There really is no better way to spend one of these legendary bitter cold LA winter days than at the Urban Youth Academy in Compton. Today, the much ballyhooed Urban Invitational saw UC Irvine waylay Bethune-Cookman by a 9-3 count and Grambling took down Bayou Classic rival Southern 8-4 in a hail-shortened nightcap.

The Southern University band won the Battle of the Bands by an easy margin... don't hate me Bethune fans.

The truth is that the games all pale in comparison to the influence of this event on inner city youth and the dearth of African Americans in our game of college baseball. And furthermore, the Battle of the Bands was simply the best part.

I could waffle on about the games and what happened on the field and in between games, but let’s face it, this is a day best told by the images it produces. So quickly here, this is the linescores, in case you want them:

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GAME ONE:

Bethune -  000 101 001 – 3  5  0

UC Irvine- 702 000 00x – 9  8  0

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WP: Kyle Hooper (2-0)

LP: Ali Simpson (1-1)

Save: None

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GAME TWO:

Southern U- 100 000 30 – 4

Grambling – 011 010 05 – 8

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WP: Richard Bautista (1-1)

LP: Daniel Garcia (0-1)

Save: None.

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The game was called in the top of the 9th inning as rain and hail started to pelt the field. At the time, the Jags had the bases loaded with two out in the top of the inning.

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NOW THE IMAGES.

Here are part of the six or seven hours I spent at the Urban Youth Academy.

Maury Wills and Al Downing were two of the Hall of Fame celebs on hand for the festivities today.

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Dave Stewart shares some advice with BCU All American catcher Peter O'Brien before the game.

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UCI head coach Mike Gillespie addresses his Anteaters before the game.

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I really looked forward to seeing All American candidate Ali Simpson but unfortunately he couldn't get his cleats underneath him and had a rough outing vs. UCI. He left the game after going just 2.2 innings, giving up nine earned runs and walking five in 80 pitches.

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UCI's Drew Hillman admires his 1st inning grand slam that put this game out to pasture in quick fashion.

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Hillman gets his just desserts for the grand salami from his cohorts at home plate.

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All eyes up at the ump's call. BCU shortstop Alejandro Sanchez and UCI's Sean Madigan look to see if the tag was made. Madigan got back safely.

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Bethune's Peter O'Brien calls the shots from behind the plate and at the plate for the Wildcats. Scouts think he may be the No. 1 catcher taken in this June's MLB draft.

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Bummer it wasn't as close of a game as I thought it would be. But after finishing the 'Cats off, the Eaters offer their congrats.

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My cohort Aaron Fitt does a quick Q&A with BCU's O'Brien after the game. Aaron said he was really soft-spoken and very gracious. Good to hear.

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The Southern dancers get down - or up, in this case - as they move to the sound of "The Human Jukebox" as the Southern band is known.

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The SU bandleader gets some air on a backflip during the between-game performance.

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The Bethune-Cookman band then took the field with a hard act to follow. But they were putting on a show as well.

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The BCU dancers get some air as well during their performance. But my guess is that they were probably a bit on the cold side with mid-40s temps and those skimpy outfits.

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The Southern players get fired up before the game with Grambling.

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... meanwhile, Grambling coach James Cooper gives his infielders a pep talk as well.

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Grambling 2nd baseman Matt Mitchell catches a line drive and gets a double-play with the flip to second to double up Southern's Ozzie Lamis.

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Southern lumberjack Frazier Hall gets some props for his 1st inning home run to put the Jags on the board.

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Grambling's Rich Bautista had a great outing, going all eight innings for the Wildcats.

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There's no lonelier feeling in the world than after making a wild throw to 2nd base on what would've been a sure out. We feel your pain 8.

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Southern's DeMario Ellis blocks second and makes the tag on a Grambling steal attempt.

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Grambling head honcho James Cooper didn't agree with umpire Bill Van Raaphorst's call.

