We have entered one of the most important stretches of our calendar, a time that has come to define men’s souls since the first caveman got a morsel of barbecued mammoth stuck in his chin hair.
I refer of course to No Shave November, a 30-day art festival that features the finest exhibitions of facial-hair sculpting. Goatees you could hide a small army in. Handlebars ““ of the mustache variety ““ so big you could ride on.
Sideburns that run roughshod down the face like a furry avalanche. Soul patches so soulful that it feels like you’ve got a gospel choir residing just below your lip. No Shave November showcases “˜em all. Point is, the month is about growth.
There are 11 other months in the year; those are the proper times for fine-tuning, experimenting and rehearsing. But the second Halloween ends, No Shave November begins, which is why, for many people, Nov. 1 is a far more terrifying day than Oct. 31.
Growth. It’s an appropriate theme for this time of year, and not just when it comes to facial hair. November also represents the intersection of football and basketball seasons, and it just so happens that “growth” might be the operative word for both UCLA programs in the coming month.
Let’s start with basketball. At Pac-12 Media Day, Cal coach Mike Montgomery brought together all the things we’ve talked about so far.
“UCLA ““ they scare the heck out of you. They’re huge!” Montgomery said.
Montgomery’s seen many Novembers. He referenced fear and growth, applied here in the most literal sense. The basketball team has grown tremendously thanks to the addition of the Wear twins, David and Travis, all 13 feet and 8 inches of them.
It’s not all positive though. Senior point guard Jerime Anderson was suspended for an exhibition game and the season opener for stealing a laptop over the summer. It was a tremendous lapse in judgment for him. He was and will continue to be counted on to provide leadership for this team. There’s still plenty of growing to be had in that regard.
Then there’s the growth that you hope not to see; the Bruins won’t reveal any specific statistics, but sophomore Joshua Smith isn’t looking any trimmer than at the end of last season. A slim Smith would be a near-unstoppable force, and it would be disappointing to waste his prodigious talent because of preventable horizontal growth.
Perhaps most importantly, this first full month of the basketball season is about growing together as a team, a notion that’s especially critical. This is a group with so many funky parts. I’ll give the basketball team the same mandate I give to many of my beard-growing colleagues: time to gel.
Let’s move on to the football program, where growth still should be a huge part of the ethos of this team, even though the season is eight games old.
The Bruins appeared energized in Saturday’s win over Cal by the performance of youngsters like Tevin McDonald, Jerry Rice Jr., Wade Yandall and Aramide Olaniyan. With the final month of the regular season upon us, the most promising aspect for this team both for the present and the future would be for kids like the aforementioned to continue making big, winning plays. It’s imperative.
The football program has suffered from a troubling lack of growth in its four years under coach Rick Neuheisel. At this point, the elite recruits from the last few years should be bigger and more consistent contributors to a winning football team. Recruiting rankings are done based on potential, and college is the time when that growth needs to manifest itself. If Neuheisel hopes to preserve his job, he would be well-served to squeeze every last bit out of these guys during the season’s stretch run.
Back to Friday’s Pac-12 Media Day for basketball. I’m sitting next to senior point guard Lazeric Jones at lunch, and in between me pestering him about his favorite on-campus dining options (he has soft spots for Rendezvous and Café 1919), he talks about how much he embraces being the team’s representative at the event.
Zeek’s a great story. He went from being lightly recruited out of high school to being still rather lightly recruited out of junior college. Then UCLA came calling and made him its point guard. After playing through a debilitating hand injury for much of last season, Zeek promises he’s ready to lead. That’s growth.
I have no doubt that his leadership will be paramount to a number of UCLA wins this season. At the collegiate level, with players on constant shuffle, success is determined by persistent growth. And with high-level college sports, success is measured by wins, which makes wins extremely valuable. Even if they’re by a hair.
If you’re having your roommate hide your razor until December, email Eshoff at reshoff@media.ucla.edu.