In Agreement with the Chronicler

I pretty much agree with all of this. And that goes for the basketball posts as well.

But, at this point, I've been doing this for the Vlad Era, and this many years into it, I think I'm pretty much out of things to say. Rally Monkey's better than I am on the stats stuff, Rob has the minor leagues covered with his daily updates, and I can always count on Seitz to criticize John Lackey's pitch selection or the umpires or whatever. Not to mention that Halos Heaven is about as thriving an online fan community can be. I think my capacity to share with my readership something new, and my devotion and energy to finding new things to share, is at a nadir. And the Halosphere has me covered -- I'm sure my twenty or so readers will manage.

Who knows, in two or three weeks, with the season in full swing, maybe something will occur to me. Maybe I'll end up doing one piece per month or something. If you have me in your blog reader, keep me there. If you don't have me in it, well, then you probably aren't reading this anyway. If you don't have a blog reader, you should start using one, they're really convenient.

Writing has been sporadic primarily because the few people that read this site come from either Bruins Nation or Angels sites, primarily Halos Heaven. And as those sites are updated much more frequently and have larger communities, most of what I could find myself saying has already been said, and at a place or places where the people that read this site have already been or will soon be going. That's part of the reason there have been more music posts. This is a pretty self indulgent exercise to begin with, and I'm not really out there soliciting traffic, though it's nice to know people stop by.

That said, I assume that once the season starts, blogging will pick up more regularly. As the Chronicler noted, writing's only kind of fun when you have something to say. And most of what I write is based on what I see. Take for instance the post below on the UCLA game. Those are observations, some of which have since been covered multiple places, but they were thoughts fresh in my head based on what I had witnessed, and hopefully there was something there that someone enjoyed, or hadn't thought of in quite the same way. I'm not really a stat guy, so I'm not going to do any in depth analysis in that regard. When the games start up, and I start seeing more stuff, I'll start writing about more stuff.

That said, I will be writing more about the Kings next year, but probably not here. It's an opportunity to write for someone else's site, and I'll have more on that as the day approaches. That's of course in addition to the sporadic "Song of the Day" stuff I've had over at the Bulls' place.

UCLA over Texas A&M - Quick Thoughts

Instead of an extended post, I'm going on about five or six beers right now, so I'll do a quick one and bullet point it.

• I'm not going to second guess Ben Howland. I've wondered about his time out strategy, his scheduling, and a bunch of other things since he came to UCLA, but I've gotta wonder if he wishes he had gotten LRMAM into the game for a five or ten minutes the other night, just to get some timing down. He looked very out of sorts tonight. He didn't look like he had ankle problems, but he struggled with decision making, and that led directly to a couple of charges.
  
• UCLA beat A&M with arguably two and a half players. Offensively, they got nothing from LRMAM or Shipp, and Westbrook didn't show up until the second half. A full Bruins team is unbeatable. We learned tonight that half a Bruins team is still damn good if it's the right half.
• If I had to guess, based on tonight's game alone, I would guess that Kevin Love is gone after this season. And I say that solely because of the way he played down the stretch. He simply refused to allow this to be his last college basketball game. He hit two shots in the waning minutes that he normally wouldn't take. But ask yourself, would you have rather had him taking a bad shot than Shipp taking a good shot? He was not going to miss.
• He's got two more final fours than the other two, but Darren Collison has finally been admitted to the fraternity of Bruin guards that include, from my own personal era, Tyus Edney and Cameron Dollar. Admission requires a game deciding basket for a high seeded team in the final ten seconds. And honestly, the shot was almost identical to Dollar's, plus about seven seconds.
  
• I just saw the commercial for the new movie 21. For those wondering, the song in the commercial is Spoon's "My Mathematical Mind", which I suppose is somewhat appropriate.
• If the Bruins go on to win the championship, Lorenzo Mata-Real can forever tell people that he hit a 17 foot jumper that was, mathematically, the difference in them moving on.
  
• Did Kevin Love have seven blocks all season going into this game?
• I run hot and cold on Jay Bilas. I like him as a color guy, not as much as an analyst. He's incredibly misguided on the subjects of Tommy Amaker and Eric Gordon, but I like what he brings to the sideline, and he works well with Enberg. And his "OH!!" on Collison's game winner was eerily similar to his "OH!!" on Deron Williams' game tying three against Arizona in 2005.
• UCLA has a reputation, as we all know, for being a boring team to watch, because of their great defense. But had I not just checked, I would never have known that TAM went over eight and half minutes near the end of the game (for 10:09 to 1:19) with one point. For some reason, I thought the game was still pretty exciting.
• A friend of mine texted me to tell me that the next game should be easy. That's what Drake and UConn thought. But as long as we're talking about USD, remember when the Bruins had a coach that would lose to USD? I credit their success to the $150 dollars I gave to them in exchange for nothing more than another two months to decide where to go to law school.
• Call them the cardiac kids if you must, and no one wants to see the Bruins get behind and be forced to come back, but you have to think that the comebacks over the last three weeks helped the Bruins remain calm in the second half. Of course, they didn't help ME remain calm, but I'm not out there playing, which is good, because I suck.
• Digger Phelps just talked about Jordan Hill playing for Stanford. Digger Phelps is an idiot.
• With the upsets in the bracket, there's no reason the Bruins shouldn't get to at least the final four again. It's all on them now.
  
• Three Pac 10 teams in the sweet 16 is good, but not great. Not like 1997. We need all three to get to the next round. Let's get it done, Wazzu. Should be an interesting game. UNC's high powered offense against Wazzu's defense.
  
• On to Phoenix. It's only five hours away, folks. If you can get out there, go make the place feel like Pauley.
  

X at the Metro - A Quick Recap

So it's the 31st anniversary of the formation of one of the most influential punk bands ever, L.A.'s seminal X. I saw them a few years ago when they played the House of Blues. It was the first time I'd seen the original lineup, though I've seen John Doe play solo a few times and he usually throws a couple of X songs into his solo sets.

This was the fourth or fifth show of their current tour. They took the stage a little after 10:30 and played for about an hour and 15 minutes. I'll cop to never having seen their shows when they were actually producing new music (I was just a little kid), but the amount of energy they bring to their live shows can't have been much greater back then. They were a little sloppy at times, probably because they had such a long set list. It's easy to lose your place on the page when you've got 20 songs listed. Exene Cervenka chalked it up to being "new at this". But there's nothing more fun that watching Billy Zoom, wide stanced and almost motionless, standing there with a huge grin on his face while delivering some of the most complex guitar work found on any punk record. From Buddy Siegal in the OC Weekly:

Dave Alvin, the former Blasters' axe man who ultimately replaced Zoom, is a renowned guitar hotshot in his own right, but he soon learned that stepping into Zoom's cowboy boots was no easy task. "I was amazed when I had to actually sit down and learn 32 songs in two weeks," says Alvin. "How Billy Zoom put his parts together was amazing. For a three-piece band, his orchestration on guitar was really tremendous. They were almost mathematically perfect arrangements. Billy likes tinkering with machines and electronics, and in some ways, his guitar parts are put together like schematics. I'm more of a primitive. I lack that kind of technique, and Billy was very, very advanced. I learned a lot; my guitar playing improved a lot after I had to sit down and learn all of his parts. There's a part of me that's forever in his debt, from having my Billy Zoom guitar lessons. A lot of punk bands-a lot of any bands-don't have these kind of intelligent guitar parts. That guy is really good."

Decide for yourself in the samples below. Here's the incomplete and out of order setlist (they played at least six or seven more songs than this - probably closer to ten):

• Once Over Twice
• We're Desperate
• In This House That I Call Home
• White Girl
• Back to the Base
• Your Phone's Off the Hook, But You're Not
• Johnny Hit and Run Paulene
• Soul Kitchen
• Nausea
• Los Angeles
• The New World
• True Love
• Hungry Wolf
• Motel Room in my Bed
• Because I Do
• Riding With Mary
• Blue Spark
• The Unheard Music

I was pretty stoked that they played Blue Spark. That's one of my favorite X songs, and they didn't play it the last time I saw them. Aside from that, you always expect to hear Hungry Wolf, Los Angeles, and White Girl, and they didn't disappoint last night. Here are those three (though the Hungry Wolf video is missing the beginning for some reason - also, give White Girl about a minute twenty before the song actually starts):

X - The Hungry Wolf

Sun Times Review

Tournament Picks

Upsets in red

Round One

East Region:

North Carolina over Mt. St. Mary's
Indiana over Arkansas
Notre Dame over George Mason
Wazzu over Winthrop
St. Joe's over Oklahoma
Louisville over Boise State
Butler over South Alabama
Tennessee over America

Midwest Region

Kansas over Portland State
UNLV over Kent State
Clemson over Villanova
Vandy over Sienna
U$C over Kansas State
Wisconsin over Fullteron
Davidson over Gonzaga
Georgetown over Maryland-Baltimore County

I know that Davidson is a popular upset, and that almost makes me want to pick Gonzaga, just because there's always a "lock" upset that doesn't come through, but Davidson is pretty good. They almost beat UCLA.

