There are 104 NCAA Championship trophies in the J.D. Morgan Center’s Hall of Fame.
The trophies go from the ubiquitous (11 men’s basketball) to the extinct (two men’s gymnastics); from the record-setting (19 men’s volleyball) to the surprising (zero women’s soccer).
But they all come from that same NCAA trophy mold. Although the trophies have undergone a few redesigns through the years, they have the same essential shape ““ wooden (no pun intended) and with a glimmering golden plaque reading “NCAA” on the top. No fancy glass balls or sport-specific trophies, just a pretty hunk of wood. The no-frills NCAA ““ always trying to fit everything to its liking ““ keeps it simple with the trophies.
With No. 105 probably coming to Westwood by way of Gainesville, Fla., soon, I thought the NCAA could look at its professional counterparts for some inspiration to spice up UCLA’s brimming trophy case. The NBA has a ball falling into a golden hoop. Pro hockey has a trophy with the slightly misleading name of “Cup” that each member of the winning team gets to spend a day with. Football has some sort of flying football, while Major League Baseball has a bunch of little flags. Wimbledon gives the gentlemen’s singles champion a flowery cup and the ladies’ singles champion an equally flowery tray. The World Cup gives a beautiful sculpture that brings tears to my eyes every time I see it.
Those are all beautiful expressions of the sports to which the trophies correspond. Trophies should not only indicate some sort of accomplishment, but should also seek some artistic representation of the passion involved in achieving greatness in a sport.
Winners should not just get a big fancy piece of wood that says “Champion” ““ they should be able to look into that trophy and see something unique to their sport, to their special talent that they have been perfecting for years.
But one of sports’ most coveted awards has never failed to perplex me: the Green Jacket.
It’s way beyond the absurdity of a giant silver cup or the obsessive uniformity of the NCAA Championship trophies.
Phil Mickelson was awarded (is that even the right word?) his third Green Jacket on Sunday for winning the Masters. The world of sports celebrated his accomplishment while I still wondered: a green jacket? Sure, they give the winner a gold medal too, but that’s not what all the hype is for. The week-long event features people whose life’s work has been perfecting their play, and each of them vying for an ugly-looking jacket? Come on, PGA.
Imagine if UCLA had 104 garments hanging in the first floor of the Morgan Center as a testament to UCLA’s athletic prowess. That’s just silly.
But, NCAA, please step outside your rigid boundaries. Give the student-athletes who balance their academic lives with a passionate pursuit for athletic perfection a more fitting reward. Perfection for swimmers should not be represented by the same object as for soccer players.
Just make sure nobody’s “award” is a piece of clothing.
If you have your own design for an NCAA Championship trophy, e-mail Mashhood at fmashhood@media.ucla.edu.