As they took off to the Bay Area around midnight, right as
Thursday was becoming Friday, there was an eerie mood surrounding
the people on the bus.
A mix of emotions were no doubt running through the heads of
myself and my fellow UCLA band members.
Excitement, anxiousness and optimism were all there, but they
were met by equally worthy foes ““ confusion, fatigue and a
lingering bout of cynicism among those who had made the trip so
many times before with high hopes, only to be let down.
But as they settled in on the midnight ride up to Palo Alto,
those emotions were gingerly set aside for the moment ““ no
matter how difficult it was to sleep, rest was needed for the day
to come.
After what seemed like no time had passed, they were woken up.
It was 6:30 a.m. and it was time for breakfast.
After breakfast, the weary group went to a local high school to
rehearse. The cheering young audience that took a break from their
classes to watch the band lightened the hearts of the band members
and rejuvenated their spirits enough to take on the rest of the day
and enjoy the Bay Area experience.
The next morning, though, it was back to work, and all the
emotions the group had been able to contain started to creep back
into our skulls.
A morning rehearsal in the sun and an upbeat contingent of UCLA
fans at lunch started to bring some positive emotions to the
forefront. The team was 7-0 and better than Stanford. This was
finally going to be the year that the dreaded Bay Area curse
ended.
They finished lunch and jubilantly, confidently marched their
way into the stadium. After watching the antics of Stanford’s
band, the group put on an inspired pregame performance and headed
to the stands to watch the show that everyone was there to see.
The team everyone was so used to seeing march up and down the
field with ease could not do so when the game started. No matter,
though. The defense was playing well, and the offense would no
doubt pick it up in the second half.
After receiving a warm reception from Stanford’s fans for
the halftime show, the band returned to the stands to hope that the
team would come back and win.
The waiting game began as the second half started, and after the
Cardinal scored a touchdown, then added a field goal, doubt as to
whether it would ever end finally began to arise.
Still, this was a sight the group of band members had seen
before ““ UCLA has made a habit of coming back from long odds
in the final period to win. Why should this time have been any
different?
They got the ball for the first time in the fourth quarter. A
first down to Lewis, a nice run by Drew. These were the
fourth-quarter Bruins we knew.
Then all of a sudden ““ a fumble by Everett. Then a
Cardinal touchdown.
Most of the band remained silently in a state of shock. Others
began cursing their director ““ why did we practice
“Rover” during the week if we knew we would lose
anyway? One band member was so upset he violently ripped part of
the uniform off another member.
This time, there is no point of return.
Then, a quick UCLA touchdown. Too little too late. A quick stop
and another Bruin score. This can’t be happening.
Suddenly, after another quick stop and a fourth-down conversion,
the Bruins have the ball just one yard away from the goal line.
Timeout.
The timeout gives the band members a chance to catch their
breath, but is not enough time for them to grasp the gravity of
what was about to occur.
Then it happened, and they figured it out.
Voices stretched their lungs to their limits, instruments that
had been lifeless sprung to life, tears started to flow. The
impossible had just happened, and a win was now inevitable.
Never again this year can any band member, under any
circumstance, doubt their team.
E-mail Azar at bazar@media.ucla.edu