I waited 10 months to make my triumphant return to the Rose Bowl and on Saturday I waited two more hours. They were two very miserable hours. After lining up for the Rooter Bus at 5:30 p.m. with a group of friends, it took until almost 8 p.m. for us to arrive at our seats […]
Category Archives: Sports Columns
Claire-ification: Arrest of former tennis pro should be final straw on police brutality
The headline was unfortunately commonplace, alerting the public to yet another unnecessarily violent arrest involving an unsuspecting black man. As the country had its attention turned to New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium for the U.S. Open, and away from the police brutality stories that have dominated the news cycle this summer, Wednesday marked a regrettable […]
Tanner’s Take: Lessons from Charlottesville
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Football season arrived in Pasadena Saturday afternoon as I sat on a couch 2,500 miles away, fumbling with a lagging Chromecast, sporting a bright blue UCLA T-shirt and surrounded by Virginia fans. Like much of the Bruin faithful, I wasn’t physically at the Rose Bowl; instead, I found myself across the country […]
Tanner’s Take: LA’s 2024 Olympic Games bid includes vague promises
I have lived the 4:55 a.m. wake-up calls. It was only four months, but my time with the UCLA men’s rowing team gave me the utmost respect for the athletes – male and female – who are able to fight past every mental and physical barrier to compete on the water. Those mornings at Marina […]
Tanner’s Take: Cris Carter video demonstrates fundamental problem within NFL culture
Last fall, as the National Football League’s public relations woes were fully emerging into the public eye, Forbes released a Buzzfeed-esque list entitled “4 Ways Leaders Can Avoid Crises Of NFL Proportions.” Oh, but if only the league had actually taken the time to read that article themselves. In the year since the story, those […]
Claire-ification: NFL has chance to set higher standards for players with Ray Rice case
Ray Rice is many things. A trending Twitter hashtag. A viral headline. A national controversy. What Ray Rice is not is an NFL football player, and it should stay that way. The former Baltimore Ravens running back, who played with the franchise since he was drafted in 2008, was released in September 2014 following a […]
Tanner’s Take: UCLA must capitalize on T.J. Leaf decommitment to strengthen 2016 class
The Bruins have an opportunity, and they would be wise to make the most of it. Five-star power forward T.J. Leaf announced his decommitment from Arizona last Thursday, opening the door for programs across the country to jump back into his recruiting process. In November 2014, Leaf chose Arizona over Florida and UCLA, so […]