#SFatPauley: Den Leader Thinks His Chosen Elite Should Decide Future Seating for all Future Bruins
by Bellerophon on May 1, 2011 10:34 AM PDT
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PrintIf you've been following BN, you already know that the student leaders who took Guerrero's 30 silver pieces to sell out the student body have caught a lot of flak and have been openly called our for selling-out. Well, things got a bit more interesting.
Recently, the Daily Bruin rolled out another soft, puff piece that failed to ask Morgan Center's lying scumbag Mark Harlan any hard questions, despite the obvious contradictions, lies, and misinformation he was putting out on the record. However, in that puff piece, the Daily Pravda Bruin, among other gems, was this one:
Den President Elan Bigknife said he is shocked that a vote to gauge student response to the change in seating was proposed, because students have not spoken up about their disappointment.
He added that he is concerned that students will be voting on the measure out of context, with the only information coming from the ballot. Athletics’ marketing targeted student ticket holders – those who are going to the games and therefore actually affected by the changes made to their seats, Bigknife said.
Hmm, so it sounds like these Den leaders are of the opinion that only him and his hand-picked crew should get to decide where the student section is. And not just for this upcoming season or two, but for decades to come. These Den elite think they should have the lone say in a decision that will impact thousands of current UCLA students and hundreds of thousands of future UCLA students.
Student input from the entire campus? Free and fair vote? Democracy?
Naw, Comrade Bigknife says not necessary: him and his boys should get to decide. The rest of you? You're not worthy enough to have an input. After all, these are the same guys, who with lying scumbag Mark Harlan, tried to push the mantra that "the students wanted to be put behind the basket" based on their cooked data and claims that "7,000" students were surveyed (read: actually 700).
Hopefully the students aren't listening to the lame, Morgan Center backed talking points from these Den "leaders" who are in full Stockholm Syndrome mode.
Maybe, just maybe, Bigknife and his Stockholm-ed buddies will take a step back and realize they've been used by Dan G. like a cheap condom and resume the fight to have a unified student section that keeps students on the sidelines, like it has been since Coach's days.
GO BRUINS.
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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Ashamed
When did The Den people become such self-serving assholes? Elan is too busy thinking about himself and how his access would be affected to care about what the greater student body thinks. I understand that he thinks he’s special because he’s The Den president. Congratulations. You sleep out and are one of the diehards. Of course, if the student section was only open to diehards, there would be about 15 people in attendance. I shouldn’t be surprised because before there was a formal Den club hierarchy, those people who ran the list at Pauley still thought they were top of the pops and special above and beyond the rest of the students. Elan’s willingness to be a puppet for the administration is pretty embarrassing, quite frankly.
Every underhanded regime needs a Quisling
And every group has someone willing to sell out their own kind for their own personal gain.
That being said, Bigknife still has an opportunity to do the right thing: to be a real leader and get behind the push to get students their rightful sideline seats at Pauley back.
Yes
Bigknife still has time. He can come out this week asking students to vote to stop this and admit his mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. Stuff happens. It is how folks deal with the mistakes that give us a good view on their character makeup. Hope Mr. Bigknife can come around.
Somehow this whole affair with the Den made recall a pretty famous line: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
Brother Bigknife, bear in mind that when you go look for a real job, your resume may be reviewed by someone who is a citizen of the Bruins Nation. Unless someone is looking for a a gutless wonder, you may be pounding the streets for a long time.
(That is, of course, assuming you haven’t already been promised a job on the Morgan Center payroll. And if that’s so, be very careful. Why would you think that Morgan Center wouldn’t stab you in the back just like it (and you) have stabbed all current and future students in the back?)
I think I am anticipating the results of the student vote with more hope and dread
than any UCLA sporting event in the past year. Sure, I really really wanted to beat SC. (thanks, Rick) and I really really wanted to beat Washington and Arizona in basketball. (1 in 4? Really Ben?) But, these were single games with single season ramifications.
The vote, the margin of victory or defeat, even the number of student turnout can have long term effects that will be felt for years, decades and generations to come.
I am appalled that even after this question was placed on the ballot, the Morgan Center and their shills are toeing the party line.
Come on Bruins! Make us proud!
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
with all due respect,
As a student myself, it is hard to read the vitriol directed towards the students who do not agree with BN. I am completely behind the movement to keep the seating on the sidelines, don’t get me wrong, however it is disappointing how the Den is being represented here. In the Den meetings we had with the Morgan center the point was made to us that it was happening and what our thoughts were on the change. It was expressed by us (the Den) that it wasn’t ideal and it was a situation that we would not personally appreciate (our half court seats were prized and we camped out for a reason.) yet if it was shown that having a unified student section would win games we would be unfortunately okay with it.
I’m sorry if my views don’t reflect BN, and regardless of what happens I am a UCLA Bruin forever. I would attend games with my eyes closed if it meant we would win more.
