Two weeks is a fleeting time, especially during exam season.

It was undoubtedly a torturous and painful time for the Bruins' athletes, who would rather spend eight hours on the court training hard than an hour sitting in the library battling textbooks. It's a pity that they didn't have a choice. The team only trains for two hours each day, and the rest of the time, they have to return to their student status and get serious into their daily studies.

At the end of the exam week, every student on the campus breathed a sigh of relief, cheering and celebrating wildly, not only because Christmas was coming, but also because it was a rare holiday time again; And because the Rose Bowl is about to take place in two weeks' time, which is an annual carnival for any UCLA student — because the Rose Bowl, where the event is held, is their home turf.

Traditionally, the Rose Bowl is held on January 1 each year, and if it happens to be a Sunday, the contest is postponed by one day to Monday, January 2 – mainly to avoid the church's Sunday service.

Three days ago, the organizing committee officially announced the two participating teams this year. According to the rules and regulations, the two sides are each selected by the Pacific 12 League and the Big 10 League, not necessarily the champion, but based on the team's results, performance and the strength of the schedule, and then send out invitations.

In the end, it was the UCLA Bruins who represented the Pacific 12 League, and the University of Wisconsin Badgers who represented the Big 10.

This will be the first time in 11 years that the Bruins will play in the Rose Bowl; At the same time, the badger team appeared on the stage of the Rose Bowl again after ten years. Both teams are back on the stage after many years and are highly anticipated.

It is worth mentioning that on January 1, 1999, the Rose Bowl was played against the Bruins and the Badgers, when the Badgers were in full swing, and in 1999 and 2000, they entered the Rose Bowl for two consecutive years and won the championship for two consecutive years - including the defeat in 1999 against the opponent they will face again this year, the Bruins.

For the Bruins, this game is of course very significant, not only to return to the Rose Bowl for the first time in the 21st century, but also to beat the strong opponents of the year to win the Rose Bowl again! After the Trojans, this time it's the badgers' turn? Bruins supporters are now in high spirits.

After exam week, the whole campus is in holiday carnival mode, and everyone is looking forward to Christmas and, of course, more importantly, the Rose Bowl showdown!

The Bruins are in full swing with every player in high spirits, from freshmen to seniors, and the Rose Bowl is the ultimate stage for them, the equivalent of the NCAA Super Bowl – at least for the 12th Collegiate Pacific!

On top of the Rose Bowl, top scouts from across North America will be on the scene, not only for the rookies who are hoping to participate in the draft this year, but also for freshmen and sophomores to show themselves; On top of the Rose Bowl, players who didn't make it to the professional league will take this stage as a farewell to their careers, which couldn't be more perfect.

Therefore, every member of the team has done their best and completed every day of training meticulously, showing unprecedented enthusiasm! Lu Ke is naturally no exception.

It's early in the morning again, it's 10,000 meters, it's a fixed route again, but this time it's different.

In the process of running at a constant speed, Lu Ke suddenly began to speed up, in just 100 meters, with a strong sprint attitude, this is not a hundred meters in 10,000 meters, but a pure 100-meter race-like sprint, the state of the muscles and the rhythm of breathing is a test of the limit of the body, after completing a hundred meters, but can not stop, but continue to put into the constant speed of jogging - real jogging. The speed of physical exertion in such a run is far beyond imagination.

Even though Lu Ke has successfully completed his daily training in the past two weeks, it is clear that his body has not been able to fully adapt to the heavy burden of this variable speed running, and he needs more training and more persistence.

After the completion of 10,000 meters, Lu Ke gasped heavily, slowed down, adjusted his breathing, and slowly walked to the locker room. But what is certain is that the yoga practice in the past two weeks has played an important role in the adjustment and rhythm of breathing, but the effect is still limited now, and it takes more time to settle.

Entering the indoor passage, Lu Ke walked forward calmly, the muscle soreness slowly recovered, this has made great progress compared to two weeks ago, he still remembers that when he tried on the first day, his knees were constantly trembling, and it didn't feel like he had completed 10,000 meters, but 50,000 meters.

It was already a quarter past seven, and the players arrived at the training ground one after another, and when they passed, they greeted Lu Ke one after another, and everyone's faces were filled with bright smiles, looking forward to a new day of training. It can be seen that the influence of the Rose Bowl is penetrating into every moment of their lives.