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This is what the hail storm looked like on TV as the game was called in the 9th inning with Southern having the bases loaded and down by three. Arrrrgh!

A quick look around the country. And I’m serious about the quick part, ‘coz it’s getting late already.

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– THREE UP.

1- Cal State Fullerton

Rebounded from the Friday loss to beat TCU in Ft. Worth, 8-4.

That’s good Titans, now let’s see if you can take down Matt Purke on Sunday… if he’s over that blister thingee.

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2- Vanderbilt.

Anthony Gomez beat out a double-play attempt by Stanford, which scored the winning run in the 8th inning of an 8-7 win. The ‘Dores win the series with their second straight one-run win on the weekend.

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3- The Unheralded Mid-Majors.

Here are some of the off-the-radar teams you need to know about:

- Toledo.

What the hell is goin’ on with the Rockets? The Midnight Blue and Gold scored three runs in the 9th inning to beat No. 16 Louisville for the second straight day. Awesome man.

- Stony Brook.

Remember that Florida Atlantic team I glossed on in the pre-season? The Seawolves are 2-0 against the Owls this weekend after today’s 5-1 win. Plus, they are looking every bit the AmEast favorites that I should’ve made them.

- Creighton.

Swept a DH from New Mexico to improve to 6-1 on the year. The last time they started 6-1 was in 1999.

- Fresno State.

Downed Pepperdine 7-3 to stay unbeaten at 4-0. Their wins have come against Gonzaga, Oregon State and the Waves.

- Rutgers.

Swept Michigan in two games today 9-4 and 5-2.

The Scarlet Knights are now 4-2 overall, including a win over Miami last weekend and those two nip-and-tuck losses to the Canes as well.

- Southeastern Louisiana.

Improved to 2-0 at the Jaguar Classic in Mobile with a solid 7-2 win over Central Florida. Yep, another good win over a good opponent for the Leos. Roar!

- San Jose State.

Wow-wow-wow. The Blue and Gold won at No. 2 UCLA 5-3 to improve to 5-0. Roberto Padilla threw a complete-game five-hitter for Sparty.

- Hawaii.

Evened up the series with No. 7 Texas with a high-pressure 5-4 win in 15 innings. With that win the Warrriors are now 3-3 with the wins coming against Oregon and Texas. Let that sink in.

- Seattle.

Took a pair of games from Notre Dame, 1-0 and 7-2. Coach Donny Harrell said, “We have been talking for two years about getting a marquee win, something that announces that we are trying to get back into Division I baseball and be competitive.” Voila’ folks.

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– THREE DOWN.

1- Siena.

The Saints lost a white-knuckler to Louisiana 5-4. The bad part? How about holding the Cajuns to just three hits on the day, gathering 11 hits themselves and still losing the game. Yick.

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2- Utah.

Or should I say Utaaawwwww Dammit!

For the third time in four losses this season the Utes blew a late lead and lost to a ranked team. I know, it’s getting to be a broken record since I wrote the exact same thing in last night’s write-up. Today, the Utes saw Arkansas score three runs in the 7th to beat them by a 5-4 count.

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3- UConn may be falling into that “Ohio State” mode after all.

Remember how Husky coach Jim Penders told BuckeyeStateBaseball.com’s Chris Webb that his team couldn’t fall into the same trap as Ohio State did last season when everyone and their brother had the Bucks as the Northern interloper that could make it to Omaha? Well, guess what? Yep, they’re falling into that trap after all. Today, the Huskies dropped a 3-1 game to Indiana. With the loss, UC drops to 1-4 on the early season, a far cry from last season’s 48-14 squad. Just sayin’.

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Oh and one last thing… hey MLB Network, when there’s a game like UC Irvine and Bethune-Cookman going on at the Urban Invitational, how about not cutting into the first 29 minutes of the game by showing the last two innings of a meaningless Phillies-Yankees exhibition game, okay? Ya’ bastards!

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Great, now I’m goin’ to sleep pissed.

G’night.