..it was actually pretty loud at the rose bowl.

But as UCLA becomes more difficult to get into, the students take their academics that much more seriously. When I went to UCLA we rarely went to the Rose Bowl because it was such a hassle. And it always felt like something the Greeks were into more than the regular students.

My current excuse: I’m 6’5" and those little tiny aluminum benches they call seats are torturous. But I usually go to at least one game a year to show my solidarity. And it is fun, despite the lack of adult libations.

But my tickets were used so I guess it’s a wash.

No making excuses, but it does show the need to improve the game day experience. I think a decade of mediocrity and a 5 game losing streak mid season had something to do with it as well.

The whole game day experience needs to be reevaluated and updated IMHO. Business as usual won’t get it done. Ricks doing his part, we have to do our part, but the entire culture needs to change….

I drove to the game with some friends and we were all hoping for a big crowd. When my brother and I went into the bowl and saw all the empty seats we were stunned. Great game though.

At all the home games except the last game against ASU, we bused in thousands of Jr. High and High School kids from the inner city. This inflated the actual attendance numbers for our other games. The number of seats occupied by these kids is roughly 2-3 times the number of seats in the student section. The combination of the above with the rather empty student section and general admission seats contributed with the season low in attendance.

…that we just had our own on-campus stadium. I know it’s never, ever going to happen, but I’d rather have our team play in a packed 40-50K capacity stadium than a half-empty Rose Bowl (even though I do really love playing there).

When I was a student I went to the games. It was only $10 for student tickets, and I took my wife with. After parking it was $30 plus maybe some money for food. Now, I am in grad school and it would cost my wife and me $80 for tickets, parking, and gas. Just too much for two collegiate 22 year olds. Mark my words, I will get season tickets the day I graduate from my last degree. I just with others had the same mindset. This is gonna be a great program in the coming years.

And I have a midterm next week, but I had my priorities straight and went to this game. Also going to the USC game on Saturday to represent the blue and gold. I actually heard from some students that they are “afraid” to goto U$C’s home turf just because their “fans” are obnoxious, give me a break. Students especially, if you call yourself a UCLA fan, make it to represent and support your team.

And I now live in the Bay Area. I will go to every game they play up here. I went to the Stanford game this year and made it down to the Rose Bowl for the Cal game.

And this week, I’m driving down for the U$C game. I can’t wait.

Some of my best memories of college are from the Rose Bowl and there’s no excuse for not making the trip out to the Arroyo Seco. I’ll always remember exactly where I was standing when McNeal caught that ball (and where I was when I got hit with pepper spray). Most of these kids don’t truly understand the significance of gettig to play home games in the frigging Rose Bowl.

BEAT ’SC.

Rather, I think the fact that so many students missed the game is a result of a traumatic week and a focus on other aspects of our lives.
Our tuition was increased by 32%. Many of our friends will no longer be with us next year because they cannot afford it. Approximately 20 people were arrested, and about just as many were tased this week. I am still recovering from watching my friend get tased and dragged on the ground because she was peacefully protesting a decision which will likely force her to attend a cc next year.
I love UCLA football, but I love many other things much more. I love my friends, and they are depressed right now. I love my family, and they are working their asses off to pay for my education. I love my art (which is my life). And I loved the education I was receiving before my professors began cancelling class about once every other week to protest.

Simply put, I had other things on my mind yesterday…
But I do understand that the game yesterday was HUGE, and under other circumstances I would have gone… and I would have LOVED it…
And I am looking forward to plenty of amazing games in the future :)

I’m a 5th year, and to be honest, I’ve noticed the change as well. I think the younger students just don’t care about UCLA sports that much. They seem just as happy with going to other events in LA, or having random get-togethers… To each his own, I guess…

It could have something to do with 4 wins last year and 6 or 7 this year. Along with five years of bad Dorrell football. Just a thought. And the 46,000 number is about what our fan base looks like. Stands were not filled out with the typical 20,000 free tickets we give to local high schools. Blame Guerrero, if you’re looking to toss around blame.

I was a student, so I can’t speak for today’s young people. But I can say that my friends and I loved sports and never missed a game. I also liked most of my classes and didn’t mind studying hard and doing papers, etc. So the poor attendance is as mysterious to me as wanting to follow some celebrity’s thoughts and activities on Twitter or fiddle-faddle or whatever it is called — completely incomprehensible. Nevertheless, I noticed that many of the people who have sat in our immediate area all year were absent yesterday — season-ticket holders, no less. Why? I don’t have a clue. Maybe they were already on the way to Grandma’s house. I can only say that I was puzzled and disappointed by the attendance, whatever the reason, and I think Nestor’s comments were completely justified.

