Happy New Year, From Go Joe Bruin!

It will soon be 2016 and we here at Go Joe Bruin would like to thank you for the past year and promise you even more in the new year! Go Bruins!

Thank you very much! 2015 was a great year but we are looking to get even better in 2016 and it is all thanks to you Bruin fans (and sports fans in general)!

It was a fun year full of ups and downs in UCLA Athletics. From the Men’s Water Polo team claiming UCLA’s 113th Championship — most in the NCAA — to the Football team winning the Alamo Bowl to the Women’s Basketball team winning the Women’s NIT tournament, it was quite an eventful year.

2015 was also the best year in Go Joe Bruin history and we want to thank you once again Bruin fans! We published the most articles in a single year and had the most views EVER! That is thanks to the GJB staff growing 11 at its peak (the largest in site history) and I have to say, they are all fantastic writers.

Not only that, they can really grab the attention of a wide audience.

Mar 23, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins mascot performs in the second half of a men

This year, Go Joe Bruin had two articles that are no. 1 and no. 2 in the site’s history for most views. BYU: The Dirtiest Team in College Football by Michael Hanna caught on fire across the country the week before the UCLA-BYU game. Apparently it even got some radio time in Utah, that is the rumor anyway.  Aside from his epic article, Hanna is also Go Joe Bruin’s recruiting specialist who you should be following on twitter (@MichaelMHanna). Two examples of his knowledge of UCLA Football recruiting can be seen in his Recruiting Big Boards for the Offense and Defense.

UCLA Bruins

No. 2 on the GJB list is UCLA Twitter Treat: USC Coach Steve Sarkisian Gets Drunk, Rips Pac-12 Rivals by Jake Merrifield which was a playful piece about the rumbles coming from USC’s ‘Salute To Troy’ back in August and their former Trojan coach. Though the situation itself with Sarkisian has turned serious, at the time Merrifield had perfectly chronicled the misdoings of Sark. On top of that, every week Merrifield was on top of the UCLA Football game previews, Know Your Opponent and 3 Keys To Victory.

I also want to spotlight a few other of our writers who have put in their blood, sweat and tears.

Nathan Eberhardt joined the staff early in the year and immediately took over writing duties for UCLA Baseball. It got even better when he started writing about football and showed both his writing prowess and genuine love for the program. Check out UCLA Football Is Back! where he reminisces about watching one of his all-time favorite Bruins, DeShaun Foster. He also did the weekly Coaching Josh Rosen articles and Go Joe Bruin’s Pac-12 Power Poll.

We also have Matt Wagner whose general knowledge of UCLA sports has had him cover both the football and basketball teams. He also live tweets every sporting event ever! He also has love for Canadian Football, so right there you know he is a sports fanatic.

I also want to thank some of former writers, newer writers and contributors: Jake Liker, Todd Reeves, JC, Aleks Dostanic, Ryan Tabb and Brian Canup. To everyone who wrote for Go Joe Bruin this year, THANK YOU!

I would also like to thank my co-hosts Merrfield and Bill Shirley for our weekly podcast, What’s Bruin Show, which we feature on Go Joe Bruin weekly. It has been fun guys!

So with 2016 happening, we will continue to cover UCLA sports and get bigger and better than ever! That starts at midnight. So from all of us at Go Joe Bruin…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!