At the end of the tunnel you can see the treatment room, gym, bathroom, tactical boardroom, and then the coaches' offices, ice room, examination room, and so on. At this time, a large group of people gathered at the door of the coach's office, bustling and discussing, energetic and gearing up, and the whole lively atmosphere was like spring / day three or four months in advance, rushing to the face.

But in the midst of this, there was a small group of men with grim faces, frowning brows, and frustration written in them, several of them familiar faces, and Marcus constantly shaking his head with an obscure expression; John crossed his hands on his hips and sighed for a long time, as if he always had something to say, but could not express it; Logan, who was standing next to him, had a fiery temper, constantly shaking his head and babbling, "This is not right, this is not right...... Jesus Christ, how is this possible? This is ridiculous? ”

"Bambi!" John saw Lu Ke and shouted, his expression immediately frozen, almost as if he had seen a ghost.

Immediately after, everyone turned their heads in unison and looked at Lu Ke in a daze, and Logan stepped forward in an arrow step, and said in a panic, "Bambi, you...... Did you finish 10,000 meters today? It's a little faster than yesterday, so it looks like you're doing a good job. ”

Lu Ke chuckled, "What's wrong with you, why do you seem to see an alien with an expression?" He patted Logan on the chest, "I don't mind if you serve as my coach and be in charge of timing every day, so that my watch can be retired." ”

The running results of 10,000 meters, Xiao Qi is recording every day, as long as Lu Ke is willing, he can call up the record and carefully see if his training is effective.

This was originally a joke, but Logan didn't laugh today, only pulled the corners of his mouth, and didn't smile. Lu Ke raised his eyebrows, "What's wrong with you?" But without much thought, he walked between them, stopped at the door of the office, and looked at the list posted on the door.

This is the list of players, including the starting list and the substitute list.

With only one week left before the Rose Bowl, the coaching staff must announce the starting line-up and then arrange for the main players to begin further tactical run-in and targeted training.

This time their opponents, the Wisconsin Badgers, are no good type, they have a record of 10 wins and two losses in the top 10 leagues, and they are one of the strongest offensive teams this year, averaging 43 points per game, and a total of three games have scored more than 70 points!

Of course, they also conceded one of the worst teams in the league. It can be said that this is a luxury battleship that relies on offense to win games, and for the Bruins' defensive team, the task is daunting.

Standing in front of the list, Lu Ke still looked for his name in alphabetical order, the list of surnames starting with "L" was very limited, and he looked at it all the way, but Lu Ke didn't see his name, which made him stunned, and subconsciously looked at it again, but it was still not.

His eyes turned off the starting list, expertly searching through the bench list, and then he managed to find his name, "Lu, Ke, Quarterback", the same position, as it had been for the past five months, without any changes.

Lu Ke was stunned for a moment, he sincerely believed that his performance in the last game at the end of the season, he had proven himself, which was enough to make him a starter in the Rose Bowl; But alas, he was disappointed. The quarterback in the starting lineup is still Kevin Prese, while he and Darrys Bell are still the backup quarterbacks.

The momentary loss, dragging his ankles, pulling down fiercely, the suffocation feeling of the sudden attack made him a little flustered.

"Sorry, man." John's voice rang in his ears, full of regret and sigh. He raised his right hand, hesitated for a moment, and finally landed on Lu Ke's shoulder, pinching it gently, but it was as heavy as a thousand pounds.

They all know it.

Lu Ke didn't respond, just stood in place, looking at the list in a daze, with mixed tastes and indescribable. The intricate taste on the tip of the tongue was almost indistinguishable, and the whole chest just felt empty and unsettled.

Turning around, Lu Ke saw his teammates fighting side by side, Marcus stepped forward and tried to express comfort, but he didn't know what to say, just muttered a vague "sorry" in a low voice; Logan hung his head heavily, kicked the corner unwillingly, and said nothing; The other teammates also cast their eyes, pity, sympathy, disappointment, anger, regret......

Lu Ke tugged at the corners of his mouth lightly, revealing a smile, but it was so bitter, "I'm ready for basic training, is anyone willing to join me?" After speaking, without pausing, Lu Ke quickly left the scope of the coach's office.

Seeing Lu Ke's back leaving, Logan kept shaking his head, "It's not fair!" It's not fair! No one responded, only a sigh of silence.