Wednesday, February 5, 1997
By Sameer Bakhda
So, if you’re like 2,000 other Bruins, you got basketball
tickets. Good for you! You have in your hands one of the most
desired commodities at UCLA.
But wait a minute  you’re not going to the games? I know,
I know, you’ve got a midterm on Friday, and a date on Saturday, and
you just can’t make it to the game. But don’t waste your
ticket!
I was at the Arizona game last week, and I loved almost
everything about it. The team played great (don’t you think Steve
Lavin deserves a contract? I do!), the cheerleaders were awesome,
the band was loud and raucous … the only problem was all the
empty seats in the student section! This was probably the
second-biggest basketball game of the year (the biggest, of course,
is the rematch this Saturday against Stanford), and we DIDN’T FILL
PAULEY!
Some of you may remember me from my crusade last year to try and
bring back the arena level student basketball seats. And whenever I
met with the athletic department, their No. 1 argument was
"students don’t come to the games. So why shouldn’t we sell their
seats to donors?" The thing is, they’re absolutely right. When we
don’t show up to games, when we don’t fill every student seat for
every single game (Morgan State included!), we show the athletic
department that we don’t care about our team. More than that, we
show OUR TEAM that we don’t care about them. And I know that’s just
not true!
Did you know that the athletic department routinely double- and
triple-sells the student section? And there’s still so many empty
seats that they also sell student tickets just before game time?
That means there’s a whole bunch of unused tickets sitting in dorm
rooms or desk drawers, and I know there are plenty of Bruin fans
out there who weren’t lucky enough to get tickets. I know they’d
LOVE the chance to get into a game or two!
Here’s my point. If you’ve got tickets, go to the games! It’s
only two hours  you can study for that midterm afterward, or
bring that date along with you. BUT, if you just can’t make it, how
about giving your ticket to someone who can? I’m sure you all know
a bunch of people who want game tickets (if you don’t, e-mail me,
because I sure do!) … how about letting them have your
ticket?
This week’s games against Stanford and Cal are HUGE Â
probably the biggest home games of the season. The Cameron Crazies
of Duke and the Rock Jock Jayhawks of Kansas are a BIG reason why
those schools are so powerful at home. But if WE can fill Pauley
until it bursts, I know our team will be fired up, and I guarantee
that we’ll make a difference!
It’s a lot of fun, it’s a great way to show your spirit, and
it’ll show everyone that students really do care about this team.
Come out to Pauley  I promise you won’t be disappointed!