It has been a good year in UCLA sports.
Men’s water polo, women’s water polo and men’s
tennis won national championships. Men’s basketball returned
to the NCAA tournament. And football landed a top quarterback
recruit.
But one single, miserable, damned play kept it from being a
great, even epic, year.
By now, the USC football team has won the national championship
and has its legacy firmly established.
But think back to the Trojans’ Dec. 4th, 2004 victory over
UCLA.
History will overlook it as just another forgettable win in
their perfect season, but that game will haunt me for the rest of
my life.
In the weeks leading up to the big game, I became convinced that
UCLA was going to pull off the unthinkable.
Did I have a logical argument? Not really.
I just wanted a win so badly that I willed myself into
believing.
My senior year. Hadn’t beaten ‘SC in six years.
Chance to spoil a national championship. And most importantly, I
would have already been on the field as a reporter, making me the
first idiot to miserably fail at climbing the goalpost.
It was going to be the signature sports moment of my four years
at UCLA. If there was any order or reason to the universe, I was
destined to see this happen.
That’s why I’m still so pissed.
With the Trojans winning 17-10 with the ball and the second half
coming to a close, USC tailback Reggie Bush caught a swing pass,
fumbled, and linebacker Spencer Havner scooped up the ball and
appeared headed for a game-tying touchdown.
Instead, the referee blew the whistle, ruled that Bush’s
momentum had been stopped, and provided me with repeated moments of
spontaneous anguish over the coming months.
Every angle on replay showed that it was a terrible call.
Rather than a 17-17 score with 20 minutes of football left to
decide the victor, the ref intervened and the Trojans took a 20-10
lead. The Bruins fought hard to overcome it, but fell short.
I’m not saying that UCLA would have won had the call been
made correctly. I think it’s a 50-50 proposition.
I just can’t stand that I will never know. With the way
UCLA outplayed USC in the second half, it’s not hard to see
how the Bruins might have had a very real shot.
And a win very well would have been the highlight of my
life.
As it was, when UCLA ironically recovered a fumble down 29-24
with under two minutes left, I was jumping up and down on the field
forgetting whatever journalistic integrity I had.
I looked up at the UCLA student section and saw utter
pandemonium. It was surreal ““ exactly as I pictured it might
be.
Of course, Drew Olson threw a pick the very next play, but not
before I had experienced just a taste of what I had been dreaming
about for months.
What’s the point of rehashing this agony?
Unfortunately, it’s my most memorable moment in this year
of sports.
Whenever it is that UCLA does beat ‘SC, I’ll
remember Dec. 4, 2004 and mix some jealousy with my joy.
I just can’t imagine the experience of watching as an
alumnus matching that of a student.
And, unfortunately, that’s all I’ll ever be able to
do ““ imagine.
E-mail Peters at bpeters@media.ucla.edu if you also
won’t forget that day.