To blame Elan for this is an easy out, and I’m sorry to say that it is completely a financial decision. You compare a student who pays 100 dollars for both football and basketball, to someone who will donated 25K a year plus pay 2K per season of each, and it means that the student will be discarded in every instance. Elan is simply a student who gets quoted in the Daily Bruin, because of his standing and he is entitled to his opinion. It doesn’t reflect the opinion of everyone else, but it is still his opinion, and if he is asked for a quote he is entitled to say it.
Elan’s point here has some validity in that there were 10,000 season passes purchased and yet it was a struggle to get 900 students to games, so for the students to be suddenly interested in this issue is partially hypocritical. It is good they are interested, because Half court is very important, however you have to be concerned if the voters do not have context, because the wording of the ballot could be even worse than the one the morgan center put out. (You never know)
These are just my 2 cents, and I’m sorry if you do not agree.
"If you don't have the time to do it right the first time, where will you find the time to do it again the second time?"-Wooden
The financial argument has already been ripped to shreds
So that reasoning does not have any merit.
We have stated above Elan made a mistake. He can make up for it by admitting it. But to continue to justify a mistake by pointing to arguments that have been thoroughly does not help your care.
Moreover, there is no facts and statistics that back up the claim that an “unified” section wins games. So don’t make arguments just based on talking points fed to you by Morgan Center.
I'm sorry
but you have missed my point in this. I must not have expressed it very clearly. I’m saying that we had a meeting as the Den with the Morgan Center, however we did not have much say, and it was told to us that we would have a better chance of winning with a unified student section. Begrudgingly, we said okay, (as I expressed that we would be willing to give up our seats if it meant we would win more, which we were told would happen)
I am not defending Elan’s argument, I was merely being the devil’s advocate to objectively say what he was trying to say. I am on the viewpoint that I would like the seating to remain as it has always been.
"If you don't have the time to do it right the first time, where will you find the time to do it again the second time?"-Wooden
Right
I understood what you wrote and that is why I made the point that the Den Leaders could have raised hell and come to us for help. They never did. Instead they went along with the bad decisions and then justified them by using talking points that were debunked as lies.
As I said there is time for redemption. We hope you will help us get the word out, instead of tying up this community by complaining about tone and how we moderate this place. Thanks.
You proved my point
You’re telling us, from your personal observations, what we have long suspected to be true: that this decision was forced on the students; that Morgan Center “met” with and “discussed” this change with student “leaders” and then used those same “leaders” in a Machiavellian move to make this appear to have some legitimacy, when in reality, all it was a financially motivated screw job by Morgan Center.
Achilles is right: when you guys were told to bend over and take it, you should have told lying scumbag Mark Harlan to f**k off and raised hell. As you’ve seen on BN, you would have had tons of support in taking the fight to the visionless bureaucrats in Morgan Center.
Also, my biggest criticism of Elan...
…is his continued support for this obviously flawed plan to move the students to the baseline. It’s been ripped to shreds time and time again and Jasmine Hill is at least appearing to shift away from defending the decision through this USAC vote, whereas Elan continues to play the part of Morgan Center’s Quisling, offering up weak defenses of an idiotic plan that make him sound like he’s got a hardcore case of Stockholm Syndrome.
All that being said, there’s still time for Elan to get redemption, join the other students, alums, and fans who are pushing back against Morgan Center and show true leadership.
by Bellerophon on May 1, 2011 8:10 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Agree 100%
Elan is still saying trying to say the shafting of the students was a second rate burglary. He needs to stand up and say that he was fooled. We have all been fooled in our lives. No one would think less of him if he confessed error. Then he needs to say that to Morgan Center, and tell them that they have the power to do whatever they want to the students, including banning them from Pauley altogether, but that they cannot do so claiming that the Den supports the decision.
It’s time for Mr. Bigknife to grow up. At least that’s my opinion.
This is a learning opportunity
and I mean that sincerely.
What is important in this process is honesty and straightforwardness. From your description of the meetings, the Morgan Center is not being honest in its account of how it got the Den’s support. Further, the Morgan Center has never made the financial argument (which we all know is the real reason for doing this), they have created a deception about a unified seating structure.
Bigknife needs to do the following as the leader of the den:
1) State why he thinks it is better to move the courtside students to behind the basket and what facts he is using to come to that conclusion
2) State what evidence/facts were presented in the meeting with the Morgan Center that led to the original decision to support the move.
That’s all. As a leader, he needs to make a decision on what he thinks is best for the students he represents and stand by it, own it, and be able to defend it with transparency.
by silverlakebruin on May 4, 2011 8:58 AM PDT up reply actions
Also as has been pointed out before
You guys made a huge mistake by not voicing opposition and standing up to Morgan Center when they tried to shove two bad options down your throats. You guys could have raised hell and communicate directly with us and use this community to rally all of us. Clearly we are capable of doing it here. Instead you just went with a bad choice and then justified it using their talking points which were proven to be full of you know what.
