FROM THE FIELD: BRUINS BRAVADO IS SIMPLE HONESTY.

Byline: SCOTT WOLF

There isn't a baseball team at the College World Series that straddles the notoriously fine line between confidence and arrogance better than UCLA.

If the Bruins basketball team had this much spunk, their sound bites would be on ESPN every night.

But this is college baseball, where the Rosenblatt Stadium press box is dominated by newspapers with names like the Alexandria Town Talk, Opelika-Auburn Times and Lake Charles American Press.

If the national media only knew what they were missing, they might be here in droves.

Check out this quote from UCLA pitcher Jim Parque on defeating Oklahoma State in the Midwest Regional championship.

``I'm looking at the Oklahoma State schedule, and other than maybe Kansas State, I'm thinking `Who is this?' They faced maybe three teams I actually respect,'' Parque said.

Ouch.

Or pitcher/first baseman Peter Zamora on Pacific-10 rival Stanford, a potential opponent in the World Series.

``I would like to see Stanford in the championship game next Saturday and just beat them. Beat them bad,'' Zamora remarked.

Cringe.

These might sound like the statements of an incredibly cocky group, but the printed word rarely offers proper context to a person's quotes.

Zamora and Parque have both been models of politeness in Omaha, and they have displayed no malice when they speak.

They're just incredibly honest, a refreshing trait among today's athletes.

It just might create some misunderstanding about their comments.

All of the UCLA players want to win and believe they should win the World Series.

Is that wrong? Would you want a team to show up with any other attitude?

To be the best, you have to believe you're the best, right?

These players simply say what they think without editing themselves whenever a reporter shows up for an interview.

Even after the Bruins' powerful offense was held to three runs by Miami on Saturday, the players didn't temper their statements one iota.

``We'll come out hitting (on Monday), I'll guarantee you that,'' Zamora said.

He might be right. He might be wrong.

He's definitely honest.

Perhaps it's better college baseball remains a relatively minor sport, at least compared to football and basketball.

If it ever did hit the big time, you can bet someone would be hovering around athletes like Zamora and Parque, eager to water down everything they said.