramento to catch Round Two of the West Regional in the NCAA basketball tournament. Who was playing there you ask? Game One featured Vanderbilt versus Washington State and Game Two was a battle between Indiana University and my alma mater, UCLA.
Ross and I scored scalper seats and wound up approximately 10 rows off the floor. Great seats! And although many casual viewers will tell you that the Indiana-UCLA game was poorly played, the end was pretty dramatic and the Bruins gutted out a victory. Good times!
Check the link for pics from Arco Arena in Sacramento.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Brutal
That is the only way to categorize the last 24 hours. Brutal. As mentioned in my previous post, this week can usually be described as anything but brutal. Yet as I write this post, no other superlatives can describe the difficulty of the past day.
It all started innocently enough. In fact, it started better than that. Wednesday night (March Madness Eve) I got out of my work clothes and into my chill-out sweatpants mode and found $40 in the pocket of my Black Fila sweats. Who finds $40 in their pocket? I’ve heard of a single $1, or even a $20 spot, but two $20’s!? I took this as a good omen for the rest of the month and a long UCLA run. Unfortunately, things quickly turned for the worse.
Along with hoops hysteria, I had plans to head to NYC to visit and to celebrate Natalia’s 25th birthday (maybe its 27…not sure. I just know that she’s still super young, and looks much younger than her actual age…whatever that # may be) this weekend. I rushed home from work to catch the 2nd half of the UCLA game before heading to the airport to catch the red-eye to JFK. By the time I got home, CBS stopped showing the UCLA game since they were crushing Weber St by halftime and I wound up seeing zero live action of the Bruin victory. Bummer. After finishing up some last minute packing and knowing that the security lines are nearly non-existent during red-eye time, I was able to watch Duke get beat (I loathe those pricks), and arrive at the airport just about 40 minutes before take-off.
I stroll up to an empty security line and the old chap manning the entry asked for boarding pass and ID. I showed him the required documents and the old fella announces, “your flight is canceled.” The guy was jovial enough and I thought he might be pulling my chain, but when he reiterated that AA Flight 18 was indeed cancelled, I knew I had a long night ahead of me. Apparently, a late season, yet powerful snow storm was hitting the Eastern seaboard causing cancellations to all flights to the NY area. After waiting about 45 minutes to try to get myself on the next flight the next morning, I learned that I would be taking a connector thru Chicago leaving SFO at 6am and finally landing at LaGuardia at 5pm Friday night. Crappy, but still doable to make dinner reservations and still have a night of good times with Natty and the NYC crew.
Fortunately, one of my closest buddies lives really close to the airport and I was able to take a cab there and lay my head to rest on his couch for a 3 hour nap before returning to the airport to start the trek. I woke up at 4am to call American Airlines to check if all legs of the flight were on time. When I received word that all things were a go, I called a cab and was back at the airport at 5am in time to catch the initial leg of the delayed trip. I was all set to board this flight when I realized that I should double-check whether the Chicago-NY portion of the trip was still o.k. This was now 8am EST and Natalia was kind enough to wake up on her big day and check the flight status. I’m sure all you fine readers can guess what happens next. Indeed this leg was also canceled and I needed to figure out another re-routing.
After about 25 minutes of the AA desk clerk clacking away on her keyboard, I was now booked on a 1pm flight to LA with a connector to Newark, NJ that gets me into the land of Bon Jovi at 11:30pm EST. I'm missing happy hour and dinner now, but will still be salvaging a night out in the city that never sleeps.
I returned via cab (3 airport cab rides in 12 hours!!) back to my buddy’s pad to crash until I could catch a ride from him BACK to the airport on his way to work at noon. This was about 6:30 am. Did I mention he has two kids? They were up and about at around 8am and I was neck deep in Dora the Explorer computer games, Disney memory games and playing rescue mission with Captain America, Cyclops, Lizard Man, and Spider-Man for the next four hours. This part was actually a highlight at this point. I love hanging with the 3-year-old, unfortunately this means that I was working on about 3 hours of sleep over the past 24 hours.
My flight time again came around and I checked the American Air website to ensure that the flight to Jersey was still on. Of course it was. That is until I got back to the airport. My boy Ross re-checked the website after I could not get help from a single airport employee anywhere and now it was canceled. (STEE-RIKKKKEE THREE!!!!)
