The air was buzzing in Pauley Pavilion. Ryan Wright hit a jumper
putting UCLA up 18-1 against Stanford. The team was pumped up, the
alumni were excited, and the student section … went to the
kitchen to get a second helping of meatloaf?
This year the Bruins opened Pac-10 play during winter break,
with many students out of town and therefore unable to attend the
game.
The day after finals ended, the Bruins won a big game on the
road in Ann Arbor and everyone was excited for them to come home to
Westwood.
The problem is that before they came home, all of the students
had already gone home for the holidays. UCLA returned to an empty
house and played a total of four home games over the break. The
team notched wins against Wagner, Sacramento State and Stanford,
but ended up losing to Cal.
Someone forgot to get out their datebook before planning the
holidays this year.
Many students were uncontrollably double-booked. The overlap of
break and big games makes a huge problem for out-of-town students
who shelled out the money at the beginning of the year for sports
packages and have to miss those games.
The packages including any assortment of basketball tickets are
priced at $119 and $139, with all three plans including tickets to
the Stanford and Cal games. The setup leaves some students who want
to support their school out in the cold.
Jon Hua, a third-year economics student, was upset about the
games he had to miss while he was at home in Fremont. “It was
inconsiderate,” he said. “I don’t know why you
would schedule Pac-10 games when most of your students are away.
Being from NorCal, I would have liked to see those
games.”
The counter-argument is simple. If you looked at the schedule at
the beginning of the year, it was clear that this was going to
happen. A student simply could have not bought a package.
My answer is also simple. This is not just about money. As a
university, a student’s option should not have to be between
disappointment or non-involvement.
When you enroll as a student, on some level it becomes your
school. You go to the classes, you wear the colors, and for
out-of-town sports fans, you gain a team.
It makes sense for the school to welcome those fans and work to
make the student presence at games as strong as it can be.
The student section is a large part of home-field advantage at
any school. It is the students who are stomping their feet, yelling
at the top of their lung, and taking part in the elaborate cheering
traditions of Westwood basketball. When those students are not
there, home court advantage means that much less.
Hua went as far as to say that it may have affected the team in
the 68-61 loss to the Bears.
“You could argue that we lost to Cal because there was
less fan support,” he said.
The fact is that as a fan it is not exciting to be in town for
the games against New Mexico State and Coppin State, but then have
to miss Pac-10 games that have a big impact on the team’s
campaign.
Students would have been thrilled to show up on Dec. 30 and
watch UCLA stomp all over Stanford.
But “Mom, I need a plane ticket to go see a basketball
game” is not always a line that works.
One would hope the scheduling of games would keep students in
mind as an important demographic.
For the 2004-2005 season the schedule worked out a little
better. There was only one home game over break, against Michigan
only one day after fall quarter had ended. The next home game was
against Washington State on Jan. 6, the day instruction began for
winter quarter.
Luckily, everyone is back on campus for the visit from the
Washington schools that not only have the potential to be
incredibly exciting games, but are meaningful games for that time
of year when people start talking about Pac-10 Championships.
This means second helpings of Mata instead of meat loaf.
E-mail Gordon at bgordon@media.ucla.edu.