By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Contributor
Is the men’s water polo alumni match this weekend a "Battle of
the Titans?" Well, not quite. It is more like a battle of the
ages.
For the UCLA team, even playing against previous UCLA legends
such as Olympian Alexis Rousseau (who played for the Bruins from
1986-89) is a no-pressure situation.
"There is a fun atmosphere, and everyone is relaxed," UCLA
assistant coach Adam Krikorian said. "The alumni are older, wiser,
smarter and more physical. But they are not in as good of shape as
we are at this point in the season."
Regardless of their level of conditioning, however, the alumni
take great pride in teaching a few things to the youngsters. In
fact, the older players actually won last year’s contest.
The Bruins will be competing against an alumni team responsible
for one of the few defeats suffered by last year’s NCAA
championship team.
The relaxed atmosphere will provide an ideal environment for a
tune-up as the Bruin players rest up for this weekend’s Northern
California Tournament in Stockton.
At the tournament, UCLA will face four of the top men’s water
polo teams in the country when they square off against USC, UC
Irvine and California.
The alumni game also gives coach Guy Baker the opportunity to
test the depth of his team. Baker will begin the match with his
starters but will progressively incorporate players who are less
likely to receive substantial playing time in regular matches.
After the game, a friendly atmosphere always surrounds the post
game activities. Both the alumni and the students hang out and
exchange war stories about their best days underwater.
"This one is just for fun," Jeff Porter said, who is one of
seven UCLA players with double figure points (12).
And if next weekend’s tournament turns out anything like the
Southern California Tournament (Sept. 14-15) in which UCLA went 4-0
and defeated USC and UC Irvine, the Bruins will ‘have fun’ while
holding on to their No.1 ranking.