South Region

Memphis over UTA
Oregon over Mississippi State
State over Temple
Pitt over Oral Roberts
Kentucky over Marquette
Stanford over Cornell
St. Mary's over Miami
Texas over Austin Peay

West Region

UCLA over Miss. Valley State
BYU over Texas A&M
Drake over Western Kentucky
UCONN over USD
Purdue over Baylor
Xavier over Georgia
Arizona over West Virginia
Duke over Belmont

Round Two

East Region

UNC over Indiana
Wazzu over Notre Dame
Louisville over St. Joe's
Tennessee over Butler

No surprises here. The WSU-ND game should be good. The last time Notre Dame was a five seed, they made it to the sweet sixteen, but Tony Bennet isn't as dumb as Bill Self, so I think the Cougs will pull it out.

Midwest Region

Kansas over UNLV
Clemson over Vandy
U$C over Wiscy
Davidson over Georgetown

This bracket starts to get torn up. I like the athleticism of the women of troy, and if they can stay out of foul trouble, they'll handle Wisconsin. Davidson becomes my first major upset of the tournament.

South Region

Memphis over Oregon
MSU over Pitt
Stanford over Kentucky
Texas over St. Mary's

Again, no real surprises, other than perhaps MSU, but I'll give Izzo the benefit of the doubt come tourney time, especially with a senior point guard.

West Region

UCLA over BYU
Drake over UConn
Purdue over Xavier
Arizona over Duke

I love Arizona's talent if everyone is healthy. I think Jordan Hill can do some damage against an undersized middle. I look at Xavier and I still see the team that lost to ASU. I haven't seen Drake or UConn, but everyone's on Drake's jock, so why not?

Sweet 16

East Region

UNC over Wazzu
Tennessee over Louisville

Nothing to see here.

Midwest Region

KU over Clemson
U$C over Davidson

Troy gets a break after Davidson's upset of Georgetown.

South Region

Michigan State over Memphis
Texas over Stanford

Interior defense and rebounding are MSU staples, and Memphis will be doing a lot of "kicking out" when their drives end up in the trees. They start missing threes, go one and done, and they won't help themselves at the free throw line. In the other matchup, I like Stanford a lot, but I think Darren Collison exposed Mitch Johnson's defense. DJ Augustin will get to the middle and create havoc, and if he can kick it out to open Damion James, Stanford is in for a long night, especially in what will be a home game for Texas.

West Region

UCLA over Drake
Arizona over Purdue

Like U$C, Arizona gets a big of a break by missing Xavier. I really don't like Arizona. I especially don't like Arizona fans. But I think they have the type of talent that can take them on a run.

Elite Eight

East Region

Tennessee over North Carolina

A running, pressing, shooting team, not unlike Clemson who coincidentally gave UNC a lot of problems in their three matchups this year. The difference is that Tennessee does all those things better than Clemson. The Vols move on to San Antonio.

Midwest Region

Kansas over U$C

In a battle of two teams that I hate, it's unfortunate that both can't lose. But Kansas' depth will be too much for the latex-thin Trojans.

South Region

Texas over Michigan State

Texas has too much, and playing in Houston, they'll ride the home court to San Antonio.

West Region

UCLA over Arizona

Scary game for UCLA, and I'm really tempted to pick against them here. The Cats scare me almost more than any team in this bracket because of the location of the game. But the Bruins have already beat Arizona in Tucson, and things won't get any easier for the Cats in Phoenix. The streak goes to eight.

Final Four

Tennessee over Kansas

Again, I can't think of two coaches I'd like to see lose more than these two. But unfortunately, the rules say someone has to win. Depth and balance should do the trick for Kansas. But as much I hate lying scumbag Bruce Pearl, he's a better coach than Bill Self. Self will somehow find a way to lose.

UCLA over Texas

Darren Collison is healthy. He wasn't back in December. And he's on a mission. Since that Texas game, only his second game back, after missing the first six, he's hit 53% of his three pointers. He will not let UCLA lose.

Championship Game

UCLA over Tennessee.

The Bruins ability to control the tempo will frustrate Tennessee, and their relentless ball pressure on the defensive end will lead to some easy baskets for the Bruins. It will be an interesting contrast in styles, but Kevin Love is going to be too much for Tennessee inside, and that will be the difference.

NCAA Tourney First Thoughts

• UCLA has a nice path to the championship, and based on that, they should be the favorite. None of the teams in their bracket scare me.
  
• ASU got dicked. This is what happens when the committee places too much emphasis on schedule and not enough on results. They are simply a better team than Arizona. They proved it over the course of the Pac 10 season, and twice on the court.
• Part of the problem for ASU was, as always, conference tournaments, which I hate. Why play a regular season if you're just going to award the automatic bid to someone who has a hot weekend? Illinois had no business playing for a shot at the tourney. Neither did Georgia, who probably kept ASU out.
  
• No quarrel with the number one seeds.
• Picks will come later this week, but right now I don't like the draw for Stanford, and I like the draw for Tennessee. I think they'll beat North Carolina. They're like Clemson, who UNC struggled with, but better.
  

Berkeley Game Follow Up

First on the Ryan Anderson play, this is from The California Golden Blogs, referring to the video posted in the previous entry:

We here at the California Golden Blogs do the dirty work you don’t have to. We watched this video. Over and over and over again. Hoping to see those damnable Bruins hogtie up Anderson and roll the ball out of bounds as the refs received millions of dollars in cash money from Bill Walton. Hoping to see something. Anything.

Well……………….and this is not what the Cal fans are not going to want to hear, but it actually looks clean. I know I know! The refs. Screwed Cal. No hope. Braun not at fault.

It goes down like this. Player #0, Russell Westbrook, comes towards Anderson from behind. He drapes his left hand over the back of Anderson. However, this is done with the gentlest of care, as if Westbrook and Anderson were in a committed monogamous relationship. Then, Westbrook slaps vertically down upon the ball and it looks like ONLY the ball. Then, Anderson falls to the ground as the ball bounces off his knee.

Now, here is where it gets a bit tricky. Even though its in slo mo and HD, it is tough to make out what happens next exactly. Westbrook clearly bounces the ball once, trying to recover it. It looks like Anderson then punches the ball out of bounds as he falls forward. I cannot tell if Westbrook in any way touches the ball also at this point. Another Bruins player comes over, but it does not appear as if he touches the ball. I have watched that section of the video innumerable times in both the side and front angle, but it is still a bit unclear. If you stuck a gun to my head and asked my opinion, I’d have to say that it looks like Anderson was the last player to touch the ball.

What this means is that the refs might have gotten it totally correct. From the video, it appears that the non-call on the foul was correct. And it looks reasonably certain that it was Bruins ball. I hate to have to say this. But I’m just trying to be objective and reasonable about it.

I still think that Shipp’s shot was apparently illegal and should have been waived off. I also still think Cal would have nonetheless found a creative and exciting way to lose the game. I mean c’mon.

Now, about that shot, here's what an expert thinks (emphasis mine):

According to Hank Nichols, the NCAA's national coordinator of men's officiating, the rule is often referred to as the Wilt Chamberlain rule because its original intent was to prevent a team from lobbing the ball over the backboard to an immensely tall and talented player because the play couldn't be defended. "The intent wasn't to stop a circus jump shot," Nichols said.

So, we have even Berkeley fans admitting that there was no foul, and the ball correctly was given to UCLA, and we have the NCAA coordinator of officiating saying that there's really no good reason that Shipp's shot shouldn't have counted. Seems pretty cut and dried to me.

Thoughts on the Berkeley Game

First, before reading any further, watch this.

