College sports capture culture, community for visiting student

My year at UCLA has been full of challenges, but this is by far
the toughest one to date. Summing up everything I have learned
through the Daily Bruin and the UCLA athletes is impossible, but
here is a shot at it. An academic year spent at the Daily Bruin in
a nutshell:

I stepped into the unknown of life in the U.S. nine months ago.
Back in September, I was clueless about what was ahead of me, and
all I had to go on were the stereotypical American stories I had
grown up with. I had never watched a college sport in my life;
football only seemed interesting through Hollywood screens, and my
NBA knowledge went only as far as Michael Jordan’s
retirement.

But then I joined this strange group of people called Daily
Bruin Sports. These people spend half of their time in a Kerckhoff
room that can only been described as a very busy bunker, and the
other half running after athletes or the next big story on campus.
And while going to class has been an interesting if not
entertaining pastime, I am convinced the Daily Bruin gave me my
true American education.

I have learned that baseball is not the most boring sport in the
world. There is some kind of fantasy in watching two teams
gesticulate in all sorts of ways, and listening to Angels’
fans showed me what it meant to believe in a dream.

I have learned that a college rivalry can surpass any other
sport challenge of the season. Three years in England had taught me
what standing by your colors meant, but rivalry week was completely
overwhelming. I do not believe I will ever see a team being
supported the way the Bruins are when USC is standing on the other
side of the field.

I have learned that the exceptional achievements of underdogs do
not merely belong to Disney studios. Films such as “Remember
the Titans” or “Coach Carter” always brought an
ironic smile, simply because they did not seem plausible. But the
UCLA basketball and volleyball teams proved me wrong. We tend to
settle for the worst, and welcome the best if it happens to come
our way. These two teams stuck to their goals, ignored critics, and
achieved what all believed improbable. I have learned that
self-belief is not arrogance, and that the American dream can in
fact become a reality.

I have learned that being a college sports reporter is like no
other journalism job. Going to the office is an excuse to watch
hours of sports, talk about it, then go to class with the last
game’s heroes. I have also learned that when journalism is
combined with being a college student, it is hard to remain totally
objective.

Being a reporter means asking questions when nobody wants to
answer them, but the team I followed never made me feel like an
intruder. Invaluable quotes from players and coaches I saw every
day got me more “excoited” about watching my favorite
sport than playing it. I would not be surprised if hours spent at
the LATC allowed me to witness the next “Big Deals” in
the making, and legally stalking them has been a pleasure, if not a
privilege.

Finally, I have learned that although I called Westwood my home
for less than a year, I will always carry the Bruins in my
heart.

Wherever life might take me, whether it is riding an orange
bicycle across French hills, beginning a new dream in the North of
England, or recruiting bankers in Geneva, I will always look at
UCLA sports with the following at the back of my mind: “Good
luck to both teams, and go Bruins.”

Cantryn was a Bruin Sports reporter from 2005 to
2006.

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