To 2010 UCLA Graduates: Let's Share Our Favorite Bruin Sports Memories

by truebluebruin24 on Jun 11, 2010 11:22 AM PDT

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

One year ago ago a thread like this went up on BN and it was very interesting to read what was the top 5 sports moments that people witnessed specifically during their time at UCLA. I have been looking forward to putting my thoughts together after 5 years here at UCLA. This was one of them:

Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez/US PRESSWIRE (via ESPN)

Being in the band has helped me to have certain experiences I otherwise wouldn't have had, and many of them can be found here. So for those of us graduating this weekend, what were the top 5 UCLA sports moments during your time here?

Posted mine after the jump.

#5: UCLA vs Arizona mens basketball, 2008: This game was gameday for ESPN. I remember getting to pauley at 4 or 5 am so the band could be part of the broadcast for gameday. There, one of the ESPN talking heads predicted that UCLA would lose to Arizona, and that that is just how it would be. No matter how much we booed him, he refused to think that UCLA would beat Arizona. Not only did we beat Arizona, we whooped them, and the fact that we made ESPN look so stupid made it all the more sweet.

#4: UCLA @ Tennessee football, 2009: The band got to take about 50 of us to Tennessee this year, and when i think about my two big football trips (notre dame and this), I was by far more excited for this game, and that was before I won. Walking into the stadium was definitely a major culture shock at how packed the stadium was, the unification of color, the fact that fans could be both classy and rabid in their support, how loud it got when the Tennessee band played rocky top, how things started off poorly for UCLA, how we came back, how we stopped them at the goal line, and how the team came over to celebrate with the band after we had won.

#3: 13-9, football 2006. Ok, i know most people are going to put this at the top of their list. But when i was a kid i saw a good portion of the 8 year winning streak, and we were winning almost the entire second half. Still, it has to go on my top 5 list. no one outside of westwood thought we would win this game, and when it was still close going into halftime, i knew we wouldn't buckle in the 2nd half. Everyone says that USC makes a run eventually, but that run never came, and 2 clutch stops in the 4th quarter preserved the win. Because it was senior day, one of the most vivid memories i have is the band senior crying during the senior ceremony right after because they got to see UCLA beat USC for their last game in the rosebowl. Of course, getting blowback from the teargas shot at the fans in my eyes wasn't so great.

#2: UCLA @ USC women's volleyball, 2009. Ok, so basketball and football are my two favorite sports, but when it comes to an individual game, the UCLA-USC womens volleyball game every year is my favorite, and it isn't even close. My first game in the band my freshman year was UCLA-USC volleyball and it set the tone for my 5 years. UCLA has had a habit of sweeping the trojans at pauley, and loosing on the road. In 2008, 35 of us from the band went to the Galen center only to watch our bruins fall in a heart break 5 set game. This year, 65 of us went, all with shirts provided by athletics, and blue shirts to swing around and distract USC, and once again were treated to a thrilling 5 set match, but this time UCLA came out on top. Between being louder than anyone in their stadium, seeing us win for the first time in the galen center, the crazy celebration that broke out in the stands afterwards, and the appreciation from our team being there, this was probably my most favorite individual game of my 5 years.

#1: The bay area miracles, 2005-2006. Ok ok, i'm cheating here and putting 3 moments, buy my freshman year, 3 times i went up to the bay area, and 3 times i was treated to a miraculous experience. First, a 7-0 UCLA football team traveled up to Stanford only to fall behind by 21 with 8 minutes left. I remember the despair in the band at that point, but what unfolded over the next 8 minutes and overtime is still one of the most amazing things i've ever seen, and those crappy first 52 minutes only made the ending that much more thrilling. My lucky freshman year continued in early march, when the womens basketball team headed up as the 3 seed to san jose for the womens pac-10 tournament. After rolling Cal in the first round, UCLA found itself in a tough struggle against 2 seed ASU, but pulled out a nail biting 1 point victory. In the championship game against 1 seed stanford in front of a packed stanford crowd, UCLA faced a 10 point deficit with only minutes remaining in the game. Sparked by a 4 point play by nikki blue, UCLA came back to force overtime and win the pac-10 tournament championship. It was stunning and so exciting to be a apart of that celebration. I wasn't gone from the bay area for long, as later that month i went up to oakland for the UCLA-Gonzaga game. I don't think i need to remind anyone of that moment (in fact, i still see myself everytime in the youtube video showing it from the band perspective, when the camera pans the band). What i remember most was from the time Luc made his shot to the about 30 seconds after the held ball call was made, it was deafening. The noise never stopped, everyone was jumping, screaming, hugging, yelling, it was crazy and it was madness.

Other moments I considered: UCLA-Cal football 2005, UCLA-USC womens basketball pac-10 tournament 2010, UCLA-NC st. womens basketball NCAA first round 2010, UCLA vs Cal/Stanford mens basketball 2008.

Now please share yours.

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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My Moments

This is tough. Trueblue, you and I have shared practically all of our moments in 5 years. Incredible. I have to add a 6th spot though.

#6-UCLA v USC at Galen center first year it was open-This was the only year the band got to go to Galen for the game, and Afflalo didn’t disappoint. Just a great game and loved that that is how we started the rivalry in Galen. Just fantastic.

#5-UCLA v. LSU 2006-We were pegged as underdogs by everyone going into this game. I remember going to all the media events with the band and all the SEC fans ganged up on us, and the talking heads wouldn’t shut up about Tyrus Thomas and Big Baby. Then we shut them up with a thorough dismantling of a good LSU team.
-Great story from that Tournament, at both the Gonzaga game and LSU game the band arrived incredibly early in the arena and got to see the opposing team warm up. During the Gonzaga warm-up we heckled Joey Dorsey constantly as he was warming up his free throw. Guy couldn’t hit two in a row to save his life. It got to the point where he changed ends of the court. His teammates even started laughing at him. We clearly had gotten his attention. We kept going in the game and he soon fouled out. Then for the LSU game we immediately started heckling Big Baby. Just hounded him through warm-ups then the game. He then fouled out too. Sadly we did not get to the Florida game early enough so I to this day claim that if we had been there early enough to heckle and so we lost. Damn.

