Bruin Pride: A Call to Arms - Burn Down Troy
by andrewsm78 on Dec 3, 2010 9:24 AM PST
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PrintBumped. Let's do this Bruins. DESTROY TROY. - BN
We’re almost 24 48 hours away from the annual show down with the cheating SUCsters, and I have to admit that I’m concerned. I’m not necessarily concerned about our on field performance. God knows we’ve seen some disheartening athletic displays over the past decade. However, I always find myself hopeful before kickoff. The days and hours before kickoff retain the endless possibility of a blank canvas. Any number of things could happen, so I choose to focus on everything that could go right.
What has me brooding is how the Rose Bowl will look when I step out of the entry tunnel on Saturday night. I have no idea what Bruin team will show up, but I am afraid I know what crowd will. I have already heard older Bruins say they are staying home due to the late start time. Others have given up after the last two on field debacles. I shudder to think of what I will encounter this weekend.
For too many years I have sat and watched as red-shirted buffoon after red-shirted buffoon has paraded their way past, in front of or next to me, settling into Bruin season ticket seats. The retarded band strikes up its two-note abortion of a fight song and a sea of hands go up with two fingers extended – proudly displaying their owner’s IQ. The teams take the field and the Bruin crowd half-heartedly applauds, only to be drowned out by the undesirables littering the stadium. It makes me fume.
I know the issue of attendance has been covered in detail here on BN, with many arguments tying butts-in-seats to on-field performance and the abundance of entertainment options in Los Angeles. However, every year this game highlights one of the biggest weaknesses of the UCLA support base – apathy.
The reality is that die-hard Bruins are painfully few and far between. Those who bleed Blue and Gold are an endangered species that abound in refuges like BN, but are unfortunately outnumbered at Pauley and the Rose Bowl. I look at what it means to be a Bruin and I am baffled by the lack of fervent support. I recently attended the Texas A&M vs. Nebraska game. From the opening kickoff to the final gun, no one sat down – students and alumni alike. You don’t think this influenced the game? A crowd can change a game and even will a team to victory, but it has to care. It has to support its team with its whole heart.
I get UCLA fans’ frustration, but I don’t understand the absence of passion from our alumni and students. Through thick and thin we are all Bruins, with a common heritage that cannot be stripped away by athletic disappointments.
I am a Bruin. I am proud of my university. I am proud of my degree. I am proud of the tradition and heritage that this institution embodies. I am proud of all of its athletic teams.
My years in Westwood made me a part of a large Bruin family with an unrivaled history of honor and success. My Alma Mater is known far and wide as a distinguished institution, from the U.S. East Coast, to Europe, to Asia. She is associated with legendary names like John Wooden, Jackie Robinson and Arthur Ashe – people of great athletic prowess, but more importantly people of remarkable character and social merit.
I am proud to be a Bruin – always. I’m proud after amazing comebacks like the 2006 Gonzaga game and thrilling battles like 13-9. I’m also proud after 2005’s 66-19 and the 2009-2010 basketball season. I am a Bruin. Through thick and thin I support this university and its teams. I will stand in the rain to watch them play. I will stay as the last seconds tick off the clock in a blowout defeat. I will always be there for those who don the blue and gold and bear those four letters across their chests.
We are all Bruins, and should show our pride and support our teams to the end – whether they’ve won, loss or tied. This is why I don’t buy poor performances and alternate entertainment options as excuses for light attendance or reduced support. We should all be burning with passion for this university regardless of records. It can be frustrating. It can be heartbreaking. It can also be joyous and amazing. Call it school pride. Call it a passion bucket. Call it anything you like. It should never be absent or empty.
Win or lose, we are the Mighty Bruins. We are pioneers and barrier breakers, not cheaters and double murderers. Wear your blue. Shout your lungs out. Cheer for this team and all other UCLA teams like they’re undefeated because, no matter what the scoreboard says, no one can beat this university.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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Like you,
I’m worried about the attendance. I know I’ll be in my seat, cheering like crazy from start to finish. I have no clue what the rest of the Rose Bowl will look like. Hopefully Bruin fans will realize the importance of this game, show up, scream all night long and try to will the team to a victory.
We can’t let those morons take over the stadium in that awful color. It just can’t happen.
Latest from Weather.gov
Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 70. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52.
Yeah it’s going to be a nice, but cool night. Getting there at 6:00am with my crew
by bruinhopeful on Dec 3, 2010 10:17 AM PST up reply actions
Let's Go!!
