Jeff Eisenberg
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The “lights are much brighter there…You can forget all
your troubles, forget all your cares.”
That’s right Bruin fans, our football team could be moving
“downtown,” but only if new athletic director Dan
Guerrero is prepared to make a bold impression in his first year at
UCLA.
With just one bowl victory in the last decade, and a combined
record of 14-14 over the past three seasons, the football program
needs a face lift. Many fans seem to believe that replacing head
coach Bob Toledo is the answer, but moving to a new stadium might
be enough of a recruiting boost to catapult UCLA into college
football’s elite.
The university is only contractually tied to the Rose Bowl until
after next season, so the opportunity to act is now.
A business group headed by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz
plans to build a 64,000-seat stadium in the South Park area of
downtown near Staples Center in hopes of luring professional
football back to Los Angeles.
Both Anschutz and current UCLA athletic director Peter Dalis
have expressed interest in the Bruins becoming a permanent tenant
of the new stadium when it opens its doors in 2005. Guerrero has
not ruled out the possibility of moving to another facility besides
the Rose Bowl either.
The Rose Bowl’s nostalgic charm is by no means a
recruiting liability, but there is no hiding the fact that it is
over 80 years old. Although the city of Pasadena has made minor
renovations throughout the last decade, a new scoreboard and
lighting system are not enough to mask the age of the venue.
A modern facility in the heart of downtown Los Angeles is the
best possible option.
Premier recruits who have been leaving the Southern California
area for other top collegiate programs might be inclined to stay
close to home and attend UCLA if they could showcase their talents
in one of the nation’s premier venues.
Although being the second tenant in the stadium could pose
logistical problems, sharing with an NFL team does have its
advantages. Players and coaches would have access to first-class
training facilities and state-of-the-art locker rooms unmatched
across the nation.
While building an on-campus football stadium would be ideal,
Guerrero himself has admitted it is completely unrealistic because
of space requirements.
Nonetheless, a downtown stadium would be advantageous for the
fans as well.
The proposed site is much closer to Westwood than Pasadena is,
and it is at the hub of several major southern California freeways.
Since traffic leaving the stadium would be scattered in all
directions, the commute should be better than from the Rose Bowl,
where the majority of vehicles are headed west after a game
creating unbelievable gridlock.
The new stadium would likely be far more intimate than the
cavernous Rose Bowl. With 30,000 fewer seats and fans within
shouting distance of the field, the raucous environment could only
improve the Bruins home-field advantage throughout the season.
While it is likely that food, parking and tickets will cost more
at the new stadium than at the Rose Bowl based on prices at the
nearby Staples Center, advertising dollars from new downtown
sponsors eager to endorse the Bruins could bring in enough income
to avoid any drastic changes.
Even if UCLA does not ultimately jump ship, it would behoove
them to negotiate with Anschutz anyway.
After the L.A. Galaxy move out of the Rose Bowl in 2003, UCLA
football will be the venue’s only permanent tenant ““
and only stable revenue source.
Thus the athletic department would have the leverage it needed
to demand whatever renovation plan it wants.
Let’s face it Bruin fans. Our football team is mediocre,
and something must be done for the situation to improve.
The last time we enjoyed a period of sustained national success,
MTV still played music videos, and America knew Jerry Springer only
as the former mayor of Cincinnati.
Moving to a downtown stadium could be the jumpstart that the
program needs to become a perennial top-10 team once again.