I must admit straight off the bat that I am very jealous of this
year’s freshmen.
Not only do they get to take general education classes and eat
Puzzles at 2 a.m., they get to be part of the most excitement that
has surrounded the football and basketball teams in quite a
while.
The UCLA football team, which many have called
“frauds” or “hoaxes” at certain points this
season, is undoubtedly 9-1 and has avoided the late-season collapse
that everyone was predicting.
Add the fact that the basketball team is ranked in the polls for
the first time since coach Ben Howland’s arrival, and there
has been no better time to be a UCLA fan.
If you freshmen need some perspective in just how lucky you are,
take a look at some of my experiences at UCLA.
During my freshman year, the football team started 6-2 and 4-0
in conference, and I thought nothing could go wrong.
I had grown up under the tutelage of Cade McNown and DeShaun
Foster and the optimism of back-to-back Rose Bowl appearances in
the late 1990s.
I certainly didn’t anticipate that the Bruins would go on
to lose their last five games, and end up losing to Fresno State in
the Silicon Valley Classic.
But it was OK. I still had basketball to be excited about.
Coach Howland was entering his first season, and coach Steve
Lavin had just led the Bruins to their worst season in history.
Things couldn’t get any worse, could they?
Well in my naive freshman eyes, I certainly didn’t think
so. The basketball team started 9-3, and I camped out all night to
watch UCLA, 5-0 in conference play, face off on national television
against conference power Arizona.
Well, to my dismay, not only did the Bruins get crushed that
game, but they went 2-14 the rest of the season.
My freshman year ended on an extremely sour note.
Two years after that extremely disappointing start, I once again
have reason to be optimistic about Bruin sports.
Senior quarterback Drew Olson has recently looked like the
second coming of McNown, and the Bruins had their highest
attendance of the season last Saturday. I can’t tell you how
much pride that brought me after attending games at a half-empty
Rose Bowl during the last two years.
On the hardcourt, meanwhile, point guard Jordan Farmar is the
leader the Bruins have been missing since Earl Watson graduated a
few years ago, and he has shown the ability to shed the futility
the Bruins have suffered through the last couple of years.
So, to you Bruin freshmen, I urge you, embrace the naivete you
have and just be happy you are not critical of the sports team like
us upperclassmen.
Go camp out for basketball games.
Meet the players as they come deliver pizza to you at midnight,
and meet coach Howland face to face as many kids around the country
wish they could.
Go out on a bus to the Coliseum with all your friends, and show
up against USC in all the blue and gold you have. They turned our
Rose Bowl red last year for our rivalry game, and we need to return
the favor.
Whether you think the Bruins have a chance to win or not, it
might be the only time you get a intercity rivalry involving your
own school with two top-10 teams.
UCLA basketball is on national television twice this week, and
you have a chance to pack the stands and show the entire nation
we’re truly back on the map.
So get that Bruin Den going, and start the chants that were
started by the students nearly 40 years ago, during the times of
coach John Wooden.
Embrace all there is to enjoy about being a college student, and
show all of us negative upperclassmen that you really can be proud
about being a fan of UCLA athletics.
E-mail Parikh at sparikh@media.ucla.edu if you also think
the Bruins are going to beat USC and be carried off the field by
UCLA fans on Dec. 3.