FanPost

Poll: Should U.C.L.A. Unretire Any Numbers?

Should UCLA Athletics un-retire Troy Aikman's #8? How about any other numbers? - Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

U.C.L.A. has an unmatched athletic legacy. Kareem. Troy. Bill. Arthur. Coach. Jackie.

And those are just a few of the boys.

Should U.C.L.A. Athletics unretire any of their numbers?

Every University has it's own Hall Of Fame and its own group legends, and many of those figures went on to become transcendent figures in sports and society.

One of those schools, Syracuse University, made some news this week by unretiring the number 44 in football. If you don't know about the number 44 at Syracuse, it's pretty special. Outside of our own #42, you probably can't find one college number that compares. Syracuse officially retired the #44 in 2005.

I'm particularly biased because 44 was worn by Floyd Little. One of the Orangemen's greatest running backs, Floyd was a 3 time All-American who went on to an NFL Hall Of Fame Career with the Denver Broncos (also orange!).

Before Little, 44 was worn by Ernie Davis, a young man who fought racial discrimination and won the Heisman Trophy in 1962, becoming the first African American to do so. Davis's life was tragically cut short by leukemia at the age of 23, but his incredible legacy was already secure.

And before Davis, a guy named Jim Brown wore the number 44. Brown is simply considered by many as the greatest football player (not just running back) in college or pro football history. It would be no surprise to anyone if his number were retired after he alone wore it.

But 44 is available again at Syracuse, though how they plan to use it isn't quite clear. Some fans say its use honors its tradition and it should be worn. Others say the number should be left retired. One thing is for sure, our friends at the awesome SB Nation Syracuse site Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician have a blogging goldmine. There's always a silver (or gold, or orange) lining.

So, turning this to U.C.L.A., because it's all about us...The Bruins have retired a lot of numbers during their incredible athletic history. The most notable is easily Jackie Robinson's 42. But Kareem's 33 and Walton's 32 and Aikman's 8 are among the most high profile Bruins numbers to be retired and many other numbers in basketball and football have been retired. Ann Meyers and Denise Curry have their basketball numbers retired. (I looked on the official site for a list of retired Bruin numbers but couldn't find it quickly - it may be there somewhere. If not, they need a new page and link, and I'll be happy to build that one).

So here's today's poll question for discussion: Should U.C.L.A. unretire any numbers?

I mean, they've already apparently retired the stripe.

Vote, then blog amongst yourselves...

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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