I have my Bruin Polo Shirt Ironed and ready to wear. I think i’m going to also use my UCLA Basketball shoes, I have never worn them before and I think this will be the perfect occasion to be all Blue and Gold (Mostly Baby Blue). OT… Just spotted an article on the Kansas Game for tonight on the WWL, I love how CBH is showing our players videos of RW, AA, DC and LRM on how to play defense. There is nothing more true in my mind when I think of how personally these guys felt about getting beat on defense.
Valid Concern!
You know…. there are always two kind of fans for every sport team. Our fans are no diffrent. You got the ones who every saturday sport their UCLA gear to the neck. And depending on the outcome that saturday (win or loss) will dictate if they wear any gear at all that next Sunday.
On a side note if u noticed though, for example at the coliseum all the seating is that period blood red color where it blends in with the fans who are wearing the same similar color. Maybe the Rose Bowl needs a paint job! (unlikley though) LOL
Attendance
I agree with the general theme of the post however, you have to look at the circumstances. There are really no casual UCLA fans left and even the hardcore fans are beginning to become alienated. I suffered over the last four years of UCLA football, including an apathetic senior day last fall against asu. This isn’t college station, texas or nebraska where there is nothing else to do.
Since Cade left Westwood, UCLA has not put forward a team we can be really proud of. Every year we enter with hope and are disappointed. Every year we say it’ll be better next year, but it never is. Without aberration of the 2005-06, this team has been 500 or worse for ten years with no obvious sign of improvement. We haven’t been able to recruit a decent qb in Socal for 12 years! The casual fans will show up when there is some sign of success. The passionate fans will become cynical and loose faith. We need a decent team to beget decent fan interest in LA or CA.
Though I will be in Norcal this weekend, I will be at the rosebowl in spirit, and supporting UCLA Forever.
Go Bruins!
Respectfully disagree about the circumstances...
The point of my post, and the source of my frustrations, is that there shouldn’t really be casual UCLA fans. It shouldn’t matter what the product is on the field. UCLA students and alumni should be passionate about their school for everything it embodies. I don’t care if this isn’t College Station, Austin or Lincoln.
We have just as much to be proud of and no excuse for not consistently showing that pride. Granted a Rose Bowl sellout of 91,000 each game is unrealistic. What isn’t unrealistic is for a sizable crowd that cares. The numbers may fluctuate, but the passion shouldn’t.
Some may not take pride in a given iteration of our team, but we should always be proud of our school and the teams that represent it. We should always show that pride in our staunch support — win or lose.
How hard is it to sack up and say I love my school, even if it’s teams aren’t winning. We talk about a “culture of softness” surrounding the football team, but the reality is there is a culture of softness surrounding much of our fan base. How can any Bruin be apathetic towards this school and the student athletes that represent it?
I don’t want casual fans. UCLA students and alumni shouldn’t be casual in any sense of the word. It’s a pipe dream, I know, but it’s my dream.
I understand your point of view, but, as an alum, our students are not the most prideful bunch. We cannot consistently fill the student section. I espouse the neccesity for students to be proud to be members of the UCLA community. But in the end, there are many who view UCLA as just a school and not a culture.
Andrew, I agree with your points in principal. Students and Alumni should take that pride, but somehow they don’t. I am always proud to be a bruin, and proud follower of UCLA athletics. In the end, for fan enthusiasm there needs to be occasionally a good product on the field. The most frustrating as a fan is a team that half asses their way through the practice/games and that aren’t in the game before it starts.
I agree to that ideal of a UCLA fan/alumnus
but it is exactly that—an ideal. It exists very rarely, almost never. The problem begins at the student level. Because this is a well rounded university, it means there are students here who don’t just want to watch our great sports. Certainly, our sporting excellence helped make my decision, but for a large proportion of the population, that just isn’t true.
Okay, so they aren’t here to watch sports, but they should be able to spare a Saturday to watch Pac-10 football, right? Well, unfortunately, students love to study. The nature of the quarter system is that students feel behind, all the time. It is rare that students have weekends to spare, in their own estimation. So, for students who wouldn’t watch a sporting event if it weren’t tied to the school they attend, it really takes something to get them out of their dorm/apartment and to the stadium.