You should notice a few things. First, Russell Westbrook got 100% ball on the slap that knocked the ball from Ryan Anderson's hands. Much like Dee Brown did against Mustapha Shakur in 2005. Just because you slap down, it's not an automatic foul. You actually have to hit the guy, which Westbrook didn't do.

Second, Ryan Anderson is a fucking liar. He claims "they clearly tackled me." Of course, he apparently realized how ridiculous that sounded and quickly backed off. "maybe not tackled me -- but I fell to the ground and it didn't go our way." That's better.

Third, if you watch the play and actually pay attention, you'll see Anderson's hand knocking the ball out of bounds. Right call on the no foul followed by the right call on out of bounds play.

As for the shot, the letter of the rule doesn't look good for UCLA, but it depends on the interpretation. To me, a shot going over the backboard is a shot that originiates from either directly in front or directly behind the backboard. If you're shooting from the side, they either have to make it so that it never counts if you start from behind the plane of the backboard, which would be stupid, or set up some sort of trapezoid from which shots won't count. Quite frankly, it's a dumb rule anyway, but that's beside the point. Ultimately, it's debatable, and I can see why people would be pissed, but tough shit.

One win ought to lock up the number one seed in the West, but they'll have to do it against either a fired up Berkeley team that will be out for revenge, or a Washington team that took the Bruins apart a few weeks ago. If Brockman is hurt bad, it will probably be Berkeley.

Congrautlations, Bruins

Three straight Pac 10 titles: Good

Darren Collison: Very good

Call at the end of the game: Probably not that great, but they blew a couple of huge calls that led to Stanford points, specifically Mitch Johnson's double dribble and Lawrence Hill's charge on the go ahead basket.

Me: Very, very sick.

Doug Gottlieb: Very, very stupid.

This is from the "Around the Rim" column today:

UCLA looked OK, but got nothing from Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Alfred Aboya, Lorenzo Mata-Real and Josh Shipp. Even Russell Westbrook was highly ineffective at times against Stanford.

Only in Doug Gottlieb's strange little world is 10 points and 11 rebounds from your fifth option, playing against two seven footers, "nothing". And only in that same world is 19 points "ineffective". Christ, every player has times during a game where they're ineffective. Let's face it, Doug Gottlieb is an expert on two things, stealing credit cards and missing free throws. The guy's an idiot.

Now it's time to close it out and win the title outright on Saturday.

Ready for a War?

Kings vs. Senators, tomorrow night. I don't know why, but for some reason the last two games between these teams have been freaking awesome.

In 2001, the game that made Adam Deadmarsh a Kings legend.


A (small) sample of what happened in 2006 when they met again.


And what happened after Jim Fox called out Bryan Murray for being a punk and sending big Zdeno Chara after Tim Gleason.


Let's hope tomorrow night is just as fun.

Most Anticipated Album of 2008 - for the time being

At least, now that the new Raveonettes album is out...

Spiritualized gets a date for the U.S. release of "Songs in A&E". This is really a reminder to myself more than anything. Here's some older stuff from J. Spaceman.

UCLA 68; Arizona 66

It's funny. A fan base can get so used to things going their way that they don't even realize what little bitches they become when the tide starts to turn. For two and a half decades, Arizona has been led by one of college basketball's Eddie Haskells. Mike Kzysrcksvisklseiski is the same way. These are coaches who seem so friendly and gentle in interviews and when away from the court, but who spend approximately 39:55 of a 40 minute game berating officials and whining like children. In their defense, it works. For years, each team has gotten virtually every call. Hell, Lute didn't even pick up a technical when he ran across the floor to call Lucas Johnson "crazy" in 2000. And somehow they had no problem with the officiating the regional final that season when six Illinois players fouled out, and no Wildcat had more than three fouls.

But times change, coaches change, and standards are replaced. For the seventh consecutive time, UCLA defeated Arizona, despite a great performance from Jordan Hill, and a "better than he usually does against UCLA" performance from Chase Buddinger. It wasn't enough to overcome 24 and 15 from Kevin Love (10-11 from the free throw line), and 16 points from Darren Collison, who continues to be hot from long range (2-3 in this one).

In a fairly surprising development, Arizona got more minutes, and more production, from its bench than UCLA. Part, perhaps most, of that was due to foul trouble, particularly from starter Fendi Onobun, who lasted only 13 minutes before fouling out. Jamelle Horne also struggled with foul trouble, and Jordan Hill caught the bug in the second half.

On the other side, every Bruin starter played at least 33 minutes. What looked like a deep bench at the beginning of the season has been dramatically shortened, and that could cause problems for the Bruins down the stretch. Chace Stanback has been somewhat disappointing in that regard. Note that I'm in no way calling him a bust. Very few freshman come in and contribute right away, but the Bruins benefited the last two years from unexpected contributions from Darren Collison and Russel Westbrook. Both of those players have proven that their freshman contributions were no flukes. They're very special players, and not everyone can bring what they've brought. But of all the bench guys, I figured Stanback might be the guy who could give them a five minute shot in the arm from game to game, but it never materialized. Nikola Dragovic has been a bit of disappointment as well. If anyone could have replaced Mike Roll's shooting, a desperate need for this team, Dragovic figured to be the guy, but he's struggled with his shot all year.

McKale is never an easy place to leave victorious, but Bruins managed to do it yet again, and now they'll fight for a number one seed this week at home against the Bay Area schools. Beat Stanford and they clinch the Pac 10 title. Lose, and they may not be the top seed in the conference tournament. And if they win that game, they absolutely cannot afford a let-down against Berkeley on Saturday. The West Coast road to the Final Four is theirs for the taking. Now they just need to get it done on the court.

Coach Wooden Hospitalized

Get well soon, coach.

UCLA 70: ASU 49

Not exactly where I expected the score to be after about 15 minutes of truly horrid offense from both teams to start the game. But suddenly Darren Collison found his shooting touch, the UCLA defense started forcing turnovers, things started to open up, and what was an 11-11 game with 5:35 left in the half turned into a 29-18 first half lead for the Bruins. 11 points in almost fifteen minutes, and 18 in the last 5+.

It was the Bruins starters who led the way, save for a quiet statistical night by LRMAM. Love, Collison, Shipp, and Westbrook all hit double figures, Love's 18 points leading the way to go along with his 12 rebounds, and a couple of the bullet passes that have really been a joy to watch this season. For a team that didn't make a jump shot until the final 10 minutes or so against Oregon, the Bruins shot the ball pretty well. They were 49% for the game and 10-20 from beyond the arc, which is almost a requirement if you're going to beat a team that relies so heavily on the zone.

Personally, I hate zone defenses. They're tediously boring to watch, and to my mind, they're essentially an admission that your team is simply not good enough to play man to man (and I'm sure it's not a coincidence that my two favorite teams, UCLA and Illinois, are coached by men who flat our refuse to give in and play zone). And while the conventional wisdom says the Bruins have struggled against the zone in the Howland era, I'm not quite sure the facts bear that out. Part of the problem is they just don't "look" good against the zone. They've never had a boatload of shooters to bust zones up, and they typically run the shot clock out before shooting. But this tends to be more typical in the first half as they probe the zone and get used to playing against it. They rarely struggle in the second half against zone defenses, and last night was no exception, as they put up 41 points to cruise to the easy victory. I think their struggles against zones are oversold, and going into the tournament, it's not really something that concerns me.

Josh Shipp finally showed signs of breaking out of his slump, hitting his first three of the game, and first in 21 shots, before looking awful on his next two. Two of those came in a relatively pressure free second half, but the key right now is confidence, and hopefully he regained a fair amount last night. Darren Collison, in comparison, knocked down five of the six he attempted, and four of those came in the first half when things were still in doubt, including a terrific shot at the end of the first half that gave the Bruins a double digit lead that they would never relinquish.

Has any team been as crazy as ASU this year? They have wins over Xavier, Berkeley, Stanford, and two over Arizona. But they've been just decimated twice by UCLA, and they were slaughtered by an awful Illinois team to start the season. They probably need at least two conference wins, and a win in the Pac 10 tourney to make the tournament. Not sure if they can pull it off. The good news for them is that they finish with the Oregon schools. That OSU game could be tough. It's the last game of the conference season, and OSU will probably be gunning for their only conference team. They could be dangerous. Crappy, but dangerous.

