UCLA vs. Cal
Originally uploaded by esthereggy
oh, the trials and tribulations of being a bruin fan. how many times have I complained that we play to the level of our opponent? on a bad day, that means a humiliating loss to a winless notre dame (which apparently is so upsetting, it sends some bruin fans into labor). on a good day, it means staying neck and neck with and ultimately emerging victorious over one of the top college football teams in the country. and sometimes, it means walking into the rose bowl just hoping the team doesn't embarrass you. it's a psychological trick bruin football fans use to keep from being tremendously disappointed, embarrassed, suicidal, etc. it's really kind of sad when you think about it. the bruin faithful should have the right to expect the greatest out of our teams - we were the first school to win 100 national championships, weren't we? but when the bruins exceed your expectations, boy, does it feel great!!!
such was the case on saturday when we watched the bruins embarrass cal at the rose bowl...again. we started out a little shaky, but finally got a rhythm and really had a competition with cal. sure, we don't have much of a pass defense, but we successfully contained their running game (which makes me wonder why tedford kept it on the ground so much during the second half). by the 4th quarter, bunky and I were agreeing that, even if we lost, we'd still be happy to put up such a good performance against cal. and then cal had the ball and there was about two minutes left and they were near the 30 yard line on a third down with five yards to go. all they need is a field goal to go ahead and there won't be enough time for us to score again. and then longshore throws it and verner intercepts it and i screamed the most high-pitched, horror-film scream for all 76 yards that he ran it back for the touchdown and for several minutes thereafter.
and that is why i had no voice for two days straight! go bruins. please don't embarrass us in pullman on saturday.
p.s. thanks to flickr's esthereggy for sharing her photo of the scoreboard.