When at UCLA I went to just one football game, along with at least 100 games of other sports on campus. Too many comments are understating the effort to get out there. Seriously – it’s really friggin hard to get there, and doubles the time commitment of an on-campus stadium. I didn’t have the time to spend 6-7 hours on a football game very often between homework and the obligatory late-90’s Internet start-ups. I didn’t see the difference until I went to my brother-in-law’s BC games – that’s a setup that would allow me to have gone to many more games. So give the students a break. It’s just really hard to get out there.

Personally, after graduating, the situation’s not much better. In half a dozen games, I’d say I’ve had one “positive” experience (not counting what happens on the field). Between getting lost finding my car after a night game, baking in the heat during a day game, sitting in the car for an hour waiting in line to park then another hour waiting to get out after the game, it’s still tough, so I support the other teams on campus more.

I have missed fewer than ten home football games since 1976. Although disappointed by the acres of empty seats yesterday, I have neither the hubris nor the desire to shame others into going. I go because win or lose, I enjoy supporting the Bruins in person. For those to whom winning is everything, going even to the “hopeless” games brings rewards. I treasure attending the improbable John Barnes Miracle and the impossible 13-9 win. For the rest of us, cheering for UCLA in person is reward enough. Those who skipped yesterday missed enjoying perfect football weather, saluting our graduating seniors, watching the best half-time show in memory, celebrating a big win and exhorting the team to beat SC next week. I hope your are fortunate enough to join us next year at the Rose Bowl.

On the one hand, I agree that the turnout yesterday, especially in the student section, was really embarassing. Yesterday was my last game at the Rose Bowl as a student. I’ve been in law school at UCLA for the past three years after graduating from UCLA in 07. Those of you that are in the practice of law know that the economy definitely had an effect on the industry and on job prospects for law students. So, starting law school in the fall of 2007 was not the best situation. My classmates and I busted our asses our first year of law school. Forget undergrad term papers and midterms. I studied and worked harder my first year of law school than I ever had in the past. Want to know how many home football games I missed that year? None. Want to know how many I have missed in the past three years? One, and only because my grandma passed away and I had to go to Atlanta for the funeral the weekend of the OSU game last year.

I don’t go to games because I think we are the best team ever and my decision to go is not affected by whether we are good or bad. I go because I love my school, I love football and I just dont think there is anything better to do on a Saturday afternoon than to go to the Rose Bowl and watch a Bruins game.

On the other hand, I am glad that some students decided to skip the game yesterday. I hate sitting in the student section, surrounded by 18 and 19 year old hipsters who have no idea what is going on in the game. They come into the game 5 mins after kickoff. They scream a little, do an 8 clap or two and then after the alcohol wears off, they sit there like zombies, complaining about the heat and talking about everything except for the game. I wish there were more students that care, but since there arent, I am glad the ones that dont choose not to come to the game.

but Khalil Bell just ran for 72 yards on his first ever carry!

As I recall (and it’s been a long time) all the football games were free and the bball games were a quarter each. We had to go to the Crapaseum for football and the Sports Arenema for b-ball my freshman year. I don’t remember what the attendance was, but I knew that it was a regular part of my week to go to every game, and that meant figuring out how to get from Westwood to south central.

There has to be a way to move students from point A to point B. The administration doing all it can to to limit attendance with those idiotic rules about spending a good portion of one’s disposable income on a ticket for a bus that leaves at an inconvenient time and which must be purchased an inconvenient number of days in advance. How’s this, administration – a free bus ride for every student and a free ticket for every student, and with busses shuttling back and forth all day long. Sure, it’s a big expense, but we have a big-time football program. What would the incremental cost be, anyway? And wouldn’t a few fund-raisers by the Bruin Bench raise enough money?

I think the school is absolutely wrong for making it impracticable if not impossible for every student to enjoy what should be a major portion of the student experience.

