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Some of the current members of the UCLA gymnastics team…

WATCHING THAT HONOR TO BRUIN NATION IN THEIR LAST EVER CONFERENCE HOME MEET

For reasons that I’m unable to go into right now, but may be able to at a later time,

I was unable to go see my favorite team in the sports universe – the women’s gymnastics team at UCLA – in action this season.

That is, until this past Sunday when I ventured to Westwood and Pauley Pavilion to check out those Bruin gymnasts in their battle with a Cal Berkeley Golden Bear team that has been flat-out surging these past few seasons and, both in all honesty and for all intents and purposes, has surpassed the Bruins as far as overall performance and results.

Which was more than confirmed by the end of the meet between the U.C. system’s two flagship schools,

But we’ll get to that.

I arrived at Pauley when the doors opened an hour before the meet began, going down to the floor level to say hello to various people I knew, including an usher who is dear to me and my Bruin Nation friends, other ushers who I’ve known for years, two former Bruin gymnasts who now cover meets in the media, one of them for the Pac-12 Network, and some other familiar faces along with a few of the gymnasts and one of the coaches.

It was fun seeing everyone again.

As for the meet itself – long story short…

In a nutshell, even though the Bruins did quite well in scoring a 197.775, which included several near-perfect 9.95s,

By the end of the meet, it was crystal clear that their Golden Bear sisters were simply the better team in scoring a 198.400,

Which included a perfect ten on the floor exercise and another perfect ten and a 9.975 on the beam,

Which after those stellar scores on that beam led me to go, “That’s it, we’re done!”

And to not only remark to the Cal fans I encountered that their team was better than the Bruins, which I fully admitted and accepted,

I told them that they had a legitimate shot at dethroning super dynasty Oklahoma, who has won I-don’t-know how many national championships in a row.

And that if UCLA didn’t win the “Natty” this year, I hoped that those Golden Bears would.

As it turned out, I had as much fun after the meet as I did before and during as I ventured over to the Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center and Hotel next door to Pauley, where the gymnasts and their families as well as the coaches and quite a few fans hang out and eat at Plateia, the restaurant that’s featured there.

I was able to say hello to several current and former Bruin Gymnasts as well as some of the Cal gymnasts’ fans and parents, which was a good experience.

I particularly liked how the Bruin gymnasts, past and present, exude so much love and solidarity among each other; I found myself taking photos for some of them, using their cellphones to capture such love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62IHGO6AVEA

This season’s UCLA Gymnastics’ introduction video that’s shown before every home meet (click on the link)

The inevitable question – what about UCLA’s chances at any kind of a championship, national or otherwise?

After watching their meet, as solid of a team as they are I was, once and for all, convinced of one thing…

They miss three key Bruin gymnasts.

One of them, Emma Malabuyo, missed the past two meets, including this Cal meet, due to her going for the upcoming Olympics in Paris this summer as she’s vying to make the Philippines’ Olympic team;

At least she’s slated to return for the upcoming meet vs Stanford, however.

Another key Bruin gymnast, Ana Padurariu, has taken a leave of absence as she’s training to try and make the Canadian Olympic team.

But it’s the third Bruin gymnast, Jordan Chiles, who’s doing the same thing in trying to make the U.S. team, that those Bruins really miss as if those three gymnasts were available,

UCLA would be very strong contenders for Four-On-The-Floor at Nationals, the equivalent of basketball’s Final Four for women’s college gymnastics.

As such, those Bruin gymnasts are good enough to where I have them in the Regionals,

Especially if they achieve scores of 198+ in at least one of their remaining three regular season meets and give a GREAT showing at the Pac-12 Championships.

After that, it remains to be seen; I’ll certainly have a clearer view of their fate in a few weeks.

As such,

It was a good time seeing them at what was their final meet vs Cal – at least for the time being – as they will be in different conferences next year.

i only hope that the two schools arrange to keep this U.C. rivalry.

In any case,

No matter what happens, they will always be an honor to Bruin Nation in my book.

This season’s Bruin gymnasts posing in front of the Bruin Bear statue…