Growing up, April 1st was always one of my favorite days of the year. Why? Because it meant the start of the major league baseball season. I hate the period of time between the end of football season and the beginning of baseball, so when baseball season finally rolls around, I am ecstatic. But when I came to UCLA, April 1st lost a little bit of its luster for me. Instead of having to wait until April 1st to watch baseball, I attend my first game of the baseball season in the middle of February by going to Jackie Robinson Stadium to watch the UCLA baseball team. Being from the east coast, its times like these that really make me appreciate the beautiful weather in Los Angeles. Back home, it would be at least another month until playing baseball outside would be possible, and even then it would still be cold. But here in So-Cal I can watch a game in 70 degree weather with two weeks left in February.

With still 2 weeks left to go until Major League Baseball starts, I have been trying to take in as much of UCLA baseball as I can, and today I got to experience a great UCLA baseball tradition. It is called the Dodgertown Classic. Every year UCLA and USC meet at dodger stadium to play a game. It is a very unique experience for both teams and their fans, and everybody enjoys the experience. The crowd is usually 10 times larger than a regular college game, and tonight was no exception. But this year, the game had more than bragging rights at stake. The UCLA team is ranked 9th in the country, and USCs is 23rd. Free parking, and discounted concessions were just icing on the cake when watching this great game. The best part of the whole thing was the end result. UCLA won 7-2, and the game was never close. It is always great to beat our rivals from across town!