The weekend was now shot. What came next typifies the phrase, "adding insult to injury." I knew heading east this weekend was impossible, so I sought to re-book for the following weekend. After a bit of haggling, I was told that I couldn't do this, and I needed to pay the fare difference or another $250. Absolute BS. Now I have no booked flights to NY at this time and all I could do was get credited for this brutal experience.
So here I am writing this post from my living room floor, missing Natalia’s birthday, and feeling exhausted.
I am still trying to make lemonade after this incredible batch of lemons that I have been dealt, and have made plans for Saturday to somehow salvage the weekend. More details to come on these plans later….
It all started innocently enough. In fact, it started better than that. Wednesday night (March Madness Eve) I got out of my work clothes and into my chill-out sweatpants mode and found $40 in the pocket of my Black Fila sweats. Who finds $40 in their pocket? I’ve heard of a single $1, or even a $20 spot, but two $20’s!? I took this as a good omen for the rest of the month and a long UCLA run. Unfortunately, things quickly turned for the worse.
Along with hoops hysteria, I had plans to head to NYC to visit and to celebrate Natalia’s 25th birthday (maybe its 27…not sure. I just know that she’s still super young, and looks much younger than her actual age…whatever that # may be) this weekend. I rushed home from work to catch the 2nd half of the UCLA game before heading to the airport to catch the red-eye to JFK. By the time I got home, CBS stopped showing the UCLA game since they were crushing Weber St by halftime and I wound up seeing zero live action of the Bruin victory. Bummer. After finishing up some last minute packing and knowing that the security lines are nearly non-existent during red-eye time, I was able to watch Duke get beat (I loathe those pricks), and arrive at the airport just about 40 minutes before take-off.
I stroll up to an empty security line and the old chap manning the entry asked for boarding pass and ID. I showed him the required documents and the old fella announces, “your flight is canceled.” The guy was jovial enough and I thought he might be pulling my chain, but when he reiterated that AA Flight 18 was indeed cancelled, I knew I had a long night ahead of me. Apparently, a late season, yet powerful snow storm was hitting the Eastern seaboard causing cancellations to all flights to the NY area. After waiting about 45 minutes to try to get myself on the next flight the next morning, I learned that I would be taking a connector thru Chicago leaving SFO at 6am and finally landing at LaGuardia at 5pm Friday night. Crappy, but still doable to make dinner reservations and still have a night of good times with Natty and the NYC crew.
Fortunately, one of my closest buddies lives really close to the airport and I was able to take a cab there and lay my head to rest on his couch for a 3 hour nap before returning to the airport to start the trek. I woke up at 4am to call American Airlines to check if all legs of the flight were on time. When I received word that all things were a go, I called a cab and was back at the airport at 5am in time to catch the initial leg of the delayed trip. I was all set to board this flight when I realized that I should double-check whether the Chicago-NY portion of the trip was still o.k. This was now 8am EST and Natalia was kind enough to wake up on her big day and check the flight status. I’m sure all you fine readers can guess what happens next. Indeed this leg was also canceled and I needed to figure out another re-routing.
After about 25 minutes of the AA desk clerk clacking away on her keyboard, I was now booked on a 1pm flight to LA with a connector to Newark, NJ that gets me into the land of Bon Jovi at 11:30pm EST. I'm missing happy hour and dinner now, but will still be salvaging a night out in the city that never sleeps.
I returned via cab (3 airport cab rides in 12 hours!!) back to my buddy’s pad to crash until I could catch a ride from him BACK to the airport on his way to work at noon. This was about 6:30 am. Did I mention he has two kids? They were up and about at around 8am and I was neck deep in Dora the Explorer computer games, Disney memory games and playing rescue mission with Captain America, Cyclops, Lizard Man, and Spider-Man for the next four hours. This part was actually a highlight at this point. I love hanging with the 3-year-old, unfortunately this means that I was working on about 3 hours of sleep over the past 24 hours.
My flight time again came around and I checked the American Air website to ensure that the flight to Jersey was still on. Of course it was. That is until I got back to the airport. My boy Ross re-checked the website after I could not get help from a single airport employee anywhere and now it was canceled. (STEE-RIKKKKEE THREE!!!!)
