Calling Out My Fellow UCLA Season Ticket Holders ...

The following post is from a friend of ours who shared this on BruinReportOnline. He gave us permission to feature it in this community. Calabruin is a UCLA alum, who bleeds blue and gold, and also has been a season ticket holder for 18 years.

I have been a season ticket holder for 18 years, and have watched the slow disintegration of season ticket holder support. Last night finally got to me. I won't discuss student support/attendance etc. I will leave that to others, but to my fellow season ticket holders, we need to talk.

You demand excellence from our coaches, our team, our program, and yet we seem to act like we are attending a free seminar being given by the dude discussing actuary tables!  Yeah I'll show up as time allows, oh this is boring? Check please, I'm outta here early.

For starters, I have gone to 10 games this year and have made sure my tickets were used by other Bruins for all but one other.  Given them away if necessary to make sure they were used. Why waste them. So some of y'll had stuff happening over the holidays, couldn't make it, couldn't find someone to foist the tix on. Got it.

But game time attendance for Pac Ten games, specially the Thursday games HAS BEEN DISGRACEFUL. You are paying some damn good money for these seats and they aren't being used, and the seats between the baskets, the prime seats are at best 2/3 full? If we the fans act like we don't give a damn, why should the players?

I attended the Cal game a few weeks ago and took some pics at the ten minute mark. The seats in the 200 section behind the east basket were less than half full!

Last night I went to the game with a fellow Bruin, and we both marveled at the downright lousy turnout for a Pac 10 game, for a team that had won 7 of its last 8, and was second in the conference! We both agreed, this felt like we were the opening game of a doubleheader for the Waste Management Winter Classic!

I hear every argument

• It is hard to get to Westwood on a work day
• Parking sucks
• The game environment is lousy at Pauley, ballet has more excitement
• Ben Ball is boring
• Pauley Dogs suck

Right on all accounts.

But if you are going to buy the damn seats. WHY DON'T YOU USE THEM? AND WHY CAN'T YOU GET THERE ON FRIGGIN TIME?

(BTW, the game environment IS disgraceful, the game announcer sounds like he is calling numbers at the local DMV office! When the Bruin Shuffle is the best we can offer in generated excitement, it is BAD....And yes I have sent a nasty message off to Dan Guerrero bout that....)

If we want to make demands of the program, of the AD, of the coaches, and of the players, if we want to return to being a world class program, we gotta do our part. If you are buying the tickets, show the heck up! Support the team! Or give the tickets to families that can't afford the prices and would love them! 

We have three home games left, and a simple request. USE THE DAMN TICKETS! MAKE PAULEY FULL, LOUD AND PROUD!

I love UCLA as a school. It gave a poor kid from Echo Park/Silverlake so many opportunities. And I love UCLA Sports as maddening as they are! And I pray for the day that Pauley returns to being a place where other teams fear to tread

Thanks and GO BRUINS.

-          Calabruin