Long, Strange Trip for Bruins

There was a reason the Bruins played as if they didn’t want to be in Hawaii for the Pearl Harbor Classic.

They didn’t.

At least not originally. The irony is that UCLA was not originally scheduled to be there this week. The Bruins jumped into a weak eight-team field when their plans changed, only to go from the obvious attraction to a team that barely hung on for third place.

How the Bruins got out of there with an easy win, a close loss and a close victory, nearly making it a 1-2 trip, has been documented. Why they were there in the first place has been the subject of more criticism because of their weak schedule.

How they got there is another matter.

The Bruins were once scheduled to go to Italy and France this past summer for a series of exhibition games. NCAA rules prohibit schools from going to Europe and also playing in a certified event--most of the tournaments in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and some in the contiguous 48 states like the preseason NIT--in the same year. So there were no plans for a holiday tournament.

That changed when several factors prompted them in late December 1998 or early this year to drop plans for the summer trip. Alaska and Puerto Rico weren’t replacement options because rules allow teams to go to those places, along with Hawaii, once every four years. Plus, the Bruins wanted a guarantee of playing three games, so some mainland fields were out.

Hello, Pearl Harbor Classic.

UCLA had a need for games and a window of availability at the same time the tournament would be played. Three games were guaranteed. A trip to a desirable locale. The games would be played in a nice 3,400-seat gymnasium. That’s what worked.

As for the tournament, the Bruins scored 20 points in the first half of a loss to Colorado State and were taken into overtime by South Florida before winning, attendance was dismal and the Honolulu newspaper barely covered it.