This year, I was fortunate enough to
witness UCLA at both its worst loss and greatest victory.
The worst loss was of course versus the
Berkeley back in early October. I used the opportunity to visit my
sisters, both San Francisco locals who attended Berkeley. My older
sister picked me up to the airport on Thursday, and I met her
boyfriend at their apartment. Bed and breakfast ensued, and I took
off by bus for the Berkeley Campus, where I met my little sister at
her Co-operative.
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| Berkeley's Campanile |
With three Cal Bears in the family,
I've been to the Cal Campus a dozen or so times, but it was still
neat to see “her” campus. We threw disc on the green in front of
the Main Library, climbed to the top of the Campanile, and had lunch
at Bancroft and Telegraph. The Blue Angels were scheduled to fly over
SF Bay in the early afternoon, so we made it to the top of her Co-op
to watch; the little acrobatic specks danced over the SF Skyline as
UCLA's football team arrived to check out Memorial Stadium (about 5
doors from her Co-op). A mixture of happy hour, dinner with the
family, and someone's birthday celebration brought the day to a close
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| Memorial Stadium |
The next day was Game Day in Memorial
Stadium. That is an intimidating stadium, especially for a night
game. This helped Cal with one of only two Pac12 wins, against one of
only two Pac12 losses for UCLA.
The greatest victory (v. Arizona) was
my return to the Rose Bowl after three years, and my girlfriend's
first live football game. After a plenary grocery run and car ride,
we arrived with some friends to tailgate in Pasadena.
It was neat to be back with so many
college memories, and then create some new ones. We were more
organized now, with the BBQ smelling great as the sunset turned pink.
A couple of 8-claps later and we walked to the stadium; it was the
same grassy stumble it was throughout college.
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| Rose Bowl Tailgate |
It was a night game, Franklin beat the
UCLA rushing record on his first touchdown, and the True Blue was
overwhelming; UCLA won the game in the first quarter. It was awesome,
still, to watch the win continue and continue.
Last weekend, I watched on television
as UCLA beat USC. It felt great to watch the Los Angeles football
dynasty switch back to UCLA.
Anyways, we will face Stanford today. With a victory, we would (probably) face Oregon in the
Pac12 Championship, a loss and we would (probably) face Stanford
again.
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| Pauley Pavillion |
Somethings Interesting:
--The rest of the Cal weekend was spent
at my Girlfriend's in Marin County; she was similarly up for the
weekend. A wonderful hike, a couple of family meals, and a commitment
to a trip to Central America finished out an incredible (albeit
slightly soured) weekend.
--The rest of the Arizona weekend was
spent at a Rugby 7s tourney at UCLA. We also got to walk through the
new Pauley Pavilion, and generally experience the iconic UCLA Campus
on a gorgeous day.
--My roommate went to Notre Dame; his
team became the best in the nation last weekend with Oregon's loss to
Stanford.
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| Older Sister's Apartment |
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| Younger Sister's Co-op |
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| The Blue Angeles are there somewhere |
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| On Campus |
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| Campanile Musician |
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| Another Co-op |
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| Bruins in Memorial Stadium, Blue Angels over SF |
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| Co-Op's |
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| Beat the Clock |
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| SF Sunset on Game Day |
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| Hike the next Day |
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| Deer with Dinner |
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| Crossing SF Bay |
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| Rose Bowl Tailgate |
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| Some BBQ |
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| Rose Bowl!! |
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| I think that's a Tank |
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| Cute |
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| Bruin Rugby |
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| $300K seats |
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| Go Bruins! |
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| Neat |
