It's the Weekend: Goooo Gauchos!

We sat next to an older gent who we talked to a bit. His grandson was playing he said - "#5, Charlie Johnson, but i always just look for the leftie. It's easier to see that way, then trying to make out those little numbers."

Well, it is that time of year again. Get home from another half-day Friday at the grind (work), grab a quick bite, then hop on the bike and head down to the Axelrood Pool to join the smattering of Gaucho faithful at the Inland Empire Classic. This years' participants, in addition to UCSB, includes the home team, Claremont / Mudd / Scripps, the campus neighbors Pomona-Pitzer, CSU Fullerton, UC Irvine, Fresno Pacific University, Cal Lutheran (or Occidental?), and Biola. 

You know what I like about water polo matches? The action is quick - you have a mere thirty seconds to get off a shot. They are also quick in another way. - when you're sittin' in the hot sun, four 8 minute periods with just a short break between each, means you're not sittin' in the hot sun for too long. Whatever underwater hooliganism takes place rarely results in a stoppage of play. 

Anyway, the Gauchos won their afternoon match 15-5 over Fresno Pacific (after having knocked off CMS in the morning 11-10 in double OT). There are little nuances to collegiate water polo that i must admit i have not quite worked out yet, but for all that, the Claremont D3 schools always seem to put up a good fight against the D1 schools in this particular tournament - maybe differences between divisions don't matter quite as much in water polo as they would in... say, football, or basketball? Did I ever tell you that when i was attending UCSB, they were attempting to bring football back? I went to a couple games, saw the Gauchos defeat San Jose State, just like USC did the other weekend. Needless to say, though, the football program never did make it back to reality. Though maybe reality was the reason it never came back. If you know what i mean. Anyway, that is a whole other story. Seriously though, the D1 schools in this tournament never seem to match up against the other D1 schools, and i'm not sure why that is.

The tournament continues tomorrow, with the team making a splash against Pomona-Pitzer at 9:30 am, and Cal Lutheran at 3:30 pm (presumably - the program says Cal Lutheran, but the USSB Athletics website says Occidental). I'm sure to be at one of them, but right now i'm not sure which one it'll be.

there he is, #5, or did you first notice he's a leftie?