It was a win for the ages.
With the basketball season on the line (not really), the Bruins
steadied themselves (hardly), and rode Dijon Thompson’s
jumper to victory (sorta).
Last night’s 76-75 victory was one to savor ““ and
UCLA fans did just that, moseying on down to the court for a
half-hearted celebration. It took a little while for the party to
start, as shocked fans had to recover from victory-induced post
traumatic stress disorder, but it certainly got wild as tight
end/basketball player Marcedes Lewis led fans in the
festivities.
“In the crib it was off the hook,” junior forward
T.J. Cummings said.
I think that means he was happy UCLA won?
The lackadaisical celebration paralleled the terribly sloppy
victory. With 37 seconds remaining in overtime, senior guard Ray
Young, in one possession, missed a dunk, the put-back (on which he
was fouled) and two free throws.
So how did the Bruins win?
Well, the only thing worse than UCLA last night was Cal
Englishman/freshman guard Richard Henry Midgley (duuuuude, how
British is that name?). Midgley clanked the front end of a
one-and-one free throw opportunity with 24.7 seconds left, and his
team leading 75-74, giving Thompson the opportunity to throw up his
off-kilter, game-wining prayer.
It’s strange that Midgley blew it, because England is
usually pretty cool. I just saw “Harry Potter and the Chamber
of Secrets,” and Harry is so brave!
Supposedly Midgley is used to success. Across the pond, Midgley
was the captain of the England Youth National Team and twice scored
96 points in a game ““ once in the under-15 Cup Final.
All right, first of all, Quidditch is the national sport of
England. Secondly, I heard that even when they play basketball
those Britishers fly on Nimbus 2000s, so 96 points really
aren’t that big of a deal.
All those partying UCLA fans sure are a bunch of
bandwagon-hoppers. With the Bruins up by 14 in the second half,
UCLA students slouched in their seats and demanded that those in
front of them sit down, so they could watch from their plush
seats.
With Pauley now known to offer no homecourt advantage, I visited
Berkeley last weekend to conduct some research and take in
Cal’s close victory over Washington in Haas Pavilion, the
toughest place to play in the Pac-10.
Since I was in Berkeley, the trip demanded some extra-curricular
research: conversing with an inebriated, rotund German man at some
party, witnessing a hit-and-run on Telegraph, and trundling around
lost in the rain.
But in between fending off freaky vagrants and braving a visit
to Oakland, I made it to the game at Haas, and I was amazed. Sure,
Haas only has one national championship banner hanging from the
rafters ““ Cal won the Big Dance in 1959 (you know, before
three-pointers, overhand free throws, and dribbling) ““ but
the place has got soul.
The seating in Haas is very vertical, almost like stadium
seating in one of those $10-a-pop movie theaters, but it makes
opposing teams feel claustrophobic, what with all the yelling fans
and stuff. Oh yeah, and there’s The Bench ““ a zillion
Cal students hopped up on opiates, pressed up against the court. If
that’s not enough, during timeouts the Cal band turns to face
the opposing team’s bench and blares the loudest, most
obnoxious noise conceivable.
The UCLA administration should take note of this wonderful
arena, as many supporters feel that a remodeling of Pauley is in
order.
And after last night’s game, it’s obvious that
Pauley Pavilion simply cannot contain this team’s
greatness.
“Baby Britain” is Miller’s favorite Elliot
Smith song (go figure).
E-mail Miller at dmiller@media.ucla.edu if you want to discuss
hip-hop or Greg Schain.