Thirty wins. Four Olympians. Countless NCAA records.
Considered by many to be the greatest college sports team ever
assembled, the UCLA women’s water polo team has a chance this
weekend to accomplish something that all UCLA fans can appreciate:
a national championship.
Yet the Bruins are about as easy to get excited about as a
midterm on Cinco de Mayo.
When the baseball team wins a game, it’s big news. When
this team won its conference tournament, it was a big yawn.
For all that fans love about sports ““ the competitiveness,
the underdogs, the potential for upsets ““ some of that is
lost in the typical UCLA water polo match.
This year, the Bruins have won 26 of their 30 matches by more
than two goals, and have only trailed once in a match all
season.
Sunday, they have a chance to end their tremendous season with
their second national championship in three years.
“Anytime you win a national championship, it’s an
awesome feeling,” UCLA coach Adam Krikorian said.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have done it a few
times, and whether you’re 30-0 or 20-6 going into it,
it’s always very special.”
But how special can it be when everyone expects the Bruins to
win?
UCLA has already beaten both of its top two competitors,
Stanford and USC, three times this year.
The Bruins have won every tournament, every quarter and every
underwater battle.
The majority of these Bruins played on the 2003 championship
team that finished 23-4 and four players, including preseason
All-American Natalie Golda, were part of the bronze-medal U.S.
Olympic team this past summer.
But while some fans may approach this week’s NCAA
Championships with somewhat of a ho-hum mindset, the Bruins do
not.
“A national championship is never anticlimactic,”
Golda said. “If we get that opportunity, and win in the title
game, I’m positive it will be a highlight of our collegiate
career.”
It may be a highlight for Golda, but the extent to which UCLA
fans will remember Sunday’s championship win over any other
game this season is uncertain.
The outcome will most likely be the same as all the previous
games, and the only interesting story to emerge, unfortunately,
might be if the Bruins actually lose.
“People go around and everyone makes it sound like
it’s easy to be 30-0, like we’ve breezed through the
season,” Krikorian said. “But that is hardly the
case.”
Having a championship considered a foregone conclusion is
understandably an insult to the team. It takes away from all the
excitement of what this team can accomplish. But to fans who have
expected a title from day one, it may be the sad truth.
The value of the undefeated season the Bruins are so close to
achieving has been diminished since a less heralded USC team
accomplished the same feat a year ago.
And the satisfaction of an NCAA Championship inevitably dwindles
when the toughest opponents haven’t proven that stiff of a
challenge in the past.
The Bruins are just so much better than the rest. And
that’s what makes it so hard to get excited about them.
E-mail Parikh at sparikh@media.ucla.edu.