On to Tucson to face a reeling Arizona squad that looks like they have NCAA tournament issues of their own. They'll be looking for payback after the drubbing they took at Pauley.

Beware of Falling Objects

Do not get in this kid's way.

Pretty Close to a Dream Lineup

At least until the Lassie Foundation comes to Chicago.

April 4th. The Vic.

White Rabbits.



The Walkmen.



Spoon.



All on the same Goddamn night. Thank God for internet pre-sales.

UCLA 56; U$C 46

It was an ugly game, and a really ugly final five or six minutes of offense for the Bruins, but on defense, it was a thing of beauty. Yes, the thugs shot 46.5%, but the trojans were one and done virtually all night, collecting only five offensive rebounds. Of course, that was when they weren't none and done. UCLA forced 22 turnovers, against nine of their own. T.O. O.J. Mayo had almost half of those by himself. When you grab eight more rebounds, and force 13 more turnovers, most of the time you're going to win the game, even on a night where shots and free throws aren't falling.

As for Mayo, Westbrook simply dominated him on defense. He finished the game with four points on 2-8 shooting. Darren Collison added 14 points of his own while applying excellent pressure to Angelo Johnson. It was a different Darren Collison than the one we saw in Seattle.

I'll admit, I'm a little confounded that Ben Howland didn't try to pound the ball into the post a lot more, especially after Taj Gibson picked up his third foul. Floyd showed that nothing short of a gunshot wound (it *is* South Central) or disqualification was going to keep Gibson out of the game, so I really expected UCLA to go inside in attempt to get Gibson his fourth foul. $C only got eight minutes from their bench, and those came after Davon "I hope they bring it" Jefferson picked up his second foul.

On the outside, both teams were awful, combining to go 4-21 from beyond the arc. Kevin Love hit the only two three pointers for the Bruins. Josh Shipp's shooting woes continued as he finished just 2-7, 0-2 from long range. But what they lacked from the outside, they made up for with very strong interior defense, and the aforementioned rebounding edge. It can't be any clearer at this point that the Bruins are a different team with LRMAM in the lineup than they are without him. Without him, they are a good team. With him, they are a great team. Coming off a bad ankle sprain, he put up 10 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and blocked a shot. They need him healthy for the tournament.

This is not one that will be featured on any classic games telecast, but the Bruins got a much needed win, and now have only one road trip remaining. They are once again in the driver's seat for the conference championship.

Super Furry Animals w/ Jeffrey Lewis and Times New Viking at the Metro - 2/16/08 - A Quick Recap

SFA is a band for whom I no longer have any expectations where their live shows are involved. They've released eight complete albums, as well as a b-side collection, and when there is that much material from which to draw, it's a waste of effort to go to the show expecting to hear your "favorites". At the same time, because virtually their entire catalog is so good, it's almost impossible to leave the show without having heard a bunch of stuff that you wanted to hear.

Jeffrey Lewis opened the evening. One dude, one guitar, and few hand made comic books. It was actually a really cool set. It lasted about 20 minutes, and his stuff is certainly unique. It's like spoken word set to music, but nowhere near as pretentious as that sounds. He also draws comic books and presents them as "videos". Here's an example of what you're in for (he played this last night).


Times New Viking took the stage next, and they pretty much provide about a half hour of noise. It's not bad, mind you, but I think they're an acquired taste. They make Guided By Voices sound slick and over-produced.



SFA took the stage a little after 11:00, and in a first for the Furries since I've been seeing them, there were no video screens, no grand entrance. There were still a few theatrics, as the opening strains of Slow Life announced their arrival. Huw Bunford, Cian Ciaran, Guto Price, and Daffyd Ieuan took the stage, picked up their instruments and started playing along. Gruff Rhys strolled out shortly thereafter in his Power Rangers helmet and sung through the rest of the song. (Go here for pictures).

From there it a solid 90 minutes of SFA as they played material covering most of their career. They ignored Fuzzy Logic, but every other album was represented. And as expected, they played a fair amount from the new album "Hey Venus". Here's the incomplete and out of order setlist, though again, I'm fairly sure this is complete (I should probably give this a new name):

• She's Got Spies
• Do or Die
• Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy
• Calimero
• Ice Hockey Hair
• The Man Don't Give a Fuck
• Rings Around the World
• Juxtaposed With You
• Receptacle for the Respectable
• Hello Sunshine
• Golden Retriever
• Slow Life
• Zoom
• The Gateway Song
• Run Away
• Gift That Keeps on Giving
• Neo-Consumer
• Into the Night
• Baby Ate My Eight Ball

As is their custom, they closed with "the Man Don't Give a Fuck", though it didn't play for 20 minutes as it usually does, probably because there was no video screen backing them up. Also a first, there was no encore. And really, there was no encore required. They played roughly the same amount of time and material as they'd normally play. In fact, at the end, Huw held up a sign saying goodbye to Chicago, and Gruff held up a sign that said "Resist Phony Encores". And that was that. Another superb SFA show. When they've hit this town, they've never played anything but a terrific show. Can't wait until they come back. Until then, enjoy Neo-Consumer (live on David Letterman), Golden Retriever, and Receptacle for the Respectable.

There is funny, there is absolutely hilarious....

And there is "so batshit insane that it made me laugh for days."

Then, there is this:

IMO, the NCAA is fishing. They have an ax to grind ever since Coach Sampson got around his recruiting restrictions by text messaging. The NCAA is trying to "find" evidence against him so that the university will overreact and terminate him.

Just look at the evidence that the NCAA has, 2 Purdue recruits, 1 Illinois recruit, and a high school teammate of that Illinois recruit. In a court of law I don't even know if these witnesses would even hold up in court. Purdue and Illinois are obiviously Indiana's biggest rivals, I have a feeling both teams wouldn't mind seeing Coach Sampson fired and IU hurt. Doesn't anyone find it interesting that Matt Painter was the one that called out the bag, shirt, and shorts for Eltson? Painter has wanted Derek Eltson from the get go, and I am sure he wasn't happy when Eltson committed to IU.

The bottom line is, I think these allegations of lying are TOTALLY FALSE. The NCAA is just digging for stuff to get Coach Sampson fired. It isn't about justice or truth, but it is about making an example. I would be willing to bet that if Indiana stood behind their coach, did their own invesitgation, and took the NCAA to court, they would have a good chance of winning this case. The NCAA's allegations and evidence are weak, and it is obivious they have a grudge against Kelvin Sampson.

That, folks, is grade A hilarity. Delusional, but hilarious.

Indiana is going down, and they're going down hard. But who could have imagined that a guy who had made 500,000 illegal phone calls would commit additional violations and lie about them?

The sad thing is, Indiana didn't have to do this. They have multiple national championships. The state is hoops crazy. They were the last school to go undefeated. They should have had their pick of top coaching prospects. Yet they settled for a guy who is a) dirty, and b) a mediocre coach to begin with. Well done, Hoosiers. Way to hire a crappy, dirty coach.

Hope Eric Gordon was worth it. One season, in which they won't get to the final four (probably won't get to the elite eight) in exchange for multiple sanctions. Damn I love Schadenfreude.

NHL Network

Imagine if you will a sports highlights program where the emphasis in on the highlights. Yes, there's a studio crew, but their job is to introduce the highlights, and when they kick it over to the action, the action is the show. Imagine a show that shows highlights narrated by the actual people calling the game! Feel the excitement of the broadcasters who call the action as if they were calling while it happens (even though it's a replay)! Imagine a show where the action speaks for itself!

I know what you're thinking. Where's the "Boo-Yah!" to tell me when something interesting happens? I am a sheep who requires prompting!

Well, if you're not thinking that, and you long for the highlight program that SportsCenter could be, that Sportscenter USED to be before they decided personalities were more important than actual highlights, then NHL network is where you belong. One small caveat is that you have to like hockey, but I kinda figured that was a given.

Seriously, though, the nightly highlight show on the NHL network is sports highlights as they were meant to be seen. It's actually quite similar to what you used to get at halftime of English League games. Pure highlights, no distractions, and not just all goals. Good scoring chances, great saves, and big hits make the cut as well. All the action that's actually worth seeing.

If only certain unwatchable sports networks could take the hint.

UCLA 61; Washington 71

Two things are clear. First, this is not the same team without Luc Richard Mbah A Moute. Second, the Bruins will not be traipsing through the West on their way to a third straight final four.

