The football team is suffering through some severe growing pains, and the men’s basketball roster is so depleted that Lil’ Romeo would have a shot at making the team. Despite all that, who says it’s a bad time to be a UCLA sports fan?
On Wednesday, my esteemed colleague Mr. Watson discussed the potential for many of the smaller athletic programs to achieve championship-level success in the upcoming months. With the travails of the football and men’s basketball programs taking center stage, UCLA fans can look to the professional ranks for positive reinforcement.
After all, being a part of an athletic program like UCLA’s involves more than just a four-year commitment. Part of what makes college sports so appealing is tradition. Think “Fiddler on the Roof” opening musical number “Tradition.” It’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and John Wooden speaking at halftime in Pauley Pavilion. It’s Troy Aikman coming down from his broadcasting pedestal to finish up his degree.
Attending college, particularly one with academics as prominent as UCLA’s, is a gift that reaps rewards far beyond when a Bruin graduates. People will wear UCLA apparel, sport the alumni license plate and enjoy the benefits of an education from the nation’s best public university. Similarly, if one wants to consider oneself a full-blown UCLA athletics fan, maintaining a rooting interest in Bruins in the professional ranks is part of the equation.
This current stretch of sports scheduling has featured a number of UCLA athletic alumni performing on the grandest stages across the sporting sphere.
Nearly halfway through the NFL season, fantasy football is on the minds of many avid followers of the gridiron. Few players have made the impact that former UCLA running back Maurice Jones-Drew has.
Jones-Drew ranks among the top running backs in fantasy points, something that comes as little surprise to those who enjoyed the back’s jitterbug style in Westwood in the early 2000s.
One of the more pleasantly shocking highlights of last Sunday’s NFL action? Former UCLA linebacker Spencer Havner catching a 45-yard touchdown pass (can that be right?) from his new position as a tight end for the Green Bay Packers.
The NBA season tipped off earlier this week, and Bruin alumni are creating important storylines throughout the league. A slim and trim Baron Davis is looking to lead a revitalized Clippers team back to the playoffs, although the Clips fell to championship ring-bearing Jordan Farmar and the Lakers on Tuesday night, in a game called by Reggie Miller nonetheless.
One of the feel-good stories in recent weeks for American sports was the U.S. men’s soccer team qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, a run that was punctuated by an October 14th tie against Costa Rica following the news that forward Charlie Davies had been critically injured in a car crash.
UCLA alumnus and U.S. defender Jonathan Bornstein headed in the winning goal in the final minutes to salvage the tie, redeeming himself after a number of miscues in earlier matches. Bornstein’s goal vaulted him to hero status in Honduras, whose team was able to qualify because of the Costa Rica loss.
Most of all, October in the world of sports means the World Series, and one of the Series’ signature players is former UCLA baseball star Chase Utley. The second baseman started off the series in fine fashion, launching a pair of solo home runs to give the Phillies an early 2-0 lead. Utley has the kind of talent and grit that can translate to an MVP-like performance in the Fall Classic a la fellow former Bruin Troy Glaus with the Angels in 2002.
The stories are countless, and with an athletic department as vast and as successful as UCLA’s, it should come as no surprise.
Don’t be short-sighted Bruin faithful. UCLA fanaticism extends far beyond the boundaries of Westwood.
If you only draft former Bruins on your fantasy teams, e-mail Eshoff at reshoff@media.ucla.edu.