Basketball demigods return to campus
Ecstatic Bruins pay homage to team, welcome players at rally
By Alisa Ulferts
Thousands of basketball fans poured into Pauley Pavilion for a
celebration rally Wednesday and bowed down before the team that led
the Bruins to the NCAA championship.
They coated the walls of Pauley with a sea of championship
T-shirts and impatiently waited to worship their basketball gods.
Monday night’s joyful hysteria in Westwood had tapered into a loyal
reverence, as UCLA fans tried to balance the thrill of the win with
the solemnity of the ceremony.
Solemnity lost.
"Yeah!! We’re number one! Go Bruins!" Students screamed from the
stands and mouthed before television cameras.
The thunder of stomping feet echoed throughout the auditorium as
the band belted out the fight song.
When the team entered the auditorium, the roar rivaled a sonic
boom.
Master of ceremonies and L.A. sportscaster Chris Roberts
staggered onto the stage and greeted the cheering crowd.
"UCLA has the No. 1 team," he declared and was deafened by the
responding roar. "But if it wasn’t for you and you and you …" he
said, pointing into the masses. "You’re the No. 1 fans!"
Chancellor Young agreed.
"I want to thank you on behalf of your university," Young said,
despite the welling of "boos" that greeted him and Los Angeles
Mayor Richard Riordan.
Young described the 1995 NCAA champions as a group of great
individuals more dedicated to the team than any other he had
seen.
"I’ve been associated with every one of our national basketball
teams," Young said. "This is a very special team."
After receiving both the Sears National Coaches Association
"Coach of the Year" award and a commemorative trophy from Robinsons
May, UCLA basketball’s head coach Jim Harrick introduced the
team.
"Our players like you better than anyone else," Harrick told the
crowd. "They honestly and truly play for the students."
The players echoed the compliment.
"You guys are the No. 1 fans in America," George Zidek
confirmed. "We’re glad to bring the banner back where it
belongs."
"It’s been a great four years and I owe it all to you guys for
supporting me all the way through," said Tyus Edney, who, despite a
wrist injury that kept him from playing in the final game, managed
to flash a No. 1 sign to the sea of fans.
"It’s been a long road and there’s no better way to end it," he
declared.
The players then rapped for the worshipping crowd, signaling an
end to the homage, uh, ceremony.
Many students, pausing in their celebration, offered opinions of
the rally.
"I thought it was great  we want to be here next year,"
said third-year sociology student Tanya Rustin.
"Awesome," agreed Lamont Reece, a fourth-year communications
student. Reece then compared Wednesday’s rally with the melee in
Westwood Monday night.
"(Wednesday) was more organized. I think there was a little more
jubilee (Monday night) because it just happened," Reece said.
"There was a lot of emotion then. But there was a lot of emotion
here, too."