FanPost

Why UCLA is the best. period.



Hi Guys, longtime lurker here on bruinsnation ( I think I have 3 comments total, if that). Here’s my reason as to why I became a lifelong fan.

I think the single greatest reason people love sports is because it’s something that everyone is exposed to at a very young age. It’s an incredibly tangible feeling because you yourself have this close proximity to the game. Sports is a universal form of communication for people. It’s something that teaches a person that much more about him/herself. Sports is uniting for this world because it’s a medium in which it doesn’t matter where you come from or what your background is, it only matters what your skill in the game is.

For myself, I have an incredible mother and an incredible father who have sacrificed their own personal goals in life just so their son (me) could achieve his dream of playing sports and being a part of something greater than himself, even at the highschool level. My mother and father both attended ucla, and my uncle Gary Franklin, played on the wooden championship teams of the 70’s. needless to say, UCLA sports (particularly basketball) is something that I loved from the moment I came into this world. My first picture my parents took of me was when I was 3 years old holding the john barnes game newspaper in my hands. We put that on our Christmas card!

The two memories that really got me to devote my entire being to following these sports is when I was 7, watching the ucla-Mississippi game in 1995, watching tyus edeny’s coast to coast live as a 7 year old. I remember my dad (besides teaching me all the 4 letter words I know) yelling "SEND IN DEMPSEY FOR A THREE" referring to Kevin Dempsey, a great shooter of that team. When Tyus scored, we were all jumping and crying and hugging each other, and I was like "holy crap, that was so cool!".

The other memory which really was my starting point in fandom, was when my dad took me to the 1998/99 rose bowl. We had FRONT ROW SEATS. I was 9. We sat right in front of the band. The fanfare, the noise, and the general vibe of the game was so grand that I was overwhelmed. I was hooked ever since (even if ron dayne couldn’t be stopped that day).

Most people have childhood idols that play in the pros. My childhood idol was brandon chillar, ucla linebacker at the same time I was playing linebacker (early 2000’s). I chose my number because he wore 11. I wanted to excel at my position because he was someone that I looked up to.

I myself actually received letters to go to ucla (dorrel/neuheisel years) before I tore my acl on the first play of my senior season. It was gut wrenching in more ways than one.

As I grew older, I came to believe that sports is something that is super important in this world because it teaches young men and women things about themselves that they can’t learn anywhere else. You not only learn how to operate as a part of a team, but no matter if youre introverted or extroverted, you’re an important piece in achieving a goal that would be impossible without you.

My favorite pro player, chargers center nick hardwick, once said "the point of this is to win, but if you don’t learn something about yourself along the way than you are completely missing the point" is something that has stuck with me for as long as I can remember. This is reason number one why I hate programs that put winning before teaching, like usc, etc etc.

There was a period of time where I often found myself thinking "I cant be the only one who is this passionate about UCLA sports". It was then that I got into bruinsnation around 2006 (nestor’s articles were some of the first that I read. I’ll let it slide that hes a 49ers fan (I hope this is right), everyone has their flaws LOL). Everyone on this site is so great because you can FEEL that passion. The greatest misconception about this site (everyone thinks we are cynical and will never be satisfied) is a joke. Everyone here just understands the greatness we can achieve with our available resources, and won’t accept anything less.

Regardless of where ucla goes, I will be there to support this amazing program every step of the way because it is something that gets me so emotional even THINKING about it. Sports brings the country together in one of the best ways. Now and forever, go bruins, through thick and thin, no matter what!

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.

Trending Discussions