Former UCLA center Steve Patterson passed away Wednesday at the age of 56 from lung cancer. The 6-foot-9 Patterson, survived by his wife Carlette Patterson of Phoenix, captured three national championships playing under former Bruins coach John Wooden. “Steve Patterson was a mirror image of what UCLA basketball under John Wooden was all about,” UCLA […]
Author Archives: Bruce Tran
M. basketball: Knicks take Trevor Ariza with 43rd pick
New York Knicks general manager Isiah Thomas has never seen nor met Trevor Ariza in person. No problem. Thomas gave the former Bruin an early birthday present ““ he turns 19 on Wednesday ““ by drafting Ariza with the 43rd pick in the June 24 NBA Draft. “There’s no looking back,” Ariza’s agent, Todd Ramasar […]
Sports are about emotion, not winning
You can imagine my surprise when former USC wide receiver Mike Williams announced that everyone at UCLA ““ except for students of the “prestigious medical school” ““ wants to be at USC. That’s right ““ USC’s All-American wide receiver, based on the Trojans’ win over the Bruins in November, assumed all at UCLA wished they […]
Blood, sweat and tears spell sports, not just a bee
To be sure, there’s not a lot of physical contact. But you can bet that I was on the edge of my seat as young David Tidmarsh spelled his final word for the National Spelling Bee Championship. “A-U-T-O-C-H-T-H-O-N-O-U-S,” he recited. Collapsing to my knees, I flung my Merriam-Webster dictionary at the television in anger. I […]
M. golf: Golfers set sights on nationals after narrow victory at regionals
One down, one to go. After capturing the NCAA West Regional title by one stroke over New Mexico, the UCLA men’s golf team now has its sights set on the national championship, to be held from June 1 to 4 in Hot Springs, Va. But the come-from-behind title did not come easily. “It was a […]
M.I.P. great for Bruin, Duck rivalry
This news just in after prep phenom Malik Hairston declared his intentions to attend Oregon: Oregon has sent out its list of classes now so that Hairston can begin deciding on classes in the hopes he’ll be ready to announce his class list by next February. This way, Oregon can account for the “Malik Indecision […]
NCAA reforms can’t be expected to succeed
When the NCAA approved several academic reforms last week, NCAA President Myles Brand called it “a landmark (piece of) legislation” and “the beginning of a sea of change in college sports.” Forgive us if we’re not inspired. For too long the NCAA has failed to recognize the “student” in student-athlete, being too concerned about the […]