Adding to that unfortunate situation is this: this is 10th week, meaning next week is finals week. This is the last weekend before students REALLY freak out. Convincing a bunch of non-sports fans that their best option is to head to the Rose Bowl on Saturday? Like you said, a pipe dream.
by Captain Leebeard on Dec 2, 2010 9:43 PM PST up reply actions
Am I the only person
who studied no earlier than two days prior to a midterm or final? Students must realize that they have their whole lives to be bogged down and oppressed by workloads; that’s what jobs are for. Someone tell them that they will have only so many opportunities to enjoy day-long pick nicks surrounded by thousands of their peers. Tell them that the memories of those festivities will last longer than any potential negative repercussions of missing a day of studying. Life is what happens to you while your busy making other plans. When I see an empty student section at the Rose Bowl or Pauley I think to myself “college is wasted on the studious.”
by LVBruin on Dec 3, 2010 10:55 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
They don't care.
The students I talk to at College Fairs now, the ones that love sports tell me that they don’t think they’ll get into UCLA. The numbers nowadays are insane, and they don’t want to apply if they have no chance. I encourage them to apply anyways.
The ones that are crazy, they are spouting off GPA/SAT scores to me, and I almost want to tell them to back up a second, college isn’t just about getting into grad school or landing some fantastic engineering job when you’re out. There’s also an EXPERIENCE there. It’s hard getting the point across, as hard as I try. They only have tunnel vision only towards the future, egged on by their parents, with no time to live in the present. They’ve lived in a world of studying, extra curriculars that will help their applications, and more studying.
I want to break the cycle. They’re impressed that it’s alums answering questions, but it’s a lot of “well what can UCLA do for me?” I want to shake some of them and ask them what do you think you could do for UCLA to keep it’s reputation as an elite academic institution along with an excellent athletics program?
Of course winning helps.
(and some of my best memories are cramming the night before a final! Watching people take ill advised shots the night before a final! Me holed up in YRL trying to study? Yeah I try to forget those memories.)
I will admit
that I was the only person in my high school with a 4.0+ GPA , a 1400+ SAT, and multiple sports letters on my Letterman’s jacket. Maybe the twain don’t meet enough to fill up the student section of the RB : )
Not having an on campus stadium....
Not having an on campus stadium really hurts us. For a student to attend a game he/she must dedicate almost a whole day to attending a game at the Rose Bowl. I’ve attended games at schools with on campus stadiums and its a different atmoshpere.
Students can stud almost till game time and then take time off for the game. Then they eith walk back to where they are living or go somewhere to eat and then back to study.
Our students sacrafice a whole day going to the Rose Bowl or they shine it on. If they forego attending games they don’t develope that pride and sense of community that being in a stadium of 50-80 thousand screaming Bruins developes.
I agree
I went to Cal earlier this year for the UCLA-Cal game and I was blown away by the game day atmosphere. I’ve never witnessed anything like it, even with all the tailgating at the Rose Bowl. The environment is something UCLA will never have unfortunately due to the lack of an on campus stadium.
As a current student, I will be going to the game, but I did have plan ahead to go to this game. For instance, I needed to schedule my classes this quarter in order that I have finals on days that were not close to Saturday. In other words, I opted to take less interesting/harder classes this quarter instead of the classes I really wanted just so I can watch the game. A lot of my friends criticized me for this and chastised me for having a lack of priorities in life. For me though, I see this as a once in a lifetime opportunity. For one, I did not go to the game my freshman year because it also fell on the weekend before finals week and I had a chemistry final on Sunday. I went to the game last year at the Coliseum, but that’s not the same as being at home. This is my only opportunity in my life to watch the rivalry game at the Rose Bowl in the student section as a current student (next year the game will be at the Coliseum again, so yeah).
In response to freesia39, I agree to an extent that many students simply don’t care about UCLA athletics. Unfortunately, that is the culture on campus in the present. The majority of students did not come to UCLA for the “college experience,” but simply because it’s a top notch academic school and provide great opportunities. When I tell people I wanted to come to a school like UCLA because it offered a balance of academics and sports, people have looked down on me for having a lack of priorities. From my personal experience, i can tell you that my friends would prefer going to an on campus Bill Gates guest speaker lecture than watch UCLA football play in the BCS title game for free.
Another contribution to student apathy is the lack of success in UCLA football. If you look at UCLA basketball during the Final Four years, it was difficult for students to get tickets and seats. The only way to get basketball tickets was via lottery and in order to sit in the Den section, you needed to line up at Pauley at 6 AM to get vouchers. When UCLA basketball slumped, people were no longer attending games. As a result, the Den pass was created and now anybody that buys a Den pass can attend basketball games; no lottery needed. In addition, it is significantly easier to sit in the Den section now. I literally went to the game 40 minutes before tip off and I got to sit in the Den.
