I planned on going home this past summer. I really did.
I was looking forward to finishing my last final and heading the
400 miles north up Interstate 5 to spend my summer in Berkeley.
Those of you from the Bay Area understand how much I was looking
forward to some Zachary’s Pizza and a Gordo’s burrito.
For those of you from Southern California, those two items are as
big a staple of our lives up north as Rainbows and board shorts are
down here.
Sadly, they simply weren’t meant to find their way into my
stomach. Instead, I would spend hours in Kerckhoff Hall working on
the Sports section of the Daily Bruin, while friends of mine in
their right minds were somewhere far away enjoying their summer
breaks.
But it wasn’t all bad. Wait, that’s playing it down
too much. I had a great summer. Spending the summer on the UCLA
campus as a sportswriter during the July and August months put me
in the right place at the right time for some incredible
opportunities.
Every year, long after students have left, the campus is invaded
by a professional tennis tournament. This year it had a new title
““ the Countrywide Classic ““ and it brought Andre Agassi
on his farewell tour and Andy Roddick to the Hill.
It was a thrill to watch Agassi play for the last time ever in
Los Angeles. Every fan in the stand was soaking up the last chance
to see the tennis legend, to the point that the competition was
almost forgotten about.
Sadly, the tournament directors were not on the same page as the
fans, and they “let” Agassi get eliminated by Chilean
Fernando Gonzalez. When he walked off the court for the last time,
it was as though a powerful dignitary was making his exit, with the
appropriate fanfare and nostalgia. It was an incredible thing to be
able to witness.
And not long after Agassi left, Chelsea arrived. The English
Premier League soccer team spent a week training at UCLA for its
exhibition match against the Major League Soccer All-Star team.
Fans lined the intramural field to watch England stars Joe Cole and
John Terry train alongside recent additions to the team, German
captain Michael Ballack and Ukrainian captain Andriy
Shevchenko.
For an American soccer fan, getting to see world-class players
fresh off their respective World Cup campaigns was a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Well, actually, once in a
summer.
With a handy little press pass I got to stand right along the
sideline, which by random chance was right next to Naveen Andrews
from “Lost,” whose son is a big Chelsea fan. For
someone like me, a big soccer fan and a big “Lost” fan,
this was a pretty sweet deal.
After practice, there was a press conference at The Beverly
Hills Hotel with members of the team. I know this doesn’t
have a hell of a lot to do with sports, but it has the nicest
bathrooms in all of Los Angeles. Hands down. There are marble
floors, oak stall doors and real towels where paper towels should
be.
Covering Chelsea is not a bad gig, in more ways than one. It was
hard to drive back on Sunset to my apartment afterward.
Although the campus is not buzzing over the summer like it does
when it gets packed with students in the fall, there is a lot going
on at UCLA during the hot months worth taking advantage of.
The way I think of it, it was like being at college without any
classes. It’s not a bad way to spend a summer.
E-mail Gordon at bgordon@media.ucla.edu if your attempts to
leave Westwood also failed miserably.