UCLA beats ASU with defense and 3s

It’s been said that the one thing UCLA basketball couldn’t do was score from outside.

Never mind.

The Bruins not only did what they usually do (dominate on defense), but after a slow start, UCLA’s offense got on a roll, making 10 of 20 three-pointers en route to a 70-49 win. Darren Collison was 5 for 6 and Josh Shipp was 4 for 8 from outside the arc, breaking out of his 0 for 20 slump.

The Bruins looked like they were in postseason form, completely shutting down Arizona State’s offense and out-rebounding them by a wide margin (33 to 19) — which is good since March Madness is only a few weeks away.

(Check out video highlights of last night’s game at Gutty Little Bruins. I got the photo above here.)

31 days ’til Opening Day

There are 31 days left until that best day of the year, MLB’s Opening Day.

Your first Angels’ box score of spring training can be found here.

It’s completely irrelevant — I highly doubt the Angels will have too many tie games this season unless Bud Selig follows the team all-year long. But it’s good to see game recaps and box scores again. Just 31 days left until the box scores are real and actually matter people.

UCLA roundup: Mata and Neuheisel

First, I’d like to join Bruins Nation in wishing a happy birthday to Lorenzo Mata, one of my favorite players on the basketball team. It’s amazing and kind of sad that his career as a Bruin is almost over. I’ll have many more thoughts on his career as a Bruin as the season ends.

For fun, here’s a video I found on YouTube with Lorenzo Mata highlights (an Eminem song plays throughout, turn your sound off if you’re somewhere you don’t want to hear it).

Also, I’d like to link to a blog entry that Gutty Little Bruins found about new football coach Rick Neuheisel. The blog was posted by a youth football coach attending a coaching clinic at Winning Youth Football, and here’s an excerpt: (ellipsis mine)

Unfortunately I too succumb to making judgments about people I know little about and in many cases these judgments are 100% wrong. I had the opportunity to meet and spend some time with Rick Neuheisel from UCLA last weekend at the Clinic of Champions in Reno, Nevada.

…

In the after-session mixer in the Speakers Suite Coach Neuheisel couldn’t have been different than what I imagined. He was shy, cordial, not outgoing at all, friendly, humble and very willing to offer help and guidance to any that asked, even to a lowly youth coach like me. He went out of his way to offer support and appreciation for what youth coaches do for the game of football. He looked you in the eye, gave you a firm handshake and listened intently to what you were saying, asking great questions and asking for clarifications along the way. I came away from that experience with a much different opinion of Coach Neuheisel. He had absolutely nothing to gain by spending time with a youth coach from

Nebraska, none of my kids are being recruited by UCLA and I’m certainly not a donor prospect for UCLA.

You have to go read the whole thing. Neuheisel wasn’t my first choice to coach at UCLA, but as I learn more and more about the guy and see what he’s done, I’m thrilled that UCLA hired him and can’t wait for college football season. Neuheisel has helped make my passion bucket full so far.

32 days ’til Opening Day: Spring Training games start

There are 32 days left until that best day of the year, MLB’s Opening Day.

Today is the first full day of spring training games. While I’m not a huge fan of spring training games it’s good to know that they are happening.

One tradition I do like that MLB teams do is play a college team occasionally to start off spring training. Yesterday, the Braves played Georgia, the Cardinals played St. Louis University and the Pirates played Manatee Community College (all three MLB clubs won obviously, not that it matters if they lost). Today, the Red Sox face Boston College and Northeastern, the Nationals face George Washington.

Spring Training games mean that Opening Day is almost here. Just 32 more days people.

Links of the Day + Papelbon en Espanol

Here’s video of Jonathan Papelbon trying to do a public service announcement in Spanish (Hat-tip to Center Field). Papelbon doesn’t exactly speak the language fluently.

To Papelbon’s credit, he does try and seem to actually want to pronounce the words correctly. How many ballplayers who can’t speak the language would try to do it?

Your links of the day:

A team lost because its fans rushed the court before the game was actually over. I’m sure they’re proud of themselves. (Storming the Floor)

The Devil Rays really should be going after Barry Bonds. I agree completely with David Chalk on this one. I’m not on the “Devil Rays are competitive” bandwagon, but I’d hop on board if they signed Bonds. (Bugs & Cranks)

Could the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers be darkhorse teams in the NL? Anything can happen in the league of parity. (Baseball Mastermind)

Remembering Ron Neccai, who once struck out 27 batters in a minor-league game. (Knuckle Curve)

Tony La Russa still doesn’t think Mark McGwire used performance-enhancing drugs. (Larry Brown Sports)

Jon Stewart played soccer at William & Mary. (Hugging Harold Reynolds)

Looking at the most consistent and inconsistent teams in college basketball, and showing that consistency isn’t always a good thing. (Vegas Watch)

Clemens did report to the Astros camp. No, not that one. (Walkoff Walk)

A reminder that Darren McFadden is really good. (Rumors and Rants)

So even though the trading deadline has passed, Sam Cassell could still wind up on another team this year. What a league. (SportsHubLA)

33 days ’til Opening Day: Justin Speier

There are 33 days left until that best day of the year, MLB’s Opening Day.

