UCLA Basketball: Bruins blow a big chance to move up in the Pac-12

After becoming one of the hottest teams in the Pac-12 over the last few weeks, the UCLA basketball team regressed to their pre-streak tendencies in an embarassing loss to Colorado.

I started my afternoon off in Pasadena. I had scheduled a mandatory eye appointment just east of Old Town two hours before the UCLA basketball team was to tip off their second to last game of the season against Colorado. It lined up perfectly.

After an hour of ocular prodding and another hour before tipoff, I had time to kill before the game began. I sojourned to Old Town for some much needed retail therapy as I try to assuage my pregame excitement. A while back I had lost a gray and red tartan patterned cap which I was missing terribly, simply due to its comfort, but I would be remiss if I did not admit that I took a tiny bit of pleasure in the vanity it brought me as it complimented my facial features.

More from Go Joe Bruin

Knowing that, I decided to venture over to the Goorin Bros. shop out on Colorado Blvd. On my way to the establishment, I decided to stop in at the coffe shop Intelligencia to indulge in a latte on this chilly Thursday evening.

Depsite the above average price tag, the drink had sated my urge for calming libation. I mean, in a few minutes time, my alma mater was going to carry their recently conjured momentum into a season-defining game that would determine their fate in the upcoming conference tournament. Relaxing, in some sense, seemed imperative.

After a much-needed respite with my beverage, I continued to the hat shop to peruse their selection of headgear. After a few moments of meticulously searching for the ideal cap, I began to look at the prices. “Egads!” is what echoed through the shop as I clamored in response to the ridiculous pricing of these woolen head sweaters.
“Is this really $80?”, I asked of the shopkeep.

“Yes, and it looks ravishing on you”, he replied.

“But I haven’t even tried it on. I think you are getting ahead of yourself. Thank you for your time. I will be departing now.” It’s true, I became parsimonious when the cost was revealed, but I was also unnerved by the shopkeep’s proclamation. How would he know how I would look without sampling the goods? No, this was a ploy to get me to invest in a product that I was not completely receptive to.

“Thank you shopkeep, but I will continue my search elsewhere.” Besides, the game would start in about 10 minutes time.

The emotions were again riding high with a belief that the Bruins can actually set themselves on the right path to success, only to prove that it was none other than an illusion. Again.

I sauntered over to the 35er, a quaint little watering hole that serviced the sports-watching locals of Pasadena and nearby communities. There they have a plethora of televisions which would broadcast games from every available network (except the Pac-12 Network, because nobody receives that). It was a veritable sports utopia. With beer.

After settling my belongings at a table in the corner of the establishment where a single TV hung by its lonesome self and would allow me to view the game without disruption, I went to the bar and ordered an IPA that was discounted due to the bar’s “Happy Hour”. Bonus. I can enjoy a modestly priced beverage while enjoying a game that I have been excited for all week.

After boasting on Go Joe Bruin for the last seven days that the UCLA basketball team was primed to strike, seeing as they have been toting some much-needed energy and production in the last few weeks, they had proceeded to resort back to their pre-momentum persona, which probably should not have been as big of a shock as it was. The Bruins allowed Colorado to take an early lead and the Buffaloes never looked back. It was disheartening, to say the least. This team, which had a chance to lock up a Pac-12 Tournament first-round bye, had faltered. Once again.

The Bruins were brutalized and beatdown by an unbenign butchering by the hands of the bold and brazen Buffaloes. It was excruciating, to say the least.

UCLA, who needed a statement win after a precarious season, would be deposed of their 3rd place spot in the rankings and become entangled in a four-way tie for 4th pace. That first-round bye was slipping from their fingers and would seemingly get more difficult to retain, especially with UCLA taking on Utah in their next game… the team that fought from 22-points down to give the Bruins a discouraging loss at Pauley Pavilion last month.

It was that kind of night in that kind of season. The emotions were again riding high with a belief that the Bruins can actually set themselves on the right path to success, only to prove that it was none other than an illusion. Again. (Thank you for indulging me in my postgame tangent. I figured it would be a lot more entertaining than what we saw from the Bruins in this loss.)