When we learned of it, we systematically debunked all the arguments. Now instead of just admitting a bad mistake was made, you are offering same old arguments and just complaining about tone. It makes you look bad and it also makes you look out of touch with so many other students who have spoken up against this ordeal online.
Clearly, what we have been doing here has had more impact what happened months ago when Morgan Center sold you a bill of goods and you fell for it.
We have nothing against any of you guys personally but we are extremely disappointed how it all went down. That said there is time for redemption. Don’t blow it by complaining about petty things such as “tone” on this blog, and focus on the big picture.
There is time for redemption.We hope you take advantage of the opportunity to vote down this bad decision and speak up and urge your fellow students to vote again. Don’t ruin the opportunity to whine about tone … it makes you look smaller and even more out of touch.
Agreed.
If it had been me, I would have been furious. Coulda Woulda Shoulda, obviously, but I would have told every soul I could find about the “offer I couldn’t refuse.”
"Every day was a good day at UCLA." -Coach John Wooden
Robdog -
The issue is not agreeing or disagreeing. The issue, at least for me, is what’s right and what’s wrong. I was lucky enough to be at UCLA when Pauley opened. We sat on the sidelines, because it was a student event, with students we knew who were also on the basketball team. The game was about students and for students and involving students.
Now, of course, it’s all about money. That’s why there are so many rounds of the NCAA playoffs, with play in games, and conference tournaments, and where every football team who has a .500 season goes to a bowl, and where the most important part of a basketball team or a football team is the shoe sponsor .
The fact that it’s all about money does not mean that the decision about changing student seating is right. There are ALWAYS alternatives that can be used to generate the revenue needed to allow the students to sit on the sidelines they way we sat when Coach was on the bench, and Alcindor and Wicks and Rowe and Walton and all the rest played. Moving the students happened so long ago that no one even remembers, but it was wrong when it happened. It’s still wrong. What happens if UCLA is lucky enough to create another dynasty, which would probably increase demand for tickets at Pauley? At that point, would there be enough demand for those endline seats such that the students are moved even farther away? Don’t say it can’t happen, because it did happen. It happened when somehow the students showed up for games and got charged instead of getting in for nothing or for a quarter or whatever it was (not $100 a year). It happened when students tried to sit where they always sat, on the sidelines, and were told that those seats now belonged to someone who paid a higher price..
So it has happened. This is more of the same.
What I don’t understand is why I haven’t read about any massive protests. Why have I not seen anything in the paper? Why have I only read things here in the BN (and granted, I am a geezer and don’t read much anywhere about anything)? The student body just accepts what Morgan Center says without asking why or asking about alternnatives. I just don’t get it. Nothing keeps you and other students from renting a bull horn and stanidng outside Morgan Center and demanding that someone answers the tough questions (which have been listed here ad nauseam). But that’s not happening. I know you care, robdog, or you wouldn’t have made yourself a little vulnerable by coming here and posting. Aren’t there more like you? And do you (either plural or singular) care enough to rock the very comfortable boat that is now Morgan Center?
How about a meeting with Morgan Center, but one where you set the agenda? You start by having someone get out the video camera and saying that you want to make sure that there are no misunderstandings about what anyone says. Then you ask when the students were first moved off the sidelines and why? You ask how much revenue per game needs to be generated to make the budget, and then you tell the Morgan Center guys that you have squadrons of very very smart people who will help them tweak their pricing such that (a) the same revenue is generated and (b) the students are put back on the sideline, and all this with ( c) student admission being reduced to zero. You can substitute your own agenda, but it has to be your agenda, not Morgan Center’s. The meeting cannot start with the exile of the students as a fait accomplit. The basic premise has to be students on the sideline.
So how can we, young and old alumni and flat out geezers, help you get back what we had? Most of us have no personal stake in this at all. The likelihood that I will ever see a game again in person at Pauley is very, very remote. We really want you current students to have a similar set of “good old days” to what we had. I ask you what we can do to help you, but the first step has to be by some student, and not a student who accepts Morgan Center’s edict as being final even if Morgan Center thinks it’s final.
by Fox 71 on May 1, 2011 8:17 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Let's see...
Athletics’ marketing targeted student ticket holders – those who are going to the games and therefore actually affected by the changes made to their seats, Bigknife said.
So, I’ll also assume that all of the current Juniors and Seniors (which includes Elan, I believe) recused themselves from the survey and all of the discussions/bending over/PR with the Daily Bruin, being that they are not going to the games with student tickets and will not be affected by the changes made to the student seats. Right?
formerly bruinhoo
With his attitude
I am sure a job at the Morgan Center is awaiting him upon graduation.
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