Some of the biggest college basketball fans on UCLA’s
campus won’t be cheering for the Bruins when they head up to
the Bay Area this weekend. Yet if they ever reveal where their
hearts actually lie, they’ll be vilified by fellow students
as traitors.
With a healthy chunk of UCLA’s population hailing from
Northern California, it’s only natural that many grew up
rooting for Cal or Stanford. Nevertheless, these students are
expected to drop their allegiance the minute they step foot into
Westwood ““ as though an eight-clap or fight song is supposed
to miraculously make 18 years of loyalty disappear.
For casual fans eager to latch onto some team they can identify
with and cheer for, these rah-rah school-spirit gimmicks work
great. But by no means should they convince a die-hard Cardinal fan
to jump out of his tree house and take the next Hummer to
Hollywood.
Since both of my parents are Bruin alumni, it’s been easy
for me to support the Bruins. I grew up basking in the glory days
of Ed O’Bannon and Cade McNown. The athletic teams, for
better or worse, were an influential reason in my decision to come
here. Had I been rejected and forced to attend Berkeley instead,
I’m not sure how easily I could have put aside all my Bruin
memorabilia and wholeheartedly accepted Oskie the Bear.
It would have been a dilemma that many students deal with in
reality. Sophomore Greg Wrench, a Los Altos native, has been a
lifelong Stanford fan because of the school’s proximity to
his home. When he first arrived at UCLA, he referred to the
top-ranked Cardinal basketball team with an affectionate
“˜we,’ a term he hardly used to refer to the Bruin
team.
“It’s hardest to give up a school when you see them
doing well and feel like you can’t be there,” Wrench
said. “It’s hard to root openly for Stanford down here.
If I was back home, I wouldn’t be giving it up.”
As time wore on though, Wrench began embracing UCLA more and
more as his school. With Stanford’s football program in
shambles, he had no qualms rooting for the Bruins in last
year’s contest. He had season tickets to basketball games and
would sport his “Bruin Den” T-shirt in the bleachers of
the student section.
It was only when Stanford visited Pauley Pavilion last February
that Wrench got a sense of whether his allegiances had shifted.
“Inside, I felt like I was going to root for
Stanford,” Wrench said. “But as the game went on, I got
caught up in the atmosphere and was rooting for UCLA. I walked out
with a win-win situation.”
Wrench explained that now, in head-to-head matchups between his
two schools, he will root for whichever team needs a victory
more.
“If Stanford has to win to stay on top, I’ll root
for Stanford,” he said, adding that he will be pulling for
the Bruins this Sunday because he thinks the game is more crucial
for UCLA.
If, however, the Bruins do defeat the Cardinals, Wrench may not
be able to celebrate as genuinely as a fan devoted only to UCLA
would. But as an avid college basketball fan, he would still be
able to appreciate the victory more than the average Bruin fan, who
probably missed last Thursday’s game to watch a fresh episode
of “The OC” instead.
It would be unfair to ask Wrench and the countless others like
him to give up a school they grew up with. For these students, UCLA
has become an adopted child, picked up later in life out of
convenience and a sense of obligation. It may provide more
cherished memories in the long run, but can never be their first
love that they fawned over throughout their childhood and teenage
years.
There’s enough room in these supporters’ hearts to
root for two schools. Just try to avoid making UCLA come across as
the bitter or jealous one.
Finley’s glad he doesn’t have divided
allegiances. E-mail him at afinley@media.ucla.edu if college
basketball makes you feel torn apart.