33 is also the number Angels’ reliever Justin Speier wears. Despite missing over two months of the season due to injury, Speier had a solid 2007, with an ERA of 2.88 (0.96 WHIP) in 50 innings, striking out 47 batters and walking only 12.

It was Speier’s first season on the Angels after signing a very reasonable contract (4 years, $18 million) for a relief pitcher who has three-straight seasons with sub-3.00 ERAs and good sabermetric stats as well.

A healthy Speier on top of a bullpen that already features Francisco Rodriguez and Scot Shields would be huge for the Angels.

The Angels + Algebra = fun

As part of a practical joke on John Lackey, he and three other players on the Angels are going to take an algebra test tomorrow.

It turns out, Lackey skipped the final for his college algebra class at Grayson Community College five days before he was selected in the 1999 draft. That’s not the best part:

For Lackey, though, (Mike Scioscia) was just getting warmed up. Part 2 of the prank came over the weekend when, with the entire team listening, Scioscia got Lackey’s mother, a teacher, on a speaker phone and told her Lackey had failed his last math class.

Lackey’s mother was upset.

“Don’t worry,” Scioscia assured her. “We’re going to rectify it.”

Part 3 came Monday morning, when Scioscia arranged for an Arizona State graduate student “in some kind of quantum physics” to walk into the team meeting and give Lackey a college sophomore-level algebra test.

The laughter from the clubhouse was so loud it could be heard through closed doors and all the way down the hall.

Whoever thought that algebra could be funny?

Before this, the funniest math joke I could remember was this:

Reggie Bush misses his own deposition

Reggie Bush didn’t show up to his scheduled deposition on Monday. Instead, his attorneys filed a motion that his testimony be concealed from the NCAA and the media.

Got something to hide, Reggie?

I’m no law expert, I have no idea whether this is valid or not. But as an average joe, it seems that Bush is hiding something, like, I don’t know, maybe he did take money from Lloyd Lake while he was still at USC? Maybe he cheated and should return his Heisman? Maybe USC should have to forfeit some games?

Bush’s lawyer, David Cornwell (who is also a legal analyst for ESPN) declined to comment to the AP.

Here’s what Lloyd Lake’s lawyer had to say:

“It’s so that we can’t share the transcripts with the NCAA, which is a huge admission of guilt,” said Lake’s attorney, Brian Watkins. “Reggie Bush has repeatedly said that he has nothing to hide, and now that he has to testify under oath, he’s saying he doesn’t want what he says shared with the NCAA. Now all of the sudden it’s ‘Hey I’m going to have to admit to some things and I don’t want them out there.’

If you remember, the last time there was news in this case, Reggie Bush’s lawyers brought an armed observer to the deposition of Lake. Reggie isn’t exactly winning the PR battle.

(Hat-tip to Bruins Nation.)

34 days ’til Opening Day: Reggie Willits

There are 34 days left until that best day of the year, MLB’s Opening Day.

34 is also the number of RBI Reggie Willits had last season for the Angels. It wasn’t the RBI that made Willits valuable though. In his first full major-league season, Willits had an OBP of .391.

Though what really amazes me about Willits is that he played all of last season with a non-functioning gallbladder. He had surgery to remove it in January. From MLB.com: (ellipsis mine)

Bothered all season by persistent pains in the stomach and rib cage, Willits persevered. The source of the disturbance went undiagnosed until it was determined with extensive winter testing that he had a non-functioning gallbladder.

…

“I feel 100 times better since I had my surgery,” Willits said on Thursday, decked out in a New York Giants cap and T-shirt as pitchers and catchers reported. “My energy is coming back. It was something that zapped my energy level a little bit and caused me to fade down a little more than I should.”

Wow. I’m no medical expert, but that must have painful. Imagine what Willits is capable of know that he is painfree. In case you forgot what the gall bladder is, here’s a lesson from the National Institute of Health:

Colon gets minor-league deal with Red Sox

Reportedly, Bartolo Colon and the Red Sox have agreed on a minor-league deal. Odds are, Colon won’t return to his Cy Young form, but for a minor-league deal, the risk is definitely worth it. Worst case scenario for the Sox, Colon continues to show he can’t pitch anymore and never makes it to the big-league roster. Best-case scenario, however unlikely it may be: he becomes the great pitcher he used to be.

Angel fans seem to be split on whether they’ll miss Colon or are glad he’s gone. I will miss him. I know Colon was pretty mediocre or bad in three of his four years as an Angel, but I have great memories of his Cy Young year in 2005 when he helped lead the Angels to the playoffs.

Here’s hoping he rebounds enough to make it to the big-league roster (but not become an All-Star again — he did sign with the AL-rival Red Sox after all).