2012 "Official" UCLA Bruins Thread

With the close of the 2011 seasonal year, I thought it prudent to initiate a new thread for the 2012 Season.

Rumor has it UCLA isn't shying away from anybody next season with the following opponents tentatively scheduled. Not sure if CS Northridge is in the mix but they usually are also.

Maryland/Virginia on the road.
Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo
UCSB in Santa Barbara
UCI - at home
New Mexico at home.

Should be an interesting year in what I also would think a much improved PAC 12.

Based on the 2011 season, that's an impressive collection of opponents.

That's four of the last seven national champions and another program that was undefeated last year and made the final in 05.

Oooooo. I hear this will be over move-in weekend and that Fox Soccer Channel will be televising it.

This is what happened last time UCLA came to town:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh8rQ4DBFT0"]UCSB vs UCLA Soccer- Record Breaking Attendance 16,000 people! - YouTube[/ame]

Too bad that one wasn't on TV.

Very tasty. Maryland/Virginia replacing that early trip we took to Louisville last year. Bring on the tortilla throwers!

Some updates on Brian Rowe's hilarious Finland adventure:

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/soccer/post/_/id/14329/chivas-usa-uclas-rowe-has-options

I think Chivas USA will end up signing him.

Just heard this today...add Akron to the Bruin's 2012 schedule. I'm not entirely sure if it's planned to be an away or home match.
But it seems like Akron has been seeking more games with West Coast opponents if last years road trips for the Zips are any indicator and I'm guessing Akron travels.

Wow that would be awesome!

If this is true, PLEASE put the game on tv. College soccer does a very poor job of showcasing the marquee games on the calendar each fall, and needs to find an avenue to showcase their top teams and programs.

Although I don't really believe that ranking recruiting classes really means anything, it is till nice to see the Bruins getting some love. UCLA was able to grab the 4th spot with commits like Mario Rodriguez and Javan Torre.

College Soccer Recruiting Classes Ranked

If UCLA/UCSB wants to pony up some $$$, the game will be on TV. That is all it takes is $10,000 and you too can be the Fox Game of the Week.

Wow that is nuts. I doubt UCLA or UCSB could afford that given the current state of the UC budget.

That game should at least get air time on a regional Fox Sports channel like Fox Sports West.

UCSB has pretty good soccer donors, and they usually pay for (at least) one game at Harder to be on FSC every year. They call it the Santa Barbara Challenge Cup or something and typically bring somebody in from the East Coast. I think that huge attendance UCLA@UCSB game wasn't televised because UCLA expected UCSB to pay, and UCSB already had somebody (Duke, I think?) lined up. I remember a bunch of Gaucho fans being disappointed at the lack of TV at the time. I kind of doubt that oversight will be repeated unless UCSB wants UCLA to help pay and UCLA refuses. A 10-15k game is too good of a recruiting tool (for both schools, but especially UCSB) to not take advantage of.

If UCSB already has another opponent lined up for its TV game, I would hope that at the very least the Gauchos and Bruins either split it 50/50 ($5k isn't THAT much to get a game on national TV (especially for an athletic department like UCLA and the resources UCSB soccer has) or try to get FSC to cut them a deal. Or put it on a local station. This game really shouldn't be on FSC, it should be on ESPNU (or even ESPN2 - that time of year on a Friday night there really isn't any live programming going on), but that's a different matter.

I am not sure how much it matters in terms of UCSB getting on TV or maybe even getting a price break, but the production company that handles the College Game of the Week is Santa Barbara based Cultural Global Media. From an NSCAA announcement last year:

For the seventh consecutive season, Santa Barbara-based Cultural Global Media, Inc will be handling the production of all 20 NSCAA College Game of the Week telecasts on FOX Soccer.

http://www.nscaa.com/events/college-game-of-the-week

Soccer heaven

Oops, double post, feel free to delete me.

Good catch. It's all on UCSB to get this done b/c I doubt the ability and competence of UCLA's athletic department to make any headway with this.

Spring Schedule

Bruin Squad scrimmaged the MLS Montreal Impact this past Friday and drew with them 0 - 0.

Other remaining Spring games that I am aware of:

Feb 28th - vs. Mexico U20 National Team
March 10th - vs. LA Blues (semi-pro team).

It's good experience for the boys... I think Arreola and Rowe have mentioned in MLS interviews how these spring games against MLS opponents are good experience. Also a good way for coaches to keep an eye out for next year's draft.

Looks like we tried to make a play for Marc Pelosi before he signed for Liverpool:

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_20005296

Unfortunately for him he tore his MCL in training

Just heard the Bruins picked up a transfer midfielder by the name of Leo Stolz from George Mason who hails from Germany.

Here's his bio from the GM webpage:

http://www.gomason.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=25200&ATCLID=205247076

When is UCLA gonna formally announce their recruiting class?

Stolz is (was) arguably the best player at GM last year. He's a smart player that understands how to build the attack. It's a big loss for GM, but I wonder if he can crack the talented UCLA line-up.

Wow that is nice to hear. Both holding mid and center attacking mid should have lots of minutes up for grabs next season with the departures of Rose and Rowe.

Has anyone confirmed the rumor of a UCLA-Akron match next season? I know that my Akron guy said that they have no west coast travel plans for next season.

Nothing definite, but my source says he heard there will be no game with Akron next year. FWIW, he didn't sound 100% sure himself, so we can still hope.

Thanks. I too hope there is.