Since there is really not much worth dissecting when UCLA
annihilates a pathetic, last-place team, I want to bring up an
issue I noticed a few weeks ago.
It’s the sports fan’s equivalent of robbing the
cradle.
And I am the perfect example.
UCLA is a bubble, a society of its own with a distinct social
hierarchy. At the bottom of this hierarchy are freshmen.
Newcomers conspicuous by their “what cluster are you
in?” conversations and active enthusiasm for dorm food, the
freshmen are light years behind us seniors in maturity and
experiences.
We are their elders ““ wisened sages of the UCLA
experience.
We deserve their damn respect.
But when I picked up the Daily Bruin a while back and found out
about the Lorenzo Mata Super Fan Club on the Facebook, my initial
thought was ““ sign me up.
Then I realized something ““ Mata is a freshman. He is
18.
And so is Jordan Farmar.
Josh Shipp and Arron Afflalo just turned 19.
I am 22. My heroes are kids.
Instead of giving these freshmen swirlies and noogies, we wear
their jerseys, pray for their health, and thank the recruiting gods
for guiding them to Westwood in time for us to enjoy a going-away
basketball resurgence.
On Thursday, freshmen scored the Bruins’ first 11 points.
Afflalo missed just one shot en route to scoring a career-high 22
points, Farmar doled out six assists and led the cheers when he was
on the bench, and Shipp had his usual quietly effective all-around
game.
They played like a bunch of guys that knew they would beat
‘SC ““ an attitude that hasn’t been present the
last few years.
They also did this in front of thousands of classmates chanting
their names. I write a column in a newspaper commenting and
critiquing them on things I only do in my dreams. When did life
pass me by?
I sought out Jake Strom, the founder of the Lorenzo Mata Super
Fan Club and fellow 22-year-old, to commiserate with me.
“I really don’t think it is weird at all,”
Strom said. “I look up to Jordan Farmar, Arron Afflalo, Josh
Shipp and Lorenzo Mata because they smash face at basketball. With
the exception of Farmar, all these guys are twice my size and could
easily kick my butt.”
While this is certainly true, I still think age is magnified in
college, which makes what the freshmen are doing truly
remarkable.
I can barely imagine what these basketball-playing freshmen are
going through. To be mere months removed from moving out of the
house and away from your childhood friends to playing on national
television is incredible.
After the game, I asked Farmar if he thought all the young
idolatry was weird.
“I told my mom it would be like this, and she didn’t
believe me, like it was just little kids’ talk,” he
said. “But I’ve kind of known it my whole life.
“I love it.”
Maybe it takes an attitude like this to do what they’re
doing.
That’s why I’m not really arguing against any of
this freshmen adoration. I’m just wondering aloud if this is
weird for anyone else with a few years on these guys.
But, I guess for a senior like myself, it really doesn’t
matter who is sparking the winning because at this point, we are
all just glad to have a chance at making it to the NCAA Tournament
and to go out on a winning note against the Trojans.
So this grizzled old-timer is happily swallowing his pride and
bowing down to a group of precocious kids.
They deserve our damn respect.
Peters is a basketball columnist for the 2004-2005 season.
E-mail him at bpeters@media.ucla.edu.