I’d like to think that I learned quite a bit in my three