STUCK ON UCLA: Ever since the Bruins...

STUCK ON UCLA: Ever since the Bruins won the men’s NCAA basketball championship last week, the UCLA Spirit Store at Universal CityWalk has been selling caps and T-shirts to Valley fans like crazy. But the best sale was a little bit of crow . . . “We had one guy who bought a bumper sticker to send to his friend in Nebraska,” said one employee. “The guy in Nebraska had bet him that UCLA wouldn’t make it to the Final Four. So when he lost, he had to put the UCLA bumper sticker on his car and drive around town with it.”

ULTIMATELY REPLACEABLE: Local baseball players who were replacements during the baseball strike are once again on the outside looking in. Some are unemployed. Others are still chasing their dreams. . . . At least they have the memories. (C12)

UNUSUAL RODEO: It wasn’t the most typical sight for Burbank: a man in a dress trying to ride a bucking steer. But this wasn’t just any rodeo. . . . The 11th annual Los Angeles Gay Rodeo attracted more than 4,500 celebrants to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center on Saturday. Not all the events were for drag queens: Gay cowboys also roped calves and rode steer. “We have the rough events just like the regular rodeos have,” said rodeo spokesman Bill Porter.

SPARRING MATCH: Should the Los Angeles Unified School District be broken up? A town hall meeting on the question will feature L. A. Board of Education President Mark Slavkin and L. A. City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg versus breakup proponents Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland and former state Sen. David Roberti. “She’ll be there with punching gloves on,” said a Boland aide. The meeting will be held 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, at the El Caballero Country Club, 18300 Tarzana Drive, Tarzana.

REBEL HISTORY: Columnist Scott Harris (B1) looks at the origins of Johnny Reb, the controversial Quartz Hill High School mascot.