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It’s been a long time, been a long time…
No, we haven’t been Over the Hills and Far Away, nor were we Trampled Under Foot in Kashmir, but it does seem like Ten Years Gone since we last Rambled On. Our website “host” was experiencing a Communication Breakdown, so we were unable to update. Luckily, only a couple of pertinent (to us) occurrences transpired recently that we wanted to address. The first was a Bruin racking up another honor, and the second was Local Hero Vlad Guerrero pulling a big upset, by winning the Home Run Derby on Monday night in San Francisco, beating the likes of Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols. Big Daddy Vladdy, using a bat presented to him mid-Derby by Big Papi David Ortiz in a pre-arranged but amusing mock-ceremony, out-slugged Alex Rios in the Final Round to become the third Angel to win the annual event. Wally Joyner and Garrett Anderson were the previous two, with Garrett turning around and taking the MVP of the All-Star Game the day after his Derby triumph.
Vlad wasn’t all that successful in the game, but his team DID emerge victorious. The American League won for the 10th straight time without a loss, barely holding on to a 5-4 victory. And it was Vlad’s Angel teammate who turned it into a nail-biter… but then sank his claws into the Save. After Seattle’s J.J. Putz lived up to his name by allowing the N.L. to close from 5-2 to 5-4 in the 9th, Halo Closer Francisco Rodriguez came in. Inheriting a man on first with two outs, K-Rod was over-throwing, and couldn’t find the strike zone. He walked two straight guys to load the bases, but then the Phillies’ Aaron Rowand came up, and hacked a long fly to Right to end the game and keep the N.L.’s 11-year winless streak in tact.
The MVP of the game was Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki, and rightfully so. Ichiro went 3-for-3, including the first Inside-the-Park Home Run in All-Star Game History. The blast took an odd bounce off the wall, and the speedy Mariner scored easily. The two-run shot gave the A.L. a 2-1 lead, which they never relinquished. That crucial play was definitely the most exciting hit of the game, but the next-most entertaining moment, outside of the bottom of the ninth, was when “Bruin” went swimming.
Bruin Baseball player now with Arizona Eric Byrnes was in a kayak in McCovey Cove, covering the game for Fox. With him was his pet Bulldog, “Bruin.” During a lull in the game, they were out of the kayak and on the back of a Fox Boat, when he threw a ball into the water, and told Bruin to “Fetch!” Believe it or not, the dog courageously dived into the water, swimming frantically. Unfortunately, the poor pooch did not see where the ball went, so he started aimlessly dog-paddling far away from the boat.
Fox had to virtually go “split-screen,” showing the Breaking Canine Emergency Crisis even WHILE the game had resumed action, because at that point, the fate of Bruin was actually more captivating than the game. Fortunately, a couple of good samaritan kayakers went in a high-speed pursuit of “Bark Spitz,” forming a “V” shape in front of him with their vessels to cut him off before he headed off to Honolulu.
Fox’ close-up shot of a shaken but not stirred Bruin -- back on board the sloop after the ordeal -- delivered a much-needed happy ending to what was the Highlight of the Game… for millions of Wives of Baseball fans – and for Bruin fans who were disappointed that the lone Bruin playing in the game, Philadelphia’s Chase Utley, was unable to do anything to get his team out of their 10-year drought. It could have been worse -- At least no trOJans were allowed to participate in the game.
Speaking of Bruin All-Stars, UCLA’s Football team will be led by Defensive End Bruce Davis this year, if you put faith in Preseason accolades.
After already garnering positions on various Pre-season All-American teams and a spot on the Bednarik Award Watch List, Davis has recently been recognized again, with his inclusion on the Ted Hendricks Award Watch List. The ex-Raider-inspired Award is for the best Defensive End in the Nation, and since Davis’ 12.5 Sacks last season are the most of any returning player at ANY position, and since Davis was a Hendricks semi-finalist last year, there was no doubt that they would remember Davis this year.
In addition to Davis, Justin Hickman and Dave Ball also have been semi-finalists, but if Davis manages to win it, he’d be the first Bruin to do so.
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Old trOJans never die, they just get SCuzzier:
The Ultimate Hero of Figueroa Tech, O.J. Simpson, apparently turned 60 years old this past week, prompting these two (paraphrased) gems from David Letterman --
“Now that O.J.’s 60, when he goes into a room to kill someone, he asks himself: “What did I come in here for?’”
And:
“At his Birthday Party, O.J. picked up the knife, sliced up the Birthday Cake, and then WIPED OFF THE PRINTS.”
We don’t know what O.J. wished for -– maybe forgiveness from his daughter for throwing her under a bus by using her name and “Foundation” to illegally funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars of mad money back to O.J. All WE were wishing for is JUSTICE, but if he was there to blow out his 60 candles, then our wish hasn’t been granted yet.
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Click here for a meaty fan letter about the Joy of 13-9 that you can really sink your teeth into
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