The weekend was now shot. What came next typifies the phrase, "adding insult to injury." I knew heading east this weekend was impossible, so I sought to re-book for the following weekend. After a bit of haggling, I was told that I couldn't do this, and I needed to pay the fare difference or another $250. Absolute BS. Now I have no booked flights to NY at this time and all I could do was get credited for this brutal experience.
So here I am writing this post from my living room floor, missing Natalia’s birthday, and feeling exhausted.
I am still trying to make lemonade after this incredible batch of lemons that I have been dealt, and have made plans for Saturday to somehow salvage the weekend. More details to come on these plans later….
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Christmas in March
Tomorrow marks the first day of three weeks of the greatest annual sporting event around. (The World Cup is the best overall.) NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament aka March Madness aka my favorite time of year. Every year, I look forward to filling out my brackets and have always treated Selection Sunday like it was Christmas Eve, full of giddiness and anticipation.
As a kid, I remember copying the brackets from the newspaper and creating my own replica on a piece of binder paper (obviously before the days of Excel). I would post my personal bracket on my closet door after taping four pieces of binder paper together and, throughout the tournament, I would update the winners and just look at the remaining board non-stop for a month. I also remember a neighborhood kid would make the same joke every year about schools like “Oral Roberts” or “George Mason” that have a person’s name and are in the tourney. He would say “there’s no way he can beat a whole college team….ha, ha, ha.”
Another memory that comes to mind is that after I would fill in my blank brackets, I would always wonder about the colleges I had never heard of. Bowling Green, Old Dominion and Miami (Ohio)--there's a Miami in Ohio??--are schools I remember being curious about back then. (For that reason alone, I picked Old Dominion in the first round this year.)
Growing older, my enthusiasm for March Madness has not tempered. Obviously, attending the single greatest college basketball school in history did not help. The fact that UCLA won the title in 1995 and I was in Seattle to witness it also contributed to the obsession. Now it is 10 years since I graduated and I still love it. UCLA is back near the top of the rankings and could possibly win it this year and all feels right in the world.
What I also love about it is that everyone is an expert about college basketball this time of year. In fact, CBS Sportsline.com has a webpage where you can compare your picks with the cast of How I Met Your Mother or The Early Show. Does anybody really care what Doogie Howser thinks? Its ridiculous, but yet still fun.
Office pools always add to the excitement of the tournament as well. Suddenly, you have a vested interest in the result of the BYU v. Xavier game simply because you chose one of them in a pool. Nobody knows anything about these schools and your cat might as well have picked the game for you, yet you still blindly cheer on your choice.
Each year, there are remarkable games and results that nobody could imagine. In a year when it looks like one team is certain to roll to the title inevitably an upset happens. Or a buzzer beater. Or a performance by a team that seems far to fantastical to be true. Yet every year without fail, something exciting and unforeseen occurs, reinvigorating my interest in the sport and the tournament.
So tomorrow it starts all over again and I will be watching games, text messaging my friends like mad, and keeping my fingers crossed for the Bruins to bring home title #12 for the alma mater. As usual, it will be pure madness.
As a kid, I remember copying the brackets from the newspaper and creating my own replica on a piece of binder paper (obviously before the days of Excel). I would post my personal bracket on my closet door after taping four pieces of binder paper together and, throughout the tournament, I would update the winners and just look at the remaining board non-stop for a month. I also remember a neighborhood kid would make the same joke every year about schools like “Oral Roberts” or “George Mason” that have a person’s name and are in the tourney. He would say “there’s no way he can beat a whole college team….ha, ha, ha.”
Another memory that comes to mind is that after I would fill in my blank brackets, I would always wonder about the colleges I had never heard of. Bowling Green, Old Dominion and Miami (Ohio)--there's a Miami in Ohio??--are schools I remember being curious about back then. (For that reason alone, I picked Old Dominion in the first round this year.)
Growing older, my enthusiasm for March Madness has not tempered. Obviously, attending the single greatest college basketball school in history did not help. The fact that UCLA won the title in 1995 and I was in Seattle to witness it also contributed to the obsession. Now it is 10 years since I graduated and I still love it. UCLA is back near the top of the rankings and could possibly win it this year and all feels right in the world.
What I also love about it is that everyone is an expert about college basketball this time of year. In fact, CBS Sportsline.com has a webpage where you can compare your picks with the cast of How I Met Your Mother or The Early Show. Does anybody really care what Doogie Howser thinks? Its ridiculous, but yet still fun.
