Spring midterms are here, and that means UCLA sports are heating
up.
For real UCLA sports fans ““ fans who will actually watch a
Bruin team other than football or men’s basketball — this is
the best time of the year.
Every year around May, five to six Bruin sports teams have
legitimate chances to win championships.
This year is no different. Here is a spring outlook of sorts,
with predictions, awards and other UCLA sports ramblings:
Team most likely to win a championship:
Softball. This may have sounded crazy when the Bruins were on a
four-game losing streak, but they did start the year 26-0 and have
seemed to recently flip the switch and play well again.
I’m still amazed Keira Goerl’s arm hasn’t
fallen off yet from pitching so often ““ she is the all-time
wins leader at a school that has produced many Olympic-caliber
pitchers. She led the team through the Women’s College World
Series last year and will likely do so again.
I call it now: Goerl will throw six shutouts
over five days, four of them being one-hitters, and the team will
celebrate another championship on ESPN tape delay again because
Roger Clemens decides to throw 20 strikeouts.
Oh yeah, and Lisa Dodd will never even warm up to pitch in a
game, despite being one of the top pitchers in the country.
Team I’m rooting for the hardest to win a
championship: Baseball. Why not?
It would be the perfect ending to coach Gary Adams’ career
and would also be a classic tale of underdogs winning it all. So
what if the team is 25-19 and still hasn’t even clinched a
spot in the playoffs yet?
The Bruins have beaten several good teams this year. It can
happen.
The one home game left you must be at, Part I:
May 18, baseball hosting UC Irvine. It’s Gary Adams’
last game coaching at UCLA. A legend gone. As an added bonus, the
Bruins will be fighting for their postseason lives, and the
Anteaters are a top-25 team.
The one home game left you must be at, Part II:
May 14, softball hosting Arizona. This is the biggest rivalry in
softball featuring the top two teams in the country.
The home games left you should be at, but won’t
be: It’s not official yet, but the men’s and
women’s tennis teams annually host the NCAA Regionals (the
first two rounds of the tournament) which will be played May 14-16.
While hundreds of students, fans and alumni watch tennis during the
regular season, the Los Angeles Tennis Center will be virtually
empty next weekend if you don’t count the players’
parents.
Why, you ask? Well, despite tennis matches being relaxing and
fun to watch after a long day of class, students and most fans will
not pay to watch college tennis, even if the tickets are fairly
cheap.
Don’t blame the athletic department ““ it’s
NCAA mandated. But it’s still depressing seeing a completely
empty tennis center.
NCAA act of injustice No. 4,893: I
haven’t mentioned men’s volleyball and women’s
water polo yet because neither qualified for its respective NCAA
Tournament, even though both were ranked No. 3 in the country.
That’s because only four teams make the NCAA Tournament in
those sports, and each of them has one conference, the MPSF, with
virtually all of the good teams.
Hartwick College (water polo) should not be in the Final Four
while powerhouses like UCLA are left out.
Hey, we might win a championship, too: The golf
teams ““ especially women’s golf. The women’s golf
team has been on fire lately, winning four of its last five
tournaments and moving up to No. 2 in the country.
Charlotte Mayorkas has established herself as one of the best
golfers in the country and one of the best athletes at UCLA.
Mayorkas has won four of the last five tournaments in which she
has participated. That’s not supposed to happen.
And while the men have been inconsistent, it’s still the
exact same team that finished No. 3 at the NCAA Championships last
year and was ranked No. 1 for parts of last year.
The most unbelievable athletes in UCLA sports
lately: Monique Henderson and Chelsea Johnson.
They’re amazing.
Henderson ran the best time in the world so far in the 400
meters on Saturday.
Yes, the world.
And Chelsea Johnson has been setting records all year in the
pole vault ““ even though she’s a sophomore and has been
pole vaulting for less than three years.
Track is awesome.
Quiñonez would like to remind you that Cinco de Mayo is
not Mexican Independence Day. E-mail him at
gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.