June, July, August. Summer fun to some of you ““ more
opportunities to take classes for me. Needless to say, it’s
been a long summer, and for those of you who were lucky enough not
to take summer school, you’re returning to campus anxious to
see your UCLA sports teams compete. Fall, compared to winter and
spring, is a relatively quiet time for UCLA sports outside of
football. But there is still plenty that UCLA fans should do this
quarter.
Consider the football season over in November
As intelligent UCLA football fans, let’s all make a critical
decision ““ declare the season over after the Nov. 13 game
against Oregon. I know that the Dec. 4 game against USC would still
be left on the schedule. Trust me though ““ the rational side
of us all knows what’s going to happen this year. The game
will be over by the second quarter ““ and I’m not
exactly calling the upset either. We all know what has happened the
last few years. That three-week break before the USC game will only
give UCLA fans more time to talk themselves into completely
illogical ways in which UCLA could beat USC, and setting themselves
up for even more heartbreak. I could see it now. UCLA fan No. 1:
“Well, if Drew Olson gets bitten by the same spider that bit
Spiderman, he’ll be super strong and will be
unbeatable.” UCLA fan No. 2: “Yeah, and maybe if we
take some mirrors to the USC locker room and they break, USC will
have really bad luck and maybe UCLA can win.” So I beg you
““ let’s just consider the season over after Nov. 13. We
can honor the seniors; I can write a sappy year-in-review column;
we can even reserve tickets in San Jose for the Silicon Valley
Classic. It will be much better than seeing the scoreboard read USC
40, UCLA 2. Home game to watch: Washington State, Nov. 6.
It’s a winnable game, and the last home game of the year that
we should see.
See Salcedo’s sensational soccer sqaud
First-year coach Jorge Salcedo has his young team headed in the
right direction. If he can continue improving his team, look for a
very exciting November and December out at Drake Stadium. The way
the NCAA brackets are set up, UCLA could in theory play all of its
playoff matches at home since it hosts the College Cup (Final Four)
at the Home Depot Center. Despite the team’s youth,
it’s conceivable the squad could compete for a championship
““ some polls have them as high as No. 6 in the country, and
this team was ranked No. 1 for most of last season. Home game to
watch: Oct. 22 against Stanford. I know most ““ or almost all
of you UCLA fans ““ hate Stanford. It’s not often we get
to make fun of the Cardinal for being bad in something (other than
football, but we don’t make fun of them since they usually
beat UCLA). The Stanford men’s soccer team went 0-10 in the
Pac-10 last year. That’s the kind of futility we can make fun
of.
Hate USC in women’s volleyball, too The
UCLA women’s volleyball team is among the top teams in the
country, as usual. However, in recent years, it has been dwarfed by
the evil USC, which has only lost one match in the last two years.
The Trojans come to Pauley on Nov. 12 and don’t worry,
it’s OK to go to this UCLA-USC game even though USC is
really, really good. The Bruins can actually give them a good game
and have a chance to beat them this year.
Ride the roller coaster that is the women’s soccer
team The UCLA women’s soccer has the ability to
compete with the top teams in the country, but can also be beaten
by much lesser teams. Because of their youth, I can see the Bruins
going anywhere from the College Cup to a first-round exit. Most
important game to watch: UCLA at USC, Nov. 7. The last couple of
years, USC has played the most depressing, unsportsmanlike strategy
ever against UCLA — playing to tie, and not even trying to score.
Home game to watch: Stanford at UCLA, Oct. 22. It’s Stanford.
That’s reason enough to go.
Watch UCLA’s best chance for a fall title
UCLA men’s water polo returns all of its starters and key
bench players from last year’s No. 3 team in the nation.
Another reason I’ve heard some fans, especially the ladies,
watch men’s water polo is because they wear Speedos. Game to
watch: Stanford at UCLA in the Rose Bowl, Oct. 30 .
See the best basketball team on campus
Women’s basketball starts up in November too. It will be
interesting to see if they can build on last year’s NCAA
tournament team. Home opener: Nov. 24, against Clemson (yes, the
day before Thanksgiving ““ If nothing else, you’ll get
really good seats by going to the game).
Welcome Howland’s boys when they finally
arrive Nov. 5 will mark the first appearance at Pauley for
the hyped freshmen recruiting class, an exhibition game against
Simon Frasier. It will hopefully mark a turning point for UCLA.
Even if it doesn’t work strategically, would anyone really
mind if Howland plays the four freshmen all at once? The less we
see of the past, the better. First regular season game: Nov. 20, at
Pauley against Chicago State. Not exactly a tough opener. But if
this year’s team is like last year’s, it needs all the
wins it can get.
E-mail Quiñonez at [email protected]