4 – UCLA v. USC WBB at home 2010-It was just great to be there and shut up Cooper after the game at Galen. That thrashing was a thing of absolute beauty. Enough said on that.

#3-UCLA v. Tennessee 2009-That was just a great experience. To see what that atmosphere is just was incredible. Their fans were great. And to get that win, and have the team come over and recognize the band was just an added bonus. And plus, its just another thing to rub in Kiffin’s face. But trueblue really summed it up for me up top.

#2-13-9. ’Nuf said.

#1-UCLA v. Gonzaga 2006- Being courtside with the band for that game was just other worldly. I don’t think I will ever get to experience something that jaw-droppingly amazing again. The noise level in that building probably broke a couple hearing aids. And the steal and bucket were on our end of the floor which made it even better. If you’ve ever watched the youtube of it that is titled something like UCLA Comeback from the Band Section, that video was taken by my roommate who was sitting next to me at the time. I had my arm around him the whole time he was filming. Just incredible.

There were so many other moments I could have picked. Both the womens tourney’s I attended. Most womens games were amazing, especially the ones where I clearly got into a players head by heckling. Loved it when they acknowledged me and my heckles. Heh, facebook provided so much taunting.

by bruintrumpet on Jun 11, 2010 11:02 AM PDT reply actions

Thanks for posting this trueblue

8. Cal vs. UCLA (Football, 2007)
Cal came in as the #9 team in the nation, and we were underachieving as we usually did under Dorrell. It was a tight game all the way through, and we really never knew who was going to win, until ATV iced it with a pick 6 in the last minute.

7. Washington vs. UCLA (Basketball, 2010)
Yes, the Mustafa-Abdul Hamid buzzer beater. And yes, in the euphoria following I found myself being pushed towards the court by the den while simultaneously being pushed back by a security guard. While our celebration was certainly the source of some consternation here, the moment itself was incredible. The perfect storm of a frustrating team, in the midst of a season with no hope (even though I always somehow ended up believing we has a chance even though I knew better) somehow hanging with a much better, yet also strangely underachieving team, and the walk-on who earned a scholarship and exemplified everything it meant to be a Bruin. It was a perfect moment.

6. SUC* vs. UCLA (Basketball, 2009)
This was football signing day. It was CRN’s first true class, and he had just orchestrated an incredible closing day. We blew out SUC, CRN spoke at halftime, and it was just a great day to be a Bruin.

5. Arizona vs. UCLA (Basketball, 2008)
This was ESPN College Gameday. We camped out all day Friday, then woke up around 4 Saturday morning to clean up the camp out, make public service signs informing everyone that Tim Floyd beat his children, and that our IM basketball league was more competitive than Conference USA. It was all just so much fun, and then we followed it up with a classic beat down of the Kevin O’Neill coached Mildcats. Here’s to some more O’Neill beat downs in the near future.

4. Stanford/Cal weekend (Basketball, 2008)
We had an incredible comeback to beat Stanford in overtime and clinch the Pac-10 title on the last weekend of the season (thanks in part to some heart-stopping Russell Westbrook free throws). On Saturday we were supposed to walk all over Cal on senior day. This didn’t appear to be the case all game as we were getting killed all game, but a frenetic comeback in the last minute, capped off with a Kevin Love miracle three pointer, stolen inbounds pass, and Josh Shipp’s infamous over-the-backboard-shot. That weekend probably took a couple years off of my life thanks to the stress from those two games.

3. Tennessee vs. UCLA (Football, 2008)
Crn’s first game. Kevin Craft shook off 4 first half interceptions, and turned into Joe Montana in the second half. We had a huge comeback and beat Tennessee in the only overtime football game I’ve ever been to. It was also before we knew just how bad our team actually was that year (we’d certainly find out the next weekend), and the optimism was flowing. Truly an incredible game, capped off with postgame fireworks.

2. 13-9
To borrow from bruintrumpet, ’nuff said.

1. Stanford vs. UCLA (Basketball, 2009)
We were riding a huge win streak, crushing USC, Cal, and Notre Dame, and this game was no different. This isn’t on top just because we reminded the Cardinal how truly inferior they really are to us Bruins, this is number one because we honored either our ‘68 or ’69 championship team at halftime, and I got to hear Coach speak for the only time in my life. I don’t remember exactly what he said (my memory is not nearly as good as his), but of all of my experiences at the Greatest University in the Galaxy, this is the one that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

We're havin' too much fun today. We ain't thinkin' 'bout tomorrow.

by Steve Bruin on Jun 11, 2010 11:42 AM PDT reply actions

In response to #4 on your list

That weekend also holds an incredible amount of importance to me. As that is the weekend that my wife and I got engaged. I was buying the ring as the Cal game went down. I sat in my car while they sized it and heard the ending of the game. Incredible weekend.

by bruintrumpet on Jun 11, 2010 2:02 PM PDT up reply actions

I want to echo something TrueBlue said

Walking into the stadium was definitely a major culture shock at how packed the stadium was, the unification of color, the fact that fans could be both classy and rabid in their support

I want to add that I was sincerely touched when the Tennessee band played our fight song before the game. The Volunteers I was with told me that do that for all the visiting team. That is a classy group of people over there in Knoxville.

The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden

by MexiBruin on Jun 11, 2010 11:58 AM PDT reply actions