Office pools always add to the excitement of the tournament as well. Suddenly, you have a vested interest in the result of the BYU v. Xavier game simply because you chose one of them in a pool. Nobody knows anything about these schools and your cat might as well have picked the game for you, yet you still blindly cheer on your choice.
Each year, there are remarkable games and results that nobody could imagine. In a year when it looks like one team is certain to roll to the title inevitably an upset happens. Or a buzzer beater. Or a performance by a team that seems far to fantastical to be true. Yet every year without fail, something exciting and unforeseen occurs, reinvigorating my interest in the sport and the tournament.
So tomorrow it starts all over again and I will be watching games, text messaging my friends like mad, and keeping my fingers crossed for the Bruins to bring home title #12 for the alma mater. As usual, it will be pure madness.
Monday, March 12, 2007
PAC-10 Tourney Recap
By now, its clear that my ability to prognosticate is lacking to say the least. Although I guess I did pick SC to get to the finals, which actually happened.
Oregon was clearly the class of the tournament and we’ll see how that affects their play in the big tourney. They will either be able to build on this enormous momentum or peter out early with an inevitable cold shooting streak that will likely follow their recent trend of red-hot perimeter game. Not sure which way I’m going on this one.
The tournament though is always great. This year there were a number of great teams playing and we were able to move around Staples Center to catch the game from different angles and gain different perspectives.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the entire weekend was during the SC-WSU semifinal match-up. Thanks to my buddy Luke, we were able to get into Premier level seats, complete with great viewing perspectives (see pic), and seat service of refreshments. I sat on the aisle and Francis was sitting one seat in. Next to him was a cute early-20 something woman followed by an eno
rmous man, probably in his late 50’s.
Francis, always easily distracted from the action on the court to other surrounding stimuli, wanted to strike up a conversation with the woman to his right. After a few minutes of huddling about the approach, he made his move. The conversation as retold to me by Francis went something like this:
Francis: You must be a pretty big basketball fan.
Woman: Not really.
Francis: Do you go to USC?
Woman: No.
Francis: How about your Dad?
Woman: That’s not my dad, that’s my boyfriend.
(having overhead this, I cringed in my seat.)
Francis: Oh.
(end scene)
Once this story was relayed to me, we spent the rest of the second half (in different seats, by the way) trying to make sense of this bizarre transaction. I even tried to take a picture of the strangely paired couple from our seats halfway across the arena with my 300mm zoom lens, but to no avail. After extensive deliberation, the only logical conclusions about this odd couple we came up with were A) he was her boss and she is attracted to his mind and power, B) they met somewhere somehow and she was attracted to his enormous wallet, C) she was a paid escort that he purchased to make himself look good in front of fellow SC alums (not that far-fetched for an SC chump). We agree that one of the three options must be true and the thought that Jabba the Hut was wealthy remained constant throughout our analysis. (Believe me, the Jabba call is not too much of a stretch. Dude was big. He was one of those guys that fits snugly into stadium seats as if he were poured into it. Francis also pointed out that the guy even wore suspenders since no belts were big enough to wrap around his globe-like body.)
The tournament though is always great. This year there were a number of great teams playing and we were able to move around Staples Center to catch the game from different angles and gain different perspectives.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the entire weekend was during the SC-WSU semifinal match-up. Thanks to my buddy Luke, we were able to get into Premier level seats, complete with great viewing perspectives (see pic), and seat service of refreshments. I sat on the aisle and Francis was sitting one seat in. Next to him was a cute early-20 something woman followed by an eno
rmous man, probably in his late 50’s.Francis, always easily distracted from the action on the court to other surrounding stimuli, wanted to strike up a conversation with the woman to his right. After a few minutes of huddling about the approach, he made his move. The conversation as retold to me by Francis went something like this:
Francis: You must be a pretty big basketball fan.
Woman: Not really.
Francis: Do you go to USC?
Woman: No.
Francis: How about your Dad?
Woman: That’s not my dad, that’s my boyfriend.
(having overhead this, I cringed in my seat.)
Francis: Oh.
