It's been a little over 24 hours since I stood on the floor of the Rose Bowl and helped open the 2008 season, sitting in my seats in Section 2 with the Alumni Band, and I still can't believe what I saw.

You have to know that I've been part of the Alumni Section since 1991, but I've only experienced one other game with as much excitement in all those years of attending games there. That was the 1996 UCLA-USC game where the Bruins went to Triple Overtime.

Coach Neuheisel  not only was magnificent in getting the team to focus and come back from what would have been a sure loss a year ago, but Norm Chow showed why he's considered one of the greatest offensive minds in football.

Do I expect the Bruins to go undefeated and play for th National Championship? Hell no, I'm not that stupid enough to think a win like this is the answer to all our prayers. I will say this, if we get out of September 2-2, I'll be happy. We go 3-1, I'll be impressed enough to think we'll be okay the rest of the year.

Of course, we go undefeated in September, All Bets Are off...

one month...

four weeks, 28 days...

The countdown is on now, Football is almost here.

For me, I love football, even though I haven't had a pro fotball team in town since my beloved Rams "died" in 1995. I didn't acknowledge their exsistence because of Georgia Frontiere (just Like Joe McDonnel) and I've been a fan of the Bolts since then (Hey Hacksaw, Show Me Your Lightning Bolt!) but there's one team I've stood by for years, since I was a kid.

I've loved UCLA Football since my Grandfather took me to games at the Coliseum in the early 70's. I was a freshman for the Troy Aikman years, getting to attend the Cotton Bowl in 1989, and since 1991, I've been part of the UCLA Alumni Band. I've been part of the Band and have spent almost two decades sitting in Section 2 of the Alumni Section, watching the team get so close to dominating. I was there for those four straight wins against $C in the Rose Bowl during the 90's. I remember the 20 in a row en route to the Orange Bowl when that Damn Hurricane threw a monkey wrench in the plans.

I cheered through the end fo the Donahue Era, I outlasted the Toledo Era, and suffered through the Dorrell Experiment. I watched John Barnes do his Rudy initation against the Trojans in 92, watched Cade McNown throw up on the field before runnign all over them, I watched Tennessee and Ohio State fall, I watched the team roll over Texas and turn Bevo into so many hamburgers.

But I also was there when we lost to a winless Notre Dame, watch the Trojans use us a s tackling dummies in 2002 and 2004. I watched that game in Miami fall apart at the end, and I watched the team self-destruct. but when August comes around every year, the problems in the past start to fade as the promise of a new season looms.

Call Me a Homer, fine. I don't care, I love UCLA like Mychal Thompson loves indulging in his latent homosexual tendencies by ogling over male athetes' physiques, like Vic loves washing up Kobe, Like David Vassegh loves looking like an Anorexic Ron Jeremy with that stupid 'Stache(shave it off, Vassegh!), Like G Smalls loves not being able to commit to his girl before she leaves for Georgia.

So in four weeks from now, I'll be sitting in Section 2, hearing the Tennessee Band play "Rocky Top" maybe once or twice throughout the game, while the "Solid Gold Sound" will go thrugh a number of songs, while we break out a couple tunes at the Quarter Breaks.

So come on out, I'll be there way before the game starts in the Alumni Band area right by the AM570 Compound.

Oh and those o fyu who are My friends, just three days later is my Birthday, this year's theme is Clone Wars Troops...

If you haven't seen it by now, there's a video clip of Indy Racing League driver Danica Patrick trying to get into the face of fellow driver Milka Duno. Duno, a long-time road racing specialist from Venezuela, and Patrick, who earned her first career win in the IRL earlier this year in Japan, had been involved in some problems during a practice session at the Mid-Ohio road course last week.

I've known Milka Duno for a couple of years now, having known her from her racing efforts as part of the Long Beach Grand Prix's Toyota Pro-Celebrity Race as well as her experience as a driver of Daytona Prototypes in the former Rolex Grand-Am Series. She's no Janie-Come-lately to the IRL. She's got the experience to race, even if she doesn't have the equipment to compete as well as she deserves.

Lately, Danica has been getting a reputation, and one not many people want. A number of drivers have been getting fed up with her temper tantrums when things don't go her way, oncluding one anonymous driver facetiously asking if someone had, "changed her diaper ately." Milka was well aware of Danica's antics, and took a stand as can be seen all over YouTube.

(I;m including this piece because it made the broadcast on ABC, and I couldn't stop laughing)

 As you seeby the video, Milka was playing with Danica on the turns, and it gets the little bitch pissed off. I know she's thinking, "How Dare She block the great and powerful Danica! I'll teach her good!" Hey it's no different for Milka to do it like Michael Schmuck-macher used to do in Formula 1. Granted the difference is that Schmuck-macher would block the challengers to his win, while Milka, granted she was in a slwer car, was just trying to do what she could to keep herself competitive. Besides, to Quote Alan Iverson, "It's Practice! You want 'm saying? Practice."

Danica has been able to get away with bullying other drivers because she 's a woman. Come on, who's going to call her out on her crap and not get accused of trying to intimidate her? It's like those scenes in Cannonball Run, where ASdriene Barbeaux would unzip the front of her jumpsuit to distract the male police officers who pulled them over. But what happened in the end? They ran into Valerie Perrine and her pair of "Equalizers."

Same thing here, Danica thought her little tantrum would work on Milka, but Milka wasn't having any of it. As you can see in the video, Milka tells her if she goes fast she can pass her. Even her pit crew circled the wagons after Milka rold her not once, but twice to leave. to quote her, "You(Danica) like show, you like show... Go away, go away." Even the guys on the pit crew got sick of Danica's little tirade and even turned their backs to her.

Danica's gonna end up getting a damn good Bitch Slap from Milka if she ever pulls that again... Muy Buena, Chica...