Time for college hoops...

Attended my first-ever Wooden Classic at the Duck Pond yesterday. Not a particularly enjoyable day, which started when I went up to the ticket office and discovered to my horror that any really good seat was going to cost at least $65. I opted for the more wallet-friendly $25 seats upstairs. But upon purchasing the ticket with my credit card, I noted a charge for $28.

"I thought the tickets were $25," I said.

"Convenience fee," I was told.

"I thought that was only for Ticketmaster online, or over the phone," I said.

"No," I was told.

"Then next time, just say the ticket cost $28!," I said.

Whatever. Though they guard the entrances to the lower levels like TSA guards at the airports, there were no ushers upstairs, it was pretty much free seating, and to my dismay I realized I could have spent $10 for the absolute cheapest ticket and still sat in the same place I sat upstairs. Oh, well.

Walking around the concourse downstairs after the first game, New Mexico-Washington, was mostly an adventure looking for food. Until, that is, I saw the great Rafer Johnson, an ex-Bruin, walking by, and realized that nobody besides me (at least in the vicinity) recognized him. I had met him a couple of times before (his agent. Meyer Mishkin, used to have an office down the hall from us when TGS was on the 6th floor of our current building), and had to say hello. He is such a gentleman that he said he remembered me, even though I can't fathom how he could have. At one time, Rafer Johnson was one of the top names in the athletic world, and he remains one of the more upstanding citizens in the LA community. That so many of these young punks and idiots running around in their backwards UCLA caps don't know who he is really disappoints me.

Anyway, to show how I have drifted away frm the Bruins, I was vocally cheering for the Nevada Wolf Pack in the second game of the doubleheader, and had sat myself near a group of Wolf Pack fans in the upper deck who, like me, probably cringed at those high prices for the lower-level seats. Nevada had good support at Anaheim and had a large contingent in its section on the lower level, with other Wolf Pack backers scattered about the upper decks.

The game was a bit of a dud. I was disappointed in the Pack, which despite its jumbo frontline (they start a 6-11 and a 7-footer, hellacious to get any shots off inside against those big guys Fazekas and Chad Bell), simply has to get some scoring out of its guards if it wants to make any noise in the NCAAs this year. This was not the same looking team that won at Kansas last week, despite another big effort from 6-11 Nick Fazekas (26 points), who owns the most-deadly shooting touch for a big man that I've seen in a long while. The Bruins did a decent job keeping Fazekas out of the flow (a credit to him that he still scored so much), but the supporting cast was found wanting.

Head coach Mark Fox has a VERY tight rein (maybe too tight) on the Wolf Pack, everything is in half-court sets on the offensive end, they don't run at all despite having some guards and slashers with good wheels. I don't recall one fastbreak for Nevada the entire game, even though they had their opportunities.

With the score 46-45 deep into the 2nd half, Bruin G Jordan Farmar took control, and dominated the rest of the game. The Pack gets very little out of its Gs, Kyle Shiloh and Lyndale Burleson, and needs last year's frosh sensation, Ramon Sessions, who is playing but slowed by a hip flexor, to get back at 100% soon. Fox ought not pull an Andy Reid/Donovan McNabb with Sessions, he ought to sit him for a couiple of weeks to get that hip better, and have him fresh for January. No reason to keep playing him at less than 100%. Wings Mo Charlo and Marcelus Kemp remains the most-likely Pack players to help out Fazekas. I was hoping to see more of 6-9 juco Demarshay Johnson, but Fox instead opted for the physical Bell most of the time. Bell is an intimidator but has hands like rocks, and hurt the Pack with some missed FTs. Johnson was supposedly a shot-blocker deluxe at the juco level, but at this stage I would say he is definitely not the heir apparent, at least not yet, to Kevinn Pinkney, who graduated last year after doing much of the dirty work underneath the past couple of seasons.

Anyway, I didn't feel too bad after the game. The old UCLA fan in me was happy that the Bruins seem to have a good team again, and even though I pull for mostly Santa Clara, Loyola-Chicago, and the Wolf Pack these days, I always have room for a good UCLA team in my heart. The Wizard himself was even present yesterday, adding a touch of class to the proceedings, and presented awards after each game.

It's not quite like the old days, but given the way everything else has changed around us, in the end there was something comforting about watching UCLA win, and the Wizard himself out at center court with the victorious team afterwards. I guess it was worth the $28 after all to watch.

College hoops...nothing better!