(end scene)
Once this story was relayed to me, we spent the rest of the second half (in different seats, by the way) trying to make sense of this bizarre transaction. I even tried to take a picture of the strangely paired couple from our seats halfway across the arena with my 300mm zoom lens, but to no avail. After extensive deliberation, the only logical conclusions about this odd couple we came up with were A) he was her boss and she is attracted to his mind and power, B) they met somewhere somehow and she was attracted to his enormous wallet, C) she was a paid escort that he purchased to make himself look good in front of fellow SC alums (not that far-fetched for an SC chump). We agree that one of the three options must be true and the thought that Jabba the Hut was wealthy remained constant throughout our analysis. (Believe me, the Jabba call is not too much of a stretch. Dude was big. He was one of those guys that fits snugly into stadium seats as if he were poured into it. Francis also pointed out that the guy even wore suspenders since no belts were big enough to wrap around his globe-like body.)
We also wondered whether the woman was bummed by Francis' assumption. I'm sure if the guy were really her boyfriend, she would probably feel odd. For a professional though this must come with the territory. The call about him being her Dad was made funnier since she was Latina (probably) and the guy looked like Rick Majerus or a fatter version of Viccini from Princess Bride for you non-college hoops readers out there.
Unfortunately, when UCLA loses in the opening round of their conference tournament, you have time to contemplate such issues.
Los Angeles, baby. Los Angeles.
Los Angeles, baby. Los Angeles.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Frank White R.I.P.
I just learned that today marks the 10-year anniversary of the death of Notorious B.I.G.. I can't believe its already been a decade and being in LA right now, the site of his demise, seems poignant.
During college, nobody's music got the party started like Biggie did. I vividly remember UCLA in the mid-1990's with DJ Dave spinning his tunes at numerous apartment parties and everyone dancing and having a good time with "Hypnotize", "Big Poppa", or "Juicy" pumping through the speakers.
Later living in NY, it was clear to me what a popular figure Biggie was. 125th Street in Harlem was a block away from my apartment and street vendors would be selling Biggie pictures and t-shirts, even though this was about eights years after his passing. The hyperbole about Notorious B.I.G.'s impact (an Tupac's obviously) on hip-hop has been written about numerous times, but his tunes and arguably his passing mark the end of the Golden Age of hip-hop. I would assert that the Golden Age started around 1989 (give or take a year or two) and lasted until 1997, the year Christopher Wallace died. This era includes the entire Tribe Called Quest collection and the Native Tongues movement and the rise in number of great more independent-style artists (Del, Souls of Mischief, Pharcyde immediately come to mind). While this point can be argued (and has by both academics and pop culture critics alike), the loss of Biggie is tragic. If you've ever seen footage of Biggie's funeral in Brooklyn, the entire community came out and mourned his death like he was the President. Pretty moving stuff.
So on this weekend, since I will be with many of the people that I grooved with to his tunes, I will toast his honor whether its "in the back of the club, drinking Moet", or having a "t-bone steak, cheese eggs, and Welch's grape."
I Hate Sports
This extended weekend is off to a horrible start. The purpose of this trip was to get together with a handful of the old college mates to bask in the glory of a UCLA repeat run to a Pac-10 tournament championship. Unfortunately, UCLA played like crap. Four friends that intended to come to LA on Friday for the games have already cancelled their trip. I am now the lone visitor to LA from the Bay Area. not so good times.
Now I guess I'll have to find a way to enjoy the 70 degree weather, visit with the LA locals, and watch some good basketball at a great gym in downtown LA. Life is rough.
The loss to CAL was so depressing that I couldn't even partake in one of my favorite pastimes: heckling opposing school band members. (I'm such a bully.) For a later game, We snuck down to five rows off the floor and were this close (see pic) from the University of Washington band, yet I had no desire to make even one "nerd" comment. Now that's saying something.
Now I guess I'll have to find a way to enjoy the 70 degree weather, visit with the LA locals, and watch some good basketball at a great gym in downtown LA. Life is rough.
The loss to CAL was so depressing that I couldn't even partake in one of my favorite pastimes: heckling opposing school band members. (I'm such a bully.) For a later game, We snuck down to five rows off the floor and were this close (see pic) from the University of Washington band, yet I had no desire to make even one "nerd" comment. Now that's saying something.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Early Sightings: 1/2 Star rated
Writing this blog is much more fun from the road. I am writing from LA and will be here for the next four days. In my less than 24 hours here, I have already had two sightings. Last night at Mexico City, a restaurant in Los Feliz, we saw the guy from Office Space. Unfortunately, not Ron Livingston or Jennifer Aniston, but the guy who created the Jumping to Conclusions mat....1/2 star sighting at best but funny that we even recognized him.