Outplayed, outhustled, and yes, outcoached. Whatever Lorenzo Romar schemed for this game, Washington had players wide open under the basket all afternoon. And time after time they outnumbered the Bruins around the basket, which led to offensive rebound after offensive rebound and second chance point after second chance point. Ultimately, that was the difference in the game. As poorly as the Bruins executed, had they not been outhustled, they still could won this game.

It didn't help matters that the Bruins couldn't shoot. O for everything from beyond the arc. Darren Collison was clanking floaters as if he were new to the game. I'm not sure any of the three pointers that UCLA took actually got to the basket until the game was no longer in doubt. Literally, I think every three pointer they took was missed short. And every time they'd close the gap, they'd let up and the Huskies would separate again. Three point deficits became nine point deficits, and when they'd pull to three again, the Huskies would lengthen to eight.

This was not the Bruins team that most of us are used to seeing. They didn't do any of the things we're used to seeing them do. They were dominated on the glass, they rarely, if ever, ran their offense effectively, and they failed to play strong interior defense. That's a recipe for failure on the road in the Pac 10. And make no mistake, this loss is all on UCLA. Washington is not a good basketball team. They have one good player, and they've been torched at home recently. When you're number two and losing to a mediocre team, it's a loss. It's not a tough game that the other team pulled out. It's not a game where the opponent played a great game. It's a game where you failed to show up and do your job. That's why UCLA lost tonight.

Finally, when the ball was successfully inbounded with about 35 seconds to go, Alfred Aboya should have just hauled off and decked the piece of shit who through the ball off his face.

The Whigs w/ the Rikters and Tulsa @ Schuba's - 2/9/08

Saw about half of the Rikters set, and I thought they were pretty good. Local Chicago act, so there will probably be more chances to see them. Tulsa followed with two really good songs, and then sort of went to a grungy alt-country thing that was good, but not great.

The Whigs took the stage a little after midnight and opened the set with the opening tracks off their two albums to get the crowd going. They switched back and forth between albums for a few songs before settling into the newer stuff, and threw out a few covers toward the end. Setlist below, which is actually complete this time, and in order for the first few songs:

• Nothing is Easy
• Like a Vibration
• Technology
• Production City
• OK, Alright
• Violet Furs
• Half the World Away
• I Never Want to Go Home
• Right Hand on My Heart
• Sleep Sunshine
• Hot Bed
• Already Young
• God's Biographer
  
• Hey, You, Get Off of My Cloud
• Need You, Need You
  

The first highlight was Already Young, which just feels like a great live track the first time you listen to it. They didn't disappoint, as the song drew arguably the loudest applause of the night until they played Right Hand On My Heart, which was also terrific.

Whenever I see a band like this, it always feels like there's one song on which I was lukewarm after listening to the album. Then I hear the live version and it blows me away. Hale Sunrise from the Broken West was like that. Last night that song was Half the World Away. It's a slower track, and the keyboards are prevalant. It's easy to tune out when you're just listening to it in the background while working. But about 2:45 into the song, there's a terrific bridge, which almost sounds like a studio jam. It actually really rocks, and in a loud, live setting, it was phenomenal. It's a perfect little digression that doesn't overstay it's welcome. From now on, that song will never sound the same to me.

They closed the set with a cover of the song God's Biographer by the Dutch band Bingo Trappers. Then, jackets off and sweaty from the performance, they braved the cold (about 15-20 degrees). Schuba's has no backstage. Bands head outside before playing their encore. Needless to say, it can be a bit of a shock to a band from Athens, GA. So before too long, they were back, and closed it out with Hey You, Get Off Of My Cloud, and finally Need You, Need You.

All in all it was a great hour of music, and I'm kicking myself for leaving early when they played with the Broken West a few months ago. I'll try not to make that mistake again. They didn't play Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip, which was a bit of a disappointment, but really, no complaints.

Angels Spring Training Preview

Brian Ward asked me to put something together about the Angels for his Spring Training blog. They're getting this together for every team. My contribution is below. Feel free to tell me why I'm an idiot. FWIW, I was just on a conference call today where we made plans to go to a client location in Phoenix the first week of March. Spring Training was the first thing that popped into my head.

Location: Tempe Diablo Stadium
Pitchers and Catcher Report: February 14th
First game: February 28th
Schedule

Projected Opening Day Lineup

1. Chone Figgins (3B)
2. Howie Kendrick (2B)
3. Vladimir Guerrero (RF)
4. Torii Hunter (CF)
5. Garret Anderson (DH)
6. Casey Kotchman (1B)
7. Gary Matthews Jr. (LF)
8. Mike Napoli (C)
9. Erick Aybar/Maicer Izturis (SS)

Projected Rotation

1. John Lackey
2. Kelvim Escobar*
3. Jered Weaver
4. Jon Garland
5. Joe Saunders

*Expected to open the season on the DL.

Bullpen

Long – Ervin Santana
Situational – Darren Oliver, Dustin Moseley, Jason Bulger, Chris Bootcheck
7th Inning – Justin Speier
8th Inning – Scot Shields
Closer – Francisco Rodriguez

Key Battles: The biggest question mark going into Spring Training is clearly at shortstop. The off-season trade of Orlando Cabrera, which brought pitcher John Garland in return, opened up the shortstop spot for a battle between Maicer Izturis and prospects Erick Aybar and Brandon Wood. Aybar appears to be the early favorite based on public comments by Mike Scioscia, who favors the young Dominican for his defense and ability to make contact. Izturis is more of a proven performer at the plate, and is solid defensively, but has never put everything together for a whole season. He also provides the versatility to sub at third base and second base if needed. Wood is a long shot, but if he explodes this Spring, he could force some difficult decisions for the Angels brain trust.

The Cabrera/Garland trade has also created somewhat of a logjam in the starting rotation where, upon the return of Kelvim Escobar, the Angels will have six starters for only five starting spots. Ervin Santana will more than likely start the season in the rotation and remain there as long as Escobar is out. When Escobar gets healthy, Santana figures to be the odd man out, but he could beat out lefty Joe Saunders for the fifth spot. He remains the number one option to make spot starts, or to fill rotation holes should anyone else get injured. Either way, Garland’s addition added depth to an already excellent starting staff.

The acquisition of Torii Hunter created the proverbial good problem to have, as the Angels head into the Spring with five outfielders who could start for at least two thirds of the league, and a sixth who could probably start for 6-8 more. Hunter as the every day center fielder seems to be the only lock at this point. Vladimir Guerrero figures to split time between right field and DH, while Garret Anderson will do the same at the left field/DH spot. There are questions about how much Anderson has left in the tank, but after returning to full health he exploded over the last two and a half months of the season, when he put up a line of .350/.409/.650. It remains to be seen whether that was a fluke, or whether he can carry that forward to 2008. Gary Matthews Jr. will play everywhere, depending on who needs a day off, and who is DHing. For the moment, this leaves both Juan Rivera, one season removed from bad broken leg, and Reggie Willits, who exploded at the start of the season before wearing down in the last few months, on the outside looking in. Both figure to be tradable commodities prior to opening day, and a good spring could lead to a deal, perhaps packaged with an arm in return for a big bat. The Angels probably wouldn’t mind moving Matthews as well, but a no trade clause stands in the way.

Waiting in the wings is Kendry Morales, who started to show what he could do at the plate, hitting .323/.343/.462 over the last month of the season. He could see time at first base if the Angels decide to sit Casey Kotchman against tough lefties, but to this point, Morales has been a better hitter from the left side of the plate, so there may not be much platoon advantage there, and the Angels could decide to stick with Robb Quinlan in that role. Both have seen limited time in the outfield, giving the Angels a seventh option should the need arise, though that seems unlikely.

A smaller skirmish will take place behind the plate, where Mike Napoli and Jeff Mathis will split time. The only question is which one will take over the primary duties. Napoli has the superior stick, with a 109 OPS+ over his first 174 games, while Mathis provides better defense. Napoli struggled a bit at the plate after returning from injury over the last month of the season, but even his .707 OPS over that period was far superior to anything Mathis has been able to put up over any month in his career.

