We're probably going to skip right over spring and one day soon I'm going to wake up to summer.

Well, UCLA's now officially fired Ben Howland, because three Final Fours in a row, four conference titles and 25 wins this year alone just wasn't good enough for the bipolar Bruin Nation, apparently.

The local L.A. sports media's busy chanting "Bring in Shaka Smart!", as if the VCU coach somehow has absolutely no say in the matter, and completely obvlivious to the fact that Smart's already turned down North Carolina State and Illinois in favor of remaining at VCU. Butler's Brad Stevens? He signed a long-term contract extension just last year to stay put in Indianapolis, and knows a good gig when he sees it. Not everyone desires to be in the L.A. limelight.

I mean, let's get real. The UCLA basketball program's become a graveyard of coaching careers, ever since John Wooden retired and passed the baton to Gene Bartow back in 1975. I agree with Charles Barkley's observation yesterday, that the Bruin faithful are craving another John Wooden, which they're never going to find, and they're living in the past.

UCLA has now had eight head basketball coaches since Wooden stepped down, and two of them -- Bartow and Larry Brown -- simply threw up their hands and walked out on the program because the boosters have historically been completely unable to temper their expectations rationally. Hell, they got the administration to fire Jim Harrick only one year after winning the 1995 NCAA national championship, just because the Bruins got upset by Princeton the following year in the first round. One bad game, and they booted him out the door face first -- "Get outa here, ya phuquin' bum!"

Given the UCLA basketball program's daunting history, what up-and-coming coach in his right mind would take that job now, when you know that they're just waiting to chew you up and spit you out, and some disgruntled but well-connected booster with an axe to grind is always looking to make his mark by stabbing you in the back?

Hey, maybe the Bruins can hire Mike D'Antoni, once he gets $H!+canned by the Lakers after they miss the playoffs ...?

No question the legislation was written by and for the insurance industry.

It couldn't be that the pub owner cares less about isolation and suicide and more about improving his bottom line, could it?

I live in the country, and I can tell you that the last thing I want to encounter coming around a blind curve on a windy, twisty, and narrow road with no shoulder, is someone who's not just coming home after a couple of pints, but has a permit to drink and drive.

I guess we'll find out in June or so.

I can't for the life of me understand why we all can't have the same basic rights; why do I, as a straight woman, have the right to marry a man, but if I were gay, I wouldn't have the right to marry a woman?  Who is being hurt?  How is anyone ele's marriage threatened?

Several Justices seriously doubt whether the petitioners defending Proposition 8 have "standing" to appeal the district court ruling invalidating the measure.  These likely include not only more liberal members but also the Chief Justice.  If standing is lacking, the Court would vacate the Ninth Circuit's decision.

The Justices seem divided on the constitutionality of Proposition 8 on ideological lines, four to four - i.e., all the members other than Justice Kennedy.  For the more liberal members of the Court, there was no clarity on how broadly they would rule.

But Justice Kennedy seemed very unlikely to provide either side with the fifth vote needed to prevail.  He was deeply concerned with the wisdom of acting now when in his view the social science of the effects of same-sex marriage is uncertain because it is so new.  He also noted the doubts about the petitioners' standing.  So his suggestion was that the case should be dismissed.