This is very exciting, having my own blog in which I’m able to write about things pertaining to my beloved alma mater, the University of California, Los Angeles – better known to one and all as UCLA!
I was the editor and UCLA correspondent of SoCalSportsHub.com before that site merged with The 110 report and became part of the Fan Sided Network; now I’m Associate Lead Editor of 110 as well as the UCLA correspondent there.
Plus I’ll be posting on this site, continuing to make my contribution to UCLA’s Bruin Nation, which I’ve been a part of for, well, a long time.
The interesting thing is, I didn’t even expect to get into that prestigious school in Westwood; not only did I not do great in high school and began my undergraduate career at a junior college, I was totally set to transfer to Cal State Northridge when the big envelope came from UCLA saying “Congratulations!”
To say that I was absolutely ecstatic at getting accepted to my dream school was an understatement, as I was a Bruin fan for pretty much all of my life. Plus my mother went to UCLA in the late 60s – early 70s (the middle of the John Wooden basketball domination), so that made me not only a Bruin legacy, but also a second generation Bruin.
My UCLA career was a good one; I was in the Bruin Marching Band during my time there and saw about 90% of the football and basketball games, watching athletes such as Troy Aikman – who I had a sociology class with – Don MacLean, and someone who I had a Women’s Studies class with, Tracy Murray. I also made many friends who I’m still friends with today.
As I’ve always liked to say, being accepted to, attending, and graduating UCLA, to me, is parallel to a completely nerdy loner in the 1950s asking Marilyn Monroe to be his girlfriend – and Marilyn saying yes!
That’s how I sum up my UCLA experience and life.
As the Bruin football team gets ready for a very pivotal second half of the season, starting with Arizona in Tucson this Thursday night, I’ll be on this site often, keeping you up to speed with not only the football and basketball teams, but with other sports as well as UCLA has the distinction of:
1. Having more NCAA championships – 107 and counting – than any other school,
2. Being the only school in the country with the number one overall picks in four different professional sports leagues: Troy Aikman in the NFL (1989), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton in the NBA (1969 and 1974, respectively), Steve Shak in MLS (1990) and Garret Cole in MLB (by the Pittsburgh Pirates this year), and…
3. Being the only school in the country that has winners of the Heisman Trophy (Gary Beban in 1967) in football, the Wooden Award (Marques Johnson in 1977 and Ed O’Bannon in 1995) in basketball, and the Golden Spikes Award (Trevor Bauer this year) in baseball.
If that doesn’t make you proud to be a Bruin, nothing will.
I’ll return soon with more posts and insights. Until then…
GO BRUINS!!