What I’m trying to say is, the UCLA student body is not likely going to be very excited to watch our athletic teams if they don’t win. Unfortunately, that’s the attitude of casual fans. There will always be die hards like all of us on BN, but the majority of students are not die hards and will only watch games when UCLA is winning.
On the Up-turn
Agree or not there is a COMPLETE solution to this problem. It’d called W I N N I N G…starting Saturday !!
In the heyday 1980 and 1990’s even a match-up with a losing opponent garnered 65-70,000 fans…and games with attendance better than 80,000 were common place.
This will turn around…maybe not soon enough for any of us but it will. We will find the right combination of coaching and talent and the attendance and enthusiasm will follow.
"I agree with the general theme of the post however, you have to look at the circumstances. There are really no casual UCLA fans left and even the hardcore fans are beginning to become alienated."
Yep.
by GemCityBruin on Dec 3, 2010 10:21 AM PST up reply actions
ahem...i beg to differ...
“The passionate fans will become cynical and loose faith. We need a decent team to beget decent fan interest in LA or CA.”
the passionate fans are fans through thick and thin, decent team or not. you stand all game and cheer, even if the team is losing. I love chanting “move those chains” at the game when we get a first down. football is a game of inches, and the 12 man is good for some of those inches…
+1
I am a lifetime Alumnus and my wife is a lifetime alumnus of Kansas State and I must say, from my experience, K-State alumni are more fanatical and devoted to their school then our alumni seem to be. Since my wife is a major mucky mucky with KSU’s alumni, I have seen first hand how their alumni comapre to our alumni. She was the head of the KSU Alumni chapter in Richmond, VA and I say what a devoted group they are.
K-State has major alumni chapters all over the country. Except for California and a few major cities around the country, UCLA has few alumni groups. I’m not sure what percentage of our alumni belong to the Alumni Association, but I’m sure membership could be use alot more members.
We’re just a laid back group of Alumni that don’t seem to get very passionate about opur school unless it’s in contrast to U$C, then we are the un-trogans. I had season’s tickets to the Rose Bowl for 20 years and I can only remember a few times we we made enough noise that the opposing team had to call a time out.
Since I live in the wilds of No. Cal now I am relegated to watching games on TV. Come this Saturday night I want to hear the UCLA fans make so much noise that the broadcasters can’t blot it out. I want to hear the chant SC Sucks so loud and clear that even Petros, the Trogan, can’t drown it out with his blater!
I'll be there with about 20 of my good friends...
getting good and drunk before the game and going nuts in the Rose Bowl. I absolutely love night games as they afford some great tailgating and the appropriate mid-afternoon time and are just incredible to watch with the lights shining on the field. Win or lose, this should be fun.
GO BRUINS!
The video gave me chills and tears. Awesome!
I will be there at the RB busting my lungs out, as usual. According to Colin Cowherd that makes me a sucker, a fan who supports his team win or lose, thus enabling a weak administration that gets my money even when I am unhappy with the coaches and the product on the field.
I disagree, of course. I will always support my teams, young men and women who wear my schools colors proudly win or lose, who sacrifice their bodies and effort, and give it their all so an older fart like me can feel the vicarious thrill of their athletic competition and, in a small way, relive my own lost youth.
We can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can bitch about the coaches, when appropriate, and still bleed Blue and Gold to beat down the arrogant, puerile Trogans of this world.
GO BRUINS! BEAT SUC!
Cowturd
represents all that is wrong with sports these days. I have to change the dial when he is on.
by BruinFanGA on Dec 3, 2010 11:27 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Dude, I got chills reading this!
Damn right we are Mighty Bruins no matter what.
Awesome video...thanks for posting it...
…it’s the rose bowl man…we may be the only major football program who has to travel over 25 miles to see our own team play…and for some of us that is not an easy thing to do week in and week out…at most i usually attend 2 or 3 games a year…i know we will never have the stadium of our dreams at UCLA…and that holds many students back as well…the rose bowl was always a once a year thing if possible, but now it is a weekly affair and no matter how much i love UCLA i stil can only get there every so often…sad…
Famous UCLA Grads.