What To Expect: Aybar will be given every opportunity to succeed at shortstop, but if he can’t cut it, the Angels may back into a better option with Izturis. Expect Wood to start the season in Salt Lake with a mandate to improve his ability to make contact. I’d be a bit surprised if they broke camp with both Willits and Rivera, as neither figures to be in their top four outfielders unless they can find someone to take Matthews and his big contract off their hands. It’s doubtful that all six starting pitchers will be ready to go in the first week, so I wouldn’t expect the fifth spot in the rotation to be decided until a week or two into April.

Sports Filled Thursday

Lots to take in last night, so I'll briefly touch on the four sporting events that kept me from watching the new episode of Lost.

Kings 5; Red Wings 3

Absolutely amazing third period for the Kings, as they potted four goals to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 victory. Alexander Frolov has been terrific since returning to full health, and the Detroit broadcasting crew named him their player of the game last night. I thought Brad Stuart was awful over the first two months of the season, but he's been terrific over the last month or so, and the Kings really need to think about extending his deal.

I understand the sentiment of those who don't necessarily want to see the Kings win at this point of the season. Barring a miracle, they won't be playing in the post-season, and every point threatens their chances at acquiring the top pick. But this is a team that needs to learn how to win, and they've been doing that over the last month. That experience may prove invaluable heading into next season. Confidence is a curious thing, and when a team has it, it can be very powerful. If they can go into next season not believing that they can be good, but knowing that they have been good, that will be more valuable than the difference between the first pick and the fourth or fifth pick. I hope they keep winning.

Florida Panthers 4; Ottawa Senators 5

I know, this seems out of place, but a fiend of mine is a gambler, and he suddenly decided that he wants me to start picking hockey games for him. I don't gamble, but I've been "owning" the picks I make, so I was very interested in this game, and it actually caused me to miss the beginning of the Kings comeback. After blowing a 3-1 lead, and a 4-3 lead, Ottawa was the first team to five, and only a couple of great saves by Ray Emery preserved the victory.

Indiana 83; Illinois 79 (2OT)

From a purely objective standpoint, this was an excellent game. Fairly well played by both teams. Back and forth most of the night, with Illinois performing their trademark late collapse, losing a double digit lead yet again. Free throw woes continue to plague the Illini. Sean Pruitt missed two free throws at the end of regulation that would have sealed the victory, then did so again in the first overtime. Six of Illinois' losses this year have come by a combined 23 points. That includes three overtime games (one double overtime game). In those six games, they've made 67-122 free throws. That's fifty five points they've left on the court. They're not a bad team when the clock is running, but they've killed themselves at the line all year.

From a purely subjective standpoint, I hate Indiana with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns. This one hurt, and it was really a game that Illinois should have won. I've lost what little shred of respect I had for ESPN, as they continue to lie about what happened in the recruitment of Eric Gordon. He did not re-open his recruitment, no matter how much Pat Forde, Fran Frischilla, and Jay Bilas want to believe otherwise. Decommitting or re-opening a recruitment entails a conversation with the committed coach wherein the kid explains his intentions. If Gordon had gone to Bruce Weber and said "The situation has changed, and while I'm still interested in Illinois, I'd like to explore other options." Doing so would have allowed Bruce Weber to do likewise. But Gordon didn't do that. His family assured Weber that his commitment to Illinois was solid virtually all the way up to signing day. Quite simply, they lied. Whether they were simply malicious, or too pathetic to look coach Weber straight in the eye and tell him the truth makes no difference. They lied, and liars like the Gordons deserve to play for cheating scumbags like Kelvin Sampson.

Lost in all the hoopla, and the loss, was a transcendent performance by freshman point guard Demetri McCamey. He went for 31 points, 7-13 from beyond the arc, and kept the Illinois in the game all night. He definitely outplayed Gordon. It hurts this year, but in the long run, Illinois is probably better off with McCamey for three or four years than Gordon for one.

UCLA 63; Wazzu 59

Great battle in Pullman last night as these teams traded the top spot on the scoreboard all night. But in classic UCLA style, they wore down the Cougars in the second half, created some separation, eventually pushing the lead to 10 points. With LRMAM, perhaps their best defensive player, home with a sprained ankle, the Bruins allowed the Cougars to shoot over 50%, but dominated the glass, outrebounding Wazzu 29-20. Ten of those were on the offensive glass, and it was second chance points that eventually did in the Cougars.

Darren Collison followed a scoreless first half with an 18 point second half, while Kevin Love netted 16, and Russell Westbrook added 14. Josh Shipp continues to struggle on the offensive end, making only three out of eight shots for six points.

UCLA will face Washington on Sunday, and following that game they'll have only three road games remaining. If they can defend their home court against the Bay Area schools, they'll have the inside track on a third consecutive conference championship.

More Coming Attractions

The Whigs, Saturday, February 9th at Schuba's.



Super Furry Animals, Saturday, February 16th at the Metro. Behold the greatest concert ending song you may ever be privileged to witness, and a little bit of a Juxtaposed With You remix at the end, for hell of it.

Domination

That, folks, was a slaughter. UCLA simply stepped on the gas from the very beginning, and never let up. It's the type of performance that makes an impression on a national audience. Kevin Love was exceptional, and Arizona simply doesn't have anyone who can guard Russell Westbrook. He made Chase Buddinger look like a chump tonight.

Hopefully LRMAM will be OK. Kind of a nasty turn of the ankle there near the end.

This was simply a great team playing at their best against a good team playing considerably less than their best. But make no mistake, UCLA is better right now at virtually every position, and they have a much better coach. McKale will be a tough place to play in a few weeks, but for now, there's not much question who the class of the Pac 10 is.

And if you're looking for the Wildcats, you might want to check somewhere out behind this:

What My SoCal Readers Don't Understand

Yes, it is physically possible for the temperature to go from 50 degrees to below zero in just a few hours. I know that 50 degrees sounds crazy to begin with, but yeah, it gets cold here, and it happens in a hurry. Consider yourselves lucky.

The Verve, when they were good

The two best Verve singles, to keep you occupied until the Arizona homestand. Feel free to gaze at your shoes.

Songs for the Weekend

Let's go back about 12-14 years or so to a time when some of us, most importantly me, were still in college, and starting to broaden our musical horizons to include the north of Europe. First up is a bit of quintessential American style indie for a Dutch act. It's Bettie Serveert with Ray Ray Rain.



And if you're the type who can't appreciate good songcraft, the type who maybe thinks that was a bit effeminate, I give you the Swedish band Salt, with Bluster:

UCLA - 80; Oregon - 75

Niiiiiiiiikolllaaaaaaaa!!

Well, we learned this. Oregon students are stupid. They pissed off someone with the ability to really do them in. Kevin Love went for 24 point and 18 rebounds while the piece of shit Oregon fans gave him nothing but vulgarities, apparently oblivious to the fact that their coach doesn't know how to recruit without Phil Knight. Darren Collison added a career high 22 points, along with six assists against one turnover. Russell Westbrook added 15 of his own along with seven rebounds, and a block of center Maarty Leunen.

Yet the biggest plays of the night came from unheralded Nikola Dragovic, a shooter who hasn't found his shot, and hasn't been able to play strong enough defense to crack Ben Howland's regular rotation. In the game only because of injuries to LRMAM and Lo Mata-Real, and foul trouble from James Keefe and Alfred Aboya, Dragovic hit a pick and pop three pointer with 3:21 to go and the Bruins trailing by four. To the casual observer, it looked like an important shot at an important time. But to the discriminating Bruins fan, it was a huge three from a guy who so far really only has one skill, and even that has been debatable. It was the type of shot that make you cringe, because you know it's a huge momentum swing if he makes it, and possibly a back breaker if he misses it. But it rattled home, and as things turned out, it was a back breaker. Oregon, coming off two Leunen free throws, wouldn't score again until the game was all but over. Part of the reason was a big Dragovic rebound just a minute after his three pointer.

Kevin Love survived the classless and oh so clever (Love's a pussy? Really?) Oregon fans, and basically made the Oregon front line his collective bitch, equaling the offensive output of Leunen and Joevan Catron, while dominating both on the glass (18 rebounds against 11 combined), and was never in foul trouble. Booed every time he touched the ball, he sent the home crowd home very disappointed. Oh, and he did that without Mata-Real, and without LRMAM, two stalwarts in the UCLA frontcourt. He was awesome, and in what may be his only game ever at Mac Court, he earned this win.

