Tag: Rose Bowl

WESTWOOD—UCLA Head Coach DeShaun Foster announced tickets for the Bruins’ season opener against Utah would be free for first responders. It was a wonderful gesture for those battling California’s current wildfires.

UCLA will kick off against a familiar foe, Utah at the iconic Rose Bowl 8:00 p.m. on Saturday August 30 in what should be a very intriguing game. Any first responders who choose to come for a great event will be welcomed with open arms.

UCLA and Utah were formerly in the PAC-12 before the conference disbanded. Utah is now a part of the Big 12, but the rivalry between the Bruins and Utes remains intact.

“August 30th, our first game this year is gonna be the first responder game,” Foster said. “The tickets will be free for all first responders, just showing (a form of) ID or anything. You can check the links there on both our social media accounts, Twitter and Instagram, please come out.”

“This is our first opportunity to really just share and let them know, the first responders, how we feel about them and how important it was for them to, you know, they basically saved us, you know, because (the fires) didn’t make it to UCLA,” said UCLA football Head Coach DeShaun Foster.

Last season, the Bruins joined the ferocious, highly competitive BIG 10 Conference. The Bruins certainly got off to a slow start, as every weekend featured a new heavyweight foe.

Their record was 5-7, although the Bruins improved leaps and bounds finishing 4-2 down the stretch to get some momentum into 2025.

Attention UCLA Football fans, meet our new Quarterback who hopefully will take the Bruins to a bowl game: Nico Lamaleava.

He is a transfer from Tennessee who is garnering headlines across the Nation. UCLA has hope and momentum going into 2025.

“He’s just somebody that I don’t think he can really get rattled, you know? Personality wise, he’s kind of quiet a little bit, but, you know, confidence,” Foster said at Big Ten Media Days.

UCLA and Utah will kick off the season in less than three weeks. A new-look Bruins team will hope to show out for the fans in attendance, including the brave first responders.

By Christopher Floch

PASADENA—The College Football Playoff Foundation, bowl partners, and supplies company School Specialty join forces in historic collaboration following the Eaton Fire destruction.

On Thursday, May 8, The College Football Playoff Foundation is giving $1.2 million to help Altadena’s Eliot Arts Magnet School rebuild after it sustained major damage in the Eaton Fire.

The CFP’s six bowls – the Rose, Cotton, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange, and Peach Bowls – each pledged $150,000 to invest in the school’s rebuilding. The CFP Foundation’s Britton Banowsky called it historic.

“We are grateful to the College Football Playoff Foundation and its partners for their extraordinary pledge to help restore Eliot Arts Magnet School,” said PUSD Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Blanco.

“This generous support brings hope and momentum to our recovery and reaffirms the power of community partnerships in rebuilding schools that inspire creativity, resilience, and pride.”

Eliot Arts’ iconic library had just undergone a major renovation in 2023 thanks to a partnership between the CFP Foundation, Pasadena Tournament of Roses®, Pasadena Educational Foundation, and School Specialty—making the loss even more poignant and the rebuilding efforts especially meaningful. In January, the Pasadena Unified School District passed a resolution to rebuild.

School officials said it will take multiple years to restore Eliot, which lost its auditorium, a set of classrooms, and administrative offices in the fire.

Pasadena Educational Foundation’s Patrick Conyers thanked the CFP Foundation for recognizing that “buildings are important.”

“Obviously stadiums that these bowl games are played in, including the iconic Rose Bowl, are special places where special things happen,” he said. “This sort of building is also important because this is the way that students can unlock the world of potential inside of them.”

By Christopher Floch