As I was getting picked up at the Burbank airport, we drove past two giant twins who happened to be the Lopez twins, the Stanford basketball freshmen twins, awaiting a ride curbside...again another 1/2 star sighting, but its quite a spectacle to see two, 7-foot tall, 18-year-old twins. It was so shocking that I didn't even get the chance to call them nerds.
As I was getting picked up at the Burbank airport, we drove past two giant twins who happened to be the Lopez twins, the Stanford basketball freshmen twins, awaiting a ride curbside...again another 1/2 star sighting, but its quite a spectacle to see two, 7-foot tall, 18-year-old twins. It was so shocking that I didn't even get the chance to call them nerds.
Pac-10 Tourney Predictions
Still on the flight to Burbank, but want to jot down my predictions for this weekend’s PAC-10 tournament.
Cal over Oregon State—I saw the score of this one at halftime and CAL was pounding the Beavers, so I cheated on this one.
UW over ASU—Washington looked pretty good beating UCLA (despite the fact that the game was meaningless for the Bruins). I see them winning this one on momentum alone. And Arizona State is horrible.
QUARTERFINALS
Arizona over Oregon—this is a great matchup of two talented teams. I think AZ has more talent and size which should enable them to sneak past the Ducks.
UCLA over CAL—The boys are better at every position and our sweet backcourt of Collison and Afflalo should lead to a 20 point win.
USC over Stanford—Home game for the Trojans. The giant freshman Brook Lopez swatted away a ton of SC shots earlier in the year, but I see Nick Young and/or Lodrick Stewart going crazy scoring between 25-35 points to win by about 7.
Washington St. over UW—Wazzu’s defense is pretty stingy and I think they lock down UW to end their run at an at-large bid.
SEMIFINALS
UCLA over Arizona—The one thing I noticed about AZ this year is how they’re a bunch of pansies. You get physical with them and they wilt like chamberlain (I don’t even know what that means, but it sounds like a good rap lyric….ok decent rap lyric). Bruins roll on. DC tools Shakur once again. AZ fans and coach piss and moan about the refs, you know, the usual.
USC over WSU—This is actually a bit of a reach, but I sense something here. SC has some athletes and again the hometown mojo could be enough to win a tight one…OT even.
FINALS
UCLA over USC—In a game that will mean much much more to SC, the Bruins will come from behind and win a close one against the crosstown chumps. I’ll admit I think SC has a good squad and will probably have them in the Sweet 16 when the brackets come out, but the Bruins have an experienced team that is battle-tested and refuses to fall victim to any pressure. One last test heading into the Big Dance can’t hurt.
Tourney MVP- Darren Collison (aka Tyus II)
Cal over Oregon State—I saw the score of this one at halftime and CAL was pounding the Beavers, so I cheated on this one.
UW over ASU—Washington looked pretty good beating UCLA (despite the fact that the game was meaningless for the Bruins). I see them winning this one on momentum alone. And Arizona State is horrible.
QUARTERFINALS
Arizona over Oregon—this is a great matchup of two talented teams. I think AZ has more talent and size which should enable them to sneak past the Ducks.
UCLA over CAL—The boys are better at every position and our sweet backcourt of Collison and Afflalo should lead to a 20 point win.
USC over Stanford—Home game for the Trojans. The giant freshman Brook Lopez swatted away a ton of SC shots earlier in the year, but I see Nick Young and/or Lodrick Stewart going crazy scoring between 25-35 points to win by about 7.
Washington St. over UW—Wazzu’s defense is pretty stingy and I think they lock down UW to end their run at an at-large bid.
SEMIFINALS
UCLA over Arizona—The one thing I noticed about AZ this year is how they’re a bunch of pansies. You get physical with them and they wilt like chamberlain (I don’t even know what that means, but it sounds like a good rap lyric….ok decent rap lyric). Bruins roll on. DC tools Shakur once again. AZ fans and coach piss and moan about the refs, you know, the usual.
