Right now, the plate of UCLA sports ahead of us is at a Thanksgiving level of fullness.
For you, the UCLA fan, it means lots of time spent hoping and cheering.
For me, a sports editor at the Daily Bruin, it means lots of time spent planning and editing.
It’s fair to say there is a lot on our minds right now.
The UCLA football team is a headache.
You’ve got to worry about a ferocious USC team, and another year of booking a flight to San Francisco (Emerald Bowl), El Paso (Sun Bowl), or Las Vegas (Las Vegas Bowl).
And I would be lying if I told you I’m looking forward to editing a season’s worth of stories about yet another mediocre Bruin football team.
There are a couple of other sports you should follow this quarter. Both soccer teams have the talent to win a title. Last year the football team had its big win over USC on the same weekend that the men’s and women’s soccer teams fell in the College Cup. Don’t be surprised if it’s a UCLA soccer team celebrating this year and not the football squad.
The fact that I’m already anticipating sending a reporter to College Station, Texas, for the women’s soccer national championship and Cary, N.C., for the men’s should tell you just how good the Bruin soccer teams are this season.
But you don’t need me to tell you that. You know sports like soccer and volleyball for the occasionally rowdy environments at home games. If you’re looking for something different, check out the men’s water polo team. They play at Sunset Rec in the most laid-back environment on campus ““ people tan on the lawn next to the team’s pool.
I have to keep in mind some other sports like cross country and golf, which don’t exactly attract masses of UCLA fans. Still, both golf teams are highly ranked, and that’s kind of a big deal.
Then there’s the winter quarter.
If you haven’t picked up a copy of Athlon or Lindy’s college basketball preview magazine, I’ll save you a few bucks: Both pick UCLA to win the 2008 national men’s basketball title.
With that in mind you’ve probably ordered your season tickets from CTO and bought a new UCLA jersey from the student store.
I’m already thinking about covering the Hollywood matchup of Kevin Love and O.J. Mayo in January and the madness of the March postseason.
I think we’ll be spending a lot of time praising Ben Howland.
There will be a plenty of exciting sports stories in 2008. The women’s water polo team is looking at a jaw-dropping fourth consecutive national title. The men’s volleyball team is always dangerous under its legendary coach, Al Scates. National champion Nicole Leach returns to the women’s track and field team. And the softball team has a lot to prove after a disappointing finish last year.
There’s the one team in the spring I’m especially excited for that you might not have heard much about this summer: baseball.
All summer I checked up on the Bruins’ summer success; Jermaine Curtis was an all-star at the Cape Cod League (a league notorious for giving pitchers huge strike zones and forcing batters to use wooden bats).
Now there’s early talk of the Bruins being a top-10 team to enter the season, and that means a possible trip to Omaha for the College World Series.
As a sports fan and a sports editor, it’s impossible not to think about what could be. Is it a bit overzealous for me to be talking up the baseball team, five months before the start of the team’s season?
Maybe.
But that doesn’t mean that it is wrong to hold high expectations.
This is UCLA and I promise you that the people with the highest expectations on this campus are the athletes and coaches.
All we have to do is follow these Bruin teams, win or lose. And from the looks of it there is going to be a lot more winning than losing.
So here’s to a great year, for you and me both.
E-mail Allen at sallen@media.ucla.edu if you’re already thinking about UCLA basketball’s 13th national title in 2009.