Russell Westbrook brought himself back to down to the right level. After trying to make the highlight reel on every possession against U$C, he settled down tonight, made big shots when the Bruins needed him to, and took the ball to the hole on the basket that gave UCLA the lead for good.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Josh Shipp. The numbers are uninspiring: 2-8 from the field, three rebounds, seven points (along with six assists). But honestly, I'm a little surprised he took eight shots. Sometimes you're not on your game, or your opponent is focused on taking you out of the game. And in those situations, the best thing you can do is keep yourself from forcing things. That's not easy to do when you're often the team's offensive focal point. But Shipp let the game come to him. He didn't try to make himself the story. When a leader like Shipp isn't a factor, and UCLA wins a close game, you know they didn't do it in spite of him. You know he let his teammates do what they needed to do to win.

Quite a show of resiliency tonight, especially after Oregon had started to separate a bit, taking a seven point lead with under eleven minutes to play. All in all a great win for the Bruins, and with awful OSU on tap for the weekend, the Bruins are looking for a second consecutive road sweep, the home loss to the women of troy being their only conference blemish.

The Walkmen at Schubas - 1/20/08 - A Quick Recap

First live show of the new year for me. I skipped the first two bands, figuring I'd be there in plenty of time to get a good spot, but that turned out to be a bit of a bad move. Still weaseled my way into a good viewing are, but the place was packed when I showed up, which isn't surprising. The Walkmen can fill larger venues than Schuba's. They played a bunch of new stuff, almost half the set, and one song that I recognized at the time, but can't remember now. They played almost nothing off of Hundred Miles Off. List of what I can remember:

1. Little House of Savages
2. 138th Street
3. Thinking of a Dream I Had
4. No Christmas While I'm Talking
5. What's In It for Me?
6. Wake Up
7. Another One Goes By

Set lasted roughly an hour, which wasn't surprising, because they put a lot of energy into each song, so I have to figure that takes a lot of a person. I was disappointed that they didn't play Emma, the Rat, or a lot of stuff off the last album, but I can't complain. It was an hour of solid entertainment.

White Rabbits played right before and I thought they sounded sort of Walkmen-esque, but a little more accessible. I'll check out their other stuff. All in all, not a bad start to 2008. Here's a clip someone recorded at the show of Wake Up:



And again, I'm always disappointed that I think there are a lot of people who really like that version of Another One Goes By, but who have never heard the original Mazarin/Quentin Stoltzfus version, which I think is superior. Which isn't to say the Walkmen version isn't excellent. I just don't like it as much as the original. Judge for yourself:

Norm Chow to UCLA

Well, that takes some sting out of the performance by the basketball team, doesn't it?

UCLA now has arguably two of the most coveted coordinators in college football, to go along with what is currently a top ten recruiting class. Next year may be a tad rough, but the future looks very bright. Weird to think that I'll have two fairly decent college football teams to root for in the near future.

Pathetic

UCLA loses to a bunch of kids who can run and jump, but can't think their way out of a paper bag, which is why they've ended up at Thug Central. Note to the Bruins: The other team just isn't going to quit when you take the lead.

This is the most embarrassing loss of the Howland era. There is no excuse for crap performance that the Bruins put on the floor today.

And not to pin the blame on one player, but Russell Westbrook played BY FAR the worst game of his season. He's ahead of schedule, so a game like this was due, but he was flat out awful. Balls going off his feet, an inability to maintain possession, shots that barely cleared the rim at their highest point, and he's clearly fallen in love with the highlight reel, as his botched dunk demonstrated. 2-11, 0 three pointers, and fortunately ESPN's box score doesn't list his many turnovers yet. And as well as he did on defense in the first half, his man still ended up with 16 points.

You have to feel bad for Kevin Love. He didn't shoot well, but he finished with 18 and 12, outplaying Mayo. But in the end, all that matters is that his team lost. You can say the same for Josh Shipp.

As for LRMAM, well, he apparently needs another off-season to work on his jump shot. And someone can add shot selection to his lessons.

I don't mean this to sound like a shot at Howland, but until a few years ago, this game would have been on Wednesday night. It would not have come after a week layoff. I don't know if the layoff had an effect, but in the past, it wouldn't have been an issue. It would have been midweek, and the Bruins would have been playing a non-conference game today. I love 99% of what Howland brings to UCLA, but I don't care for his scheduling, and I never have.

All you can do is hope they use this as a learning experience.

On Rick Neuheisel

At the start of the coaching search, he probably wasn't my first choice. But whether it's rationalization, or the acquisition of new information, I've gotten to like the idea, and I'm glad that UCLA made that hire. Nothing he's said since has dissuaded me from that view.

I'm not worried about the past trangressions. Despite their volume, they were very minor, and I think he's probably learned his lesson.

I'm not worried about the gambling thing. And any of you who want to bitch about that, well, if you've never participated in an NCAA basketball pool, have at it.

I'm not worried about him lying about interviewing for other jobs. He's not leaving UCLA unless he's asked to leave. This has always been the job that he wanted.

I'm not worried about Walker leaving. Dissolution of the recruiting class would be unfortunate, but I don't think recruiting will be a problem long term. And at this point, I'm not sure Walker would be comfortable working under Neuheisel. And let's be honest, the DC will have to work under Neuheisel. He's not an equal, he's an assistant. And if this class is loyal to Walker, and Walker isn't loyal to the head coach, that could mean big problems down the road. But if Walker is willing to maintain that position, and agree to work under RN, then all the better.

But ulimately, he's not Karl Dorrell. He's not wedded to the West Coast Offense, which does not work in college football, nor is it philosophically the right offense to play in college. He's been successful during his two stops as a head coach. He's got pro experience as a coordinator. He knows what he has to do to keep his nose clean. I like the hire, and I think UCLA is a better program because of it.

Ilinois 17 - thUg$C 49; Thoughts on the Rose Bowl

• There's no question which team is better, just as there wasn't before the game. That said, I think Illinois would beat $C probably 10-20% of the time, and experience was a big factor. Maybe the mood was different on TV, but there was a real sense of momentum in stadium when Illinois was driving to make the score 21-17.
  
• Three plays were the difference in the game. The Jacob Willis fumble was the first, but I actually think the Illini could have recovered if they had been able to get a defensive stop. They blew an opportunity to do that when $C converted a 3rd and 12, which was followed by the lateral that bounced into Joe McKnight's hands for a 64 yard run. That took the wind out of the Illini sales, and the game was effectively over right there.
• I thought the play calling in the first half was atrocious. It was the same uninspired run, run, screen, run, run, run, run, screen, etc. that they ran against Iowa. No deception. No play action. Just the same crap over and over until they decided to throw at the end of the first half. Lo and behold, things opened up, they started to move the ball, and Mendenhall got off. If they had done that a quarter earlier, that Mendenhall score may have made the game a lot closer.
  
• Temple City High School has had very few athletes ever make noise on national level, but I was embarrassed to be a Ram after Temple City grad Desmond Reed showboated his way into the end zone. It would have served him right if he had torn up his knee again while doing it.
• The thUg$C band is as undisciplined as the football team, but it was great to see the 3 in 1 again, even without the Chief.
• It's a lot different going to the game and having good seats than it is having the crappy seats I used to get when I worked the game every year.
• Rashard Mendenhall is a freaking stud. I haven't seen many guys who blend his power and speed. He may have run his way into the first round today.
• Illinois looks to be pretty good next year. If they can replace Mendenhall, and if Juice can learn to throw a little better, the offense will be improved. The defense will be a bit of question mark, though.
• The game was a good experience, and I'm glad I went, even with the score the way it was. It was nice to be around so many fellow alums.
  

Top 10 Albums of 2000 - #1: Simple Kid - 2

It's rare that an album comes completely out of nowhere to impress me this much, but it happened twice this year, Panda Bear being one, this being the other. I first came across this before he opened for BRMC a few months ago, and I wanted to know whether I should get there in time for the opening act. It sounded good, I went, and was blown away. I immediately (legally) downloaded the album and couldn't stop listening to it for the next two weeks.

Virtually all self-recorded, he walks the line between traditional (Ballad of Elton John) and experimental (You); Bluegrass (Little King Kong), and metal (Mommy and Daddy); Folk (Old Domestic Cat), and Indie (Serotonin). Yet somehow, this has generated almost no buzz whatsoever. Not a single mention on Pitchfork. The new album doesn't even have an Amazon review. It's like I'm in some alternate universe where I'm the only person that's heard of this guy.