USC over WSU—This is actually a bit of a reach, but I sense something here. SC has some athletes and again the hometown mojo could be enough to win a tight one…OT even.
FINALS
UCLA over USC—In a game that will mean much much more to SC, the Bruins will come from behind and win a close one against the crosstown chumps. I’ll admit I think SC has a good squad and will probably have them in the Sweet 16 when the brackets come out, but the Bruins have an experienced team that is battle-tested and refuses to fall victim to any pressure. One last test heading into the Big Dance can’t hurt.
Tourney MVP- Darren Collison (aka Tyus II)
For the Look
I’m slowly wrapping up my chiropractic and physical therapy for my lower back injury and I’m happy to say that I am probably at 80%. If I was in the NFL, I would be listed as probable, in MLB and NBA I would be taken off the disabled and inactive lists this weekend.
What struck me during this treatment process was that both the doctor and the physical therapist were in good shape which I found particularly comforting. A fat physical therapist or a hunched over chiropractor would have likely made any sane person immediately look for a new caretaker. But is this fair? Maybe the physical therapist knows the ins and outs of the human muscular structure, but has a glandular issue. Or the chiropractor recently had a car accident and had trouble standing up straight. Regardless of fairness, it’s safe to assume that their physical attributes would affect their business greatly.
I would assert that the same is true for a number of professions. Going to the barber and getting a stylist with an atrocious haircut or a having a dentist with yellow teeth would immediately make one question the aptitude of the individual. Again, there may be excuses for the atrocious haircut. Maybe only I viewed the haircut as awful but the rest of the world digs crooked Mohawks with a hint of a mullet. (A perfect example would be the football team at Hoover High from MTV’s Two-A-Days. It appears that the sweeping comb-over hairstyle is all the rage for males at Alabama high schools, and despite looking absolutely ridiculous, these dudes are the ones scoring the head cheerleaders, cool party chicks, and nerds that are only nerds because they wear glasses, but upon removal of their specs they turn into Rachel McAdams.)
So again, as always, appearances only tell half the story. Except for dentists. A dentist with a bad set of choppers is completely unacceptable. I acknowledge that this is a pretty elementary observation, but as I sit on a Southwest flight headed to Burbank, it felt worth noting.
What struck me during this treatment process was that both the doctor and the physical therapist were in good shape which I found particularly comforting. A fat physical therapist or a hunched over chiropractor would have likely made any sane person immediately look for a new caretaker. But is this fair? Maybe the physical therapist knows the ins and outs of the human muscular structure, but has a glandular issue. Or the chiropractor recently had a car accident and had trouble standing up straight. Regardless of fairness, it’s safe to assume that their physical attributes would affect their business greatly.
I would assert that the same is true for a number of professions. Going to the barber and getting a stylist with an atrocious haircut or a having a dentist with yellow teeth would immediately make one question the aptitude of the individual. Again, there may be excuses for the atrocious haircut. Maybe only I viewed the haircut as awful but the rest of the world digs crooked Mohawks with a hint of a mullet. (A perfect example would be the football team at Hoover High from MTV’s Two-A-Days. It appears that the sweeping comb-over hairstyle is all the rage for males at Alabama high schools, and despite looking absolutely ridiculous, these dudes are the ones scoring the head cheerleaders, cool party chicks, and nerds that are only nerds because they wear glasses, but upon removal of their specs they turn into Rachel McAdams.)
So again, as always, appearances only tell half the story. Except for dentists. A dentist with a bad set of choppers is completely unacceptable. I acknowledge that this is a pretty elementary observation, but as I sit on a Southwest flight headed to Burbank, it felt worth noting.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Commenting Tutorial
A few folks have recently mentioned that when attempting to comment to a post, they have been asked to register with Google. For understandable reasons, many folks have stopped their efforts when they hit this roadblock.
To sidestep this problem, just select "other" or "anonymous" when commenting and you should be able to drop in a comment smoothly. Another problem may be that this blog has an automatic filter for restricting any lame comments, so if you've had problems in the past, your comment was likely not up to snuff. (That's actually not true, but it should be.)
To sidestep this problem, just select "other" or "anonymous" when commenting and you should be able to drop in a comment smoothly. Another problem may be that this blog has an automatic filter for restricting any lame comments, so if you've had problems in the past, your comment was likely not up to snuff. (That's actually not true, but it should be.)
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