Francis Ford Coppola, Oscar winning director of the “Godfather” films and “Apocalypse Now”, former Mayor of LA, Tom Bradley, Current LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Carol Burnett, Lloyd and Beau Bridges, TV star Mark Harmon,Geo Takai, original cast of Star Trek,Ben Stiller,Tim Robbins, Jack Black, composer John Williams, Jim Morrison, composer James Horner, Avatar, John w Henry, owner of the Red Sox, Troy Aikman NFL QB, Vincent Bugliosi, DA who prosecuted Manson. This is just a drop in the bucket. Great U. Great teams.
OUR SUN WILL RISE AGAIN.
Last years south central UCLA game.
Last night prime ticket showed last years game & the thing that made my blood boil was watching that piece of sh@# Carroll happy & that little bitch Barkley laughing at us!! Payback has to happen tomorrow night! No ifs and or buts! We must be there & we must be loud whenever the scumbags have the ball. The wind blows for free, just like all of the players & fans of south central! GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
$C Joke.
What number was bet on in Vegas and lost?
#32.
For some reason
when i read the headline, i thought it was litteraly asking us to go burn down sc. lmao I’m a little to amp’d up for the game tomorrow.
Great video! GOOOOOO BRUINS!
Flying down from the Bay tomorrow morning, can’t wait.
GO BRUINS!
BEAT SC!
That was . . .
AWESOME!!!
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
Everybody, I want you to meet my twin.
Ivan, everybody. Everybody, Ivan.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
OUTSTANDING!
’nuff said. Beat ’em up tomorrow. Remember the Garbage time Bomb!
The Mad Bruin
We need more of this kind of enthusiasm and support from all parts of UCLA
When I went to school at UCLA a few years ago I noticed how disorganized and utterly pathetic the university was at fostering athletic spirit in the student body. For all the talk about having a campus on the stadium…what about basketball? I was a senior during our Cinderella Tourney Run in 2005; but even during that epic and amazing season Pauley was often empty.
Responding to the many posts about how people shouldn’t be fairweather fans…that’s a fantasy. No sports franchise in any sport has fans who stay committed when the product is horrible. UCLA football has been pretty dismal for the last ten years (and I’ve had season tickets for most of those years). I’ve gone to games regardless. Maybe it’s because I was in a fraternity and my fondest memories were rallying at 9AM for a tailgate at the Rose Bowl. But as a transfer student in the dorms – the Office of Residential Life did little to get people to come out to games and foster a spirited atmosphere. From what I’ve heard from friends and family who attended UCLA in the past few years – their doesn’t seem to be much of a passion for athletics because the university isn’t supporting an environment conducive and friendly to passionate fans (look at the joke that is currently the Bear Patrol during Rivalry Week).
The administration continues to destroy awesome traditions like the midnight yell during finals; trying to close down the undie run, or even dampen SPIRIT WEEK during week 10 because they are so concerned with the inability of the student body to manage their time!? It’s utterly ridiculous…I think it’s time for the UCLA administration to stop with the doublespeak. Support our amazing athletic program by encouraging the ENTIRE student body to support it. I will be in attendance tomorrow. Go Bruins!
Office of Residential Life has to be held accountable
It’s been chronicled time and time again, but the UCLA Administration has to be held accountable for the apathy of the students and alumni. I’d like to focus on just one of many failures of the UCLA departments that is not stepping up to the game and helping to instill Bruin pride and identity in the students (and consequently, the alumni):
The Office of Residential Life. I blame the Office of Residential Life for doing little other than slapping up a hand draw poster or two around the dorms to get students excited and motivated to go to a game. I hear from alumni of other universities about all that is done for students living on campus to get them to turn out and be excited for games, and I ask why aren’t we doing the same. Tangible action items: Partnering with UCLA-Athletics and CTO to get cheap/free student tickets, holding official dorm rallies in the dorm cafeterias where all students show up anyways, organizing more outreach about buses to and from the Rose Bowl, getting RA’s to come out to games and organizing small floor-tailgates at the Rose Bowl during the day, giving out free attire regarding Beat SC Week (UCLA students love their free T-shirts).
I love UCLA. I hate the Administration that runs it.
They put posters up?
The most I’ve ever seen from ORL is an on campus watch party for the home game on move-in weekend. In my experience there is almost no effort made to get UCLA students interested in UCLA athletics beyond sending the flyer for den tickets each summer and putting up a few sandwich boards on bruinwalk.
by SuperBruinMan on Dec 4, 2010 4:01 PM PST up reply actions
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