Start to finish, this album is a masterpiece. Some tracks stand out more than others, but they're nicely placed so that the album doesn't really reach a crescendo until the penultimate track, Mommy and Daddy, where Ciarn McFeely shows off his metal chops, no small feat for a one man act. Within the first week of owning this, I knew it was the best album of the year. It's simply fantastic.

Here's Serotonin, Ballad of Elton John, and Self Help Book.

Top 10 Albums of 2000 - #2: Panda Bear - Person Pitch

Another 2007 revelation, inspired by a Song of the Day post back in April, this was one I listened to a few times and thought was good. Then I got the urge to listen to it again sometime around October and was blown away. The opening triumvirate of Comfy in Nautica, Take Pills, and Bros are probably the three best opening tracks on any album I've ever heard, rivaling even OK Computer.

These songs are sounds, but not noise. They sound both carefully crafted and pulled from the ether at the same time. It's pure sonic bliss for the first 20 minutes. It gets a little goofy/experimental from there on, but closes nicely with Ponytail. It's hard to write too much about this one. It's unlike almost anything I've ever heard, but still quite familiar. It's just basically fantastic.

Here's Comfy in Nautica, Bros, and someone's video for Take Pills:

Section 20; Row 67; Seats 101 & 102

Just got my Rose Bowl tickets today. Casually asked the owner of a local Mexican food restaurant that my parents frequent, and he hooked me up. Should somewhere between the 25 and 40 yard lines, about ten rows under the press box, which are actually excellent seats at the Rose Bowl. Could stand to be a little lower, but these will be good. Paid face value. Only downside is that they're in the U$C section, but I'll survive. It's the alumni section, so they're all rich and docile.

This will be like the fifth or sixth Rose Bowl game I've been to, but the first where I've had decent seats.

Top 10 Albums of 2000 - #3: Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Now we get to a band who's sound has really evolved over time. Their very early work was much more Pixies influenced, much rougher. It's a sound so foreign to their newer fans that they don't even play stuff from Telephono in concert anymore, or at least they haven't at any of the shows I've been to in the last few years.

The result of that evolution is Gax5, and it's arguably their best to date. I say arguably because I think it's a question of peak value vs. consistency. "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb", "the Underdog", and "Finer Feelings" are as good as anything they've ever done, and maybe the best three songs to appear on the same album. That said, I don't think it's consistently good as Gimme Fiction. Start to finish, I'll take their last album. I'm not a huge fan of "the Ghost of You Lingers", "Eddie's Raga", or "Japanese Cigarette Case", and they tend to stick out surrounded by such excellent tracks. But the quality of those top three, along with "Don't You Evah" and "Black Like Me" push this into the upper echelon of 2007 releases.

Here's Don't You Evah, Black Like Me, and Cherry Bomb.

Top 10 Albums of 2007 - #4: Super Furry Animals - Hey Venus!

It's kind of strange to think about a favorite band as being "under the radar", then realizing that they've got eight full length albums, a rarities collection, and a singles compilation. Generally bands that stay under the radar don't stick around long enough to be that prolific. But Hey Venus! marks the bands eight album, and fourth in the last five years or so.

Much like their last album, Love Kraft, Gruff Rhys shares the vocal duties with Huw Bunford ("Battersea Oddessy") and Cian Ciaran ("Carbon Dating", which sounds a lot like his Acid Casuals song "Bowl Me Over"). This might be their most pop-friendly album since, well, maybe ever. After the brief introduction of "Gateway Song", the album launches into the two most consumer friendly tracks on the album, "Run Away" and "Show Your Hand", before settling down with the mellowed out "Gift that Keeps Giving".

Like a lot of SFA albums, except for maybe Rings Around the World and Phantom Power, it tails off a little bit at the end, and you'll probably find yourself listening to the first seven tracks a lot, and the last four tracks not so much. That's not to say they aren't great tracks, but they tend to require the right mood, whereas a song like "Run Away" sounds good no matter what you're in the mood for. There are no real epic, defining tracks here, like Love Kraft's "Lazer Beam", Phantom Power's "Slow Life", or Rings' "Receptacle for the Respectable" or "Run, Christian, Run". But start to finish, it's on par with all of those albums.

Here's Run-Away; Show Your Hand (you have to sit through a minute or so of chat, but you'll get a cool glimpse of "God, Show Me Magic"); and the Gift that Keeps on Giving.

More fun with Sitemeter

Alright, who keeps coming here after googling Warren Busick? It was a throw away line in a post from quite a ways back, but it gets me like three or four hits per week. Sheesh, I don't think I've even seen him since I was about 12.

Top 10 Albums of 2007 - #4a: Earlimart - Mentor Tormentor

Alright, mea culpa, I forgot this one when I put my original list together, and I'm shoehorning them into roughly the spot they would have had if I hadn't been an idiot. Now that that's out of the way...

Earlimart returns with the third full-length of the Aaron Espinoza fronted era, and start to finish, it's their strongest outing to date. They've retained the knack for finding just the right ambient noise to back their stronger tracks, and even amplified by touring (briefly) with a string quartet. This is most notable on "Answers & Questions". They've moved away somewhat from the feedback heavy tracks like "Unintentional Tape Manipulations" and "Lost at Sea" from previous albums, and moved toward more piano and softer vocals, which suits not only Espinoza's ability, but Ariana Murray's, who contributes lead vocals on "Happy Alone", and shares them on "the World".

There's nothing here as sumblime as "Heaven Adores You" from the last album (though "Answers & Questions" is close), but the album is their most consistent to date. Every track is solid, and the pacing is excellent. No videos this time, but you can stream the whole album at their site.

Top 10 Albums of 2007 - #5: The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On

The first full length from The Broken West, once known as the Brokedown until they found out they shared the name with a Chicago band. They hold the record as the band I've seen the most in a single year. I saw them initially when they opened for the Walkmen early in the year, then a month or so later when they headlined. They came back in the summer to play the Taste of Randolph Street festival, and hit the town once again with the Whigs in late October. The nice thing about listening to indie stuff is that one can actually afford to see the same band a bunch of times in the same year.

This is simply good, straightforward indie pop/rock, and it's very impressive for a debut. And it's very West Coast. While bands like Beulah captured the San Francisco Sound, the Broken West are much more L.A. Laid back groovy pop-songs like You Can Build an Island and Slow are set among the driving pop beats of So It Goes and On the Bubble, and the almost country sounding Abigail.

There's really not much more I can say. It's not complicated. It's not groundbreaking. This album just does what it sets out to do very, very well. Here's the studio version of Down in the Valley, a live version of So it Goes, and a live version of You Can Build an Island:

Top 10 Albums of 2007 - #6: The Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder

After a five year hiatus, which saw side projects from both Hilarie Sidney and Robert Schneider, as well as the end of their marriage, the Apples In Stereo returned with arguably their best album yet, and while Sidney is no longer a full fledged member of the band, she lends vocals to a couple of the many excellent tracks on this album.

Every AiS record has sounded a little bit different than the one before. From the jangly pop of Tone Soul Evolution and Fun Trick Noisemaker, to the lilting pop of Her Wallpaper Reverie, to the feedback drenched Beach Boys melodies of Velocity of Sound, they've managed to alter their sound just enough to let you know that they had evolved since the last time you heard them. New Magnetic Wonder showcases Schneider's experiments with vocoders and other bits of technology, while still calling back to their past, maintaining the framework of melodic psych-pop that has shaped every album to a varying degree.

There's a little bit of everything here. The opener "Can You Feel It" would have sounded at home on Fun Trick Noisemaker. The more raw "Skyway" follows, a track that could have had a home on Velocity. "Same Old Drag" and "Play Tough" bust out the harmonies that were so prevelant on Tone Soul, while "Sun is Out" opens as a lo-fi low tempo track right out of Wallpaper, before becoming a campfire style sing-along. Sidney pitches in with Sundaal Song and Sunday Sounds. It's like a greatest hits album of all new material, if that makes any sense.

The album is replete with short little song breaks (Don't download this album unless you can get it for one price, and don't get it from Emusic). There's 24 tracks, but it plays as something closer to a tradition 12-14 track album. And typical of AiS, it's all stuff that really transfers well live. They put on a great show, and they're someone you should check out if you get the chance.

Here's Same Old Drag; Can You Feel It?; and a live acoustic version of Skyway: