There has never been a more unusual and entertaining year at
UCLA than this one.
Four fabulous NCAA championships.
Two terrible coaches fired.
Instead of spending extra time studying for finals, I will
relive the moments with all of you. When am I ever going to use
differential equations anyway?
The biggest miracle since God parted the Red Sea:
This of course goes to Lavin’s lethargic losers.
The same team, which really had no business even being in the
Pac-10 tournament, somehow defeated No. 1 Arizona despite losing to
it by a combined 71 points during the season.
On top of all of that, the Bruins were losing at halftime,
despite playing their best basketball of the year up to that
point.
Arizona was up by as much as 15 at one point, but UCLA (for
once) wouldn’t quit. Ray Young hit a miracle three-pointer to
tie it at the end of the game, sparing him the title of worst
McDonald’s All-American ever. At least, for a day.
The most depressing game of the year, Part I:
Watching UCLA basketball with renewed optimism, the Bruins were
outplaying Oregon, the same Duck team which somehow limited UCLA to
48 points in Eugene, in spite of the fact that Oregon plays no
defense. None at all. I’m not kidding.
Thoughts were racing through everyone’s minds. It
can’t happen again, can it? Sweet Sixteen? Elite Eight? Save
Lavin’s job?
Then, it came.
UCLA forgot how to play team basketball for a few minutes, and
Oregon got hot, and overcame a 12-point deficit with
three-and-a-half minutes to play.
A win, and the Bruins only have to beat the equally hapless
Trojans to go to the NCAA tournament.
But they lost. A perfect ending to the Lavin era.
The most depressing game of the year, Part II:
52-21.
Could’ve easily been 52-7.
Four years in a row.
Hey, at least they scored this year.
At this point, am I the only one who would rather see the UCLA
football team go 1-10 with the win against USC then 10-1 with the
loss against SUC (no, that’s not a typo)?
I mean, the way the BCS works, it’s not like the Bruins,
or any Pac-10 team can go to the championship game with a loss.
Only a Big XII team or SEC team can do that.
And it’s the Trojans. They’re evil.
The most depressing game of the year, Part III:
UCLA women’s soccer outshoots Texas A&M 21-0.
And still loses, 3-1 in penalty kicks.
Hey, I love soccer. But while penalty kicks still settle ties in
the sport, it shouldn’t be a mainstream sport.
Teams should try to win, not play not to lose.
I was more sad than angry after the previous two games
I’ve listed. But as a sports fan, I’ve never been more
pissed off than after witnessing that debacle.
You just shouldn’t be able to win without trying to.
Texas A&M wasn’t even trying to do anything
offensively by the second half. The ball never got near mid-field,
let alone the side UCLA was defending.
Finally, for some positives.
Championships galore:
What’s even more impressive than winning four
championships in one year?
When you were in contention for several others, and the four you
won all figure to be contenders again next year.
Also, in three of the four championships, UCLA wasn’t the
heavy favorite.
Only gymnastics was supposed to win it all. The big story there
would’ve been if they didn’t win it.
Yes, I’ve refrained from making a gymnastics joke.
It’s still not a sport.
Men’s soccer wasn’t rated higher than No. 6 in the
season, but just peaked at the right time, never trailing in the
playoffs.
Softball was No. 2 in the country, and needed to win five games
in three days to win it all.
Women’s water polo was No. 2 in the nation, but had a
history of losing to No. 1 Stanford. The Bruins had to come back
from a 2-0 deficit to win the championship match.
The future is brighter than ““ well, there’s not
really a good analogy there:
Like I said, several other teams were on the brink of winning it
all.
Women’s track has a shot at a title this weekend, and as
usual, will be strong next year.
Women’s soccer was ranked No. 7 last season, and loses
only one starter. Barring penalty kicks, it’s a lock to go to
at the very least the Final Four.
Men’s golf was third at the NCAA Championships, and only
had one bad round. All five of the team’s starters will
return next year, and head coach O.D. Vincent has turned that
program around.
Women’s golf finished fifth in the country, and also
didn’t have a single senior in its regular starting
lineup.
Both volleyball teams are young and have the best coaches in the
sport. Yes, I know men’s volleyball had its worst season ever
last year. But they had like 9,432 injures last season. And more
importantly, Al Scates is a volleyball god.
Women’s tennis had a very young team, with seven of its 11
players being freshman, and still made it to the NCAA
quarterfinals.
Sara Walker and Jackie Carleton could form one of the best
one-two combinations in the sport.
Men’s tennis went to the NCAA semifinals, and lost in a 6
1/2 hour marathon, which included a Randy Johnson-esque dead bird.
The team gets most of their key players back next year, and gain
the No. 1 recruit in the nation, Robert Yim.
Speaking of men’s tennis …
The two most surprisingly exciting teams to watch:
Outside of the revenue-producing sports, you would think the
sports at UCLA most exciting to watch would be the dominant teams,
the ones that never lose.
Wrong.
Women’s basketball and baseball did not make the
postseason, but had some very thrilling games.
I’ll never forget the near-upset of Stanford at Pauley, or
the near-upset of Stanford at the Pac-10 tournament, or the close
win on the last day of the season against Oregon in front of 5,000+
fans.
And the UCLA baseball team had several epic games. The 9-5,
12-inning must-win game at Stanford comes to mind, as does the 8-7,
13-inning win over Arizona State. Both the Cardinal and Sun Devils
are baseball superpowers, but this young Bruin team beat them.
Both women’s basketball and baseball were in the
postseason race until the final weekend of the year, but neither
are national title contenders. Still, I’d rather see them
play than our boring water polo or gymnastics teams slaughtering
the opposition any day.
A final thought:
For those of you still reading, no sports moment tops what
former Bruin Troy Glaus did in Game 6 of the World Series. His hit
gave the Angels the win, and eventually the World Series. Believe
in the power of the rally monkey!
The best quote of the year: “Manipulation is the
key,” courtesy of USAC president David Dahle. Try to
manipulate Quiñonez at gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.