The Case for the Bruins

The UCLA bruins basketball team is looking up this season. As they near the final stretch before "the madness" begins, here is where they stand: 23. I know many would say," who cares?!?! The bruins haven't been themselves since the wooden days!!" The 20-5 bruins are not to be underestimated this year, however. One reason that the Bruins are being overlooked this season is because they don't exactly have much strength of schedule. After all, they have only faced three ranked teams so far this season: #1 Arizona, #8 Duke, and #21 Colorado. They do, however, have superstars such as Jordan Adams and Kyle Anderson, both shooting over 15 points per game. Many would also speculate the past  10 seasons. From 2004-2008, UCLA made one championship game and two final four appearances under coach Ben Howland. From 08-2013, the bruins made it only past the round of 64 two times, nor even pushing past it one season. In fact, in the 09-10 and 11-12 seasons, the bruins failed to qualify for the tournament. Then they fired Howland in the offseason and hired Steve Alford. The bruins are now having a very successful season.This change seems to be working, as the bruins are on their way to qualifying for the tournament this season. I'm not saying that the Bruins have an easy road ahead of them. Look out Kansas and heads up Louisville (yeah right!!) all I'm saying is, the Bruins have a shot, and though it is not great, it doesn't matter. This years squad has a great deal of determination, spunk, and pride, and they are ready to let it fly. Go Bruins!!

The Miracle on Ice

When the country is lost, when people live in fear of war and ruin, when a mother does not send her child to school out of fear of losing her child to the hands of communism, when there seems to be no hope at all, all it takes is a miracle to turn the tides, to bring a nation to its feet. Strangers embracing strangers. People suddenly honking their horns on cold icy streets, a whole civilization gathering, holding hands if only for a night. A person who thinks that a hip check is a piece of paper used to exchange money sitting in your wallet in your pocket, when money is indeed hard to run by at the time. Out of the ashes, a few, small town boys merely 20 years old with old sticks and dull blades slung over their shoulders. A coach never fully understood by even those nearest to him, but he has the power to get the idea through those boys heads, that this is something special, something more than a game, something more that just another event, but something that these boys would hold on to all the days of their lives. Giving them the motivation, the yearning, the drive to get not just a hockey club, not just a town,  not just a city, not just a state, not just a region, but a whole nation up on their feet with the ability to say" we won" for once in their lives, to give the nation the ability to have a smile of pride on their faces, to hold their heads high together, to create a bond that would last through times of success, through times of peace, through times of war, through times of destruction and conflict,  so a nation of millions of people may become a whole body and laugh together, and cry together, smile at the country's great rising together, or weep at the downfall of loved ones as a whole. That we may stand under our banner, and proudly say, without a hint of shame or sorrow, that We are America, and nothing can change that. The miracle on ice was a truly memorable moment. Even 24 years after the miracle, it continues to dwell in the hearts of many across the country