Current students – now is the time to present a rational, fact-based presentation to the administration to show how overall revenue will increase if students are given free tickets (you only get in by showing a reg card with a picture (and I assume there is some way to make reg cards foolproof) and free transportation (again, only kids with reg cards get on the bus.) More kids equals more concession sales, blah, blah, blah. More students getting the Bruin football bug means more alums actually buying tickets, etc. Be creative. But fiigure out a way to cause the school not to impede each student’s ability to participate in one of the greatest aspects of the university growing experience.

looking up from the lower student section and seeing that the upper student section wasn’t even half full. I have to say I agree with all the comments above: there really is not excuse for this many students to miss a game. In a school of nearly 27,000 undergrads, how is it that, at most, only 2000 of them (and I might be really generous with that number) show up.

The way I see it, I had an amazing UCLA sports weekend with victories @ Pauley and the Rose Bowl. I will be at the basketball game against Pepperdine and the football game at the Coliseum. The students that don’t go have missed out on an awesome experience. And the students that miss out in the future may be missing out something special (i.e. a victory over $c this weekend).

I know I will catch a lot of heat for this post, so let me preface it with a few statements. I believe no race is better than any other. I also believe no culture is better than any other. However, there are differences in races/cultures that instill different values and different interests into people. Also, to those attacking “stereotypes” or “generalizations”, I say this: there are two problems with stereotypes, 1) applying one to an individual person because they often do not fit, and 2) the stereotype about the group is FALSE. The first cannot apply because I am not speaking about and individuals, and anyone who attends ucla sports regularly will back up the 2nd is not a problem either.

I attended UCLA 04 to 08. I currently attend a law school in the SoCal area and attend all football games. The fanbase clearly got worse each year after I was a freshmen for football. I have a few theories as to why this is other than the obvious (we are bad for a long period)

One: as said above, as academic standards rise, we are getting less and less well rounded people and more book nerds.

Two: UCLA is becoming less “white”. I have no problem with this. However, it was clear from my four years that non-white students are less interested in UCLA sports. This went to my own non-white friends (about 50% of the friends i had). To those who question me, simply look at the numbers. When i was there, the official count was 33% white. Yet I look around at sports game, and 70%++ of the people are white.
Once again, this does not make white people better in any way, im just pointing out the obvious facts. Non-white students are less likely to have UCLA sports as a top interest. So as less and less white people get into UCLA, less and less kids are likely to care about sports. On a sidenote, non-white students are not necessarily less interested in sports in general. For example, many of my asian friends played pickup basketball way more than i could keep up with. Other sports also. However, when it comes to WATCHING UCLA sports, they just werent interested.

Once again, clearly this doesn’t apply to every student; I am only talking general numbers here. But this does have a noticeable effect.

As to basketball: All four years I was a student at UCLA the basketball section was great. My first year we rarely filled the upper tank, but the die hards down below were still great. While in football the alums may do a better job supporting the team, in basketball it is definitely flipped. The lower alumni section reminds me of the lower section at Lakers games. A bunch of rich looking dudes who cant be bothered to cheer. Quite sad usually. I remember often in pac 10 games with two minutes left and a chant "stand up’ going, we could not even get the lowest section people to stand in a two point game!!
Tydides points idea for attending games is awesome.

In summary: As far as football support: The UCLA student body is changing as the academics require get higher and higher. We must realize that will have effects on the sports support. We may not like it, but that how it is.

Also, The Den leaders are just as die hard as ever, I know a few, and do a wonderful job. The diehard Den sections are just as strong as ever, the problem is the secondary followers who dont show up.

That is also their rivalry game. Lazy or not, students still come our for the USC game every year. But, hey, I agree. I care about academics etc. and I am still a die hard fan. I love being part of the Bruin nation and feeling part of the school spirit etc. But apparently that isn’t the case with the majority anymore.

We made the trip from New Orleans for the game at the Rosebowl. It was my two sons first trip to a Bruin home game after seeing them play in sold out stadiums at Alabama, Tennessee & Notre Dame. They have also attended many games at LSU and have experienced incredible fanfare. Wow! Was I dissappointed to see an almost empty Rosebowl. I was really getting nervous when it looked like there were only 5,000 fans seated 5 minutes before kickoff. After the Bruins took two straight from the Washington schools, I was expecting a large crowd to keep the “MO” alive heading into the SC game. Well, it didnt turn out that way and it leaves me shaking my head. I hear the excuse that there is so much more to do in So Cal vs. the SEC schools, so they have nothing else to do on saturdays. Thats a cop out to me. Come on…….support your Bruins! None the less, my sons are huge Bruin fans and they enjoyed themselves with a huge win and were thankful for the extra leg room. We’ll be in Austin next year for the Longhorn game and HOPE to find tickets. Go Bruins!!