It is all over campus, in board shorts and flip-flops,
miniskirts and tank tops. It is in Ackerman, Wooden and
LuValle.
It may even be around South Campus; I’ve never set foot
over there.
“It” is pessimism. Bitter and faithless pessimism,
mostly about the UCLA men’s basketball team. As far as I am
concerned, there is no possible way to hate these guys.
Look at it this way: UCLA has set itself up for a prime spot as
the Cinderella story of the NCAA tournament.
That’s right, you heard it here first: UCLA is going to
the Big Dance.
Don’t laugh. I’m dead serious. I believe. I think
everyone who owns a “Lose Lavin” T-shirt ought to have
their season tickets revoked. If I was an usher at Pauley and I saw
somebody wearing an anti-Lavin T-shirt, he would have to find
another gate through which to enter.
If you still think this is a sarcastic column in which I pretend
to like the team when I really hate it, you should head east on the
Interstate-10, show up at the USC admissions office, and enroll in
classes.
Already a second quarter senior? That’s okay, you
shouldn’t have a problem graduating from ‘SC in three
semesters.
Think about everything UCLA has done en route to its modest 5-14
record.
OK, now think beyond the tangible.
In losing nine straight games ““ some to
less-than-spectacular teams ““ UCLA made Saturday’s
victory against Georgetown that much more sweet.
You think they accidentally lost those games? Maybe, but either
way they set up their fans for a storybook finish.
After the Bruins finish off the Arizona schools, they will have
probably clinched a berth in the Pac-10 tournament, as well as
pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year over Arizona. If
that does not clinch a berth in the Pac-10 tourney, I am predicting
UCLA will win six of its last eight games, ending the regular
season with a flurry.
That will surely place us in the conference tournament, and we
all know the winner of the Pac-10 tournament receives an automatic
bid to the Big Dance.
Before we talk tournament though, let’s talk about some of
the things the Bruins have done by accumulating a record of 5-14.
Besides making a lot of students pessimistic, they have set the
stage for the freshmen at UCLA to experience the wonders of rushing
the court. Honestly, if UCLA wins any of its last four home games,
the pessimists will be so excited that they will be the first ones
to rush.
Steve Lavin has shown he can handle the heat from these
detractors, however unfounded the criticisms are. People who blame
Lavin for turnovers and missed free throws are insane. Those who
blame him for poor substitutions obviously have 20-20
hindsight.
Can you imagine how insane Westwood will be when UCLA takes the
NCAA championship? They should take a week off of school and let
all the true fans travel to the championship game to root for the
Bruins. There will be riots in the streets, lives made and ruined
in Las Vegas, and coaching contracts renewed.
Could Dan Guerrero fire Lavin after he wins it all? Is that even
legal? Surely it would be the first time in history a championship
coach has been terminated before the start of the next season.
When the Bruins do everything I say they will do, I will not be
rushing the court. Because I know the Bruins are going to win most
of their remaining games. And I know they are going to win the
Pac-10 tournament.
And I know that they will bring home a NCAA championship banner
to Pauley Pavilion at the end of March.
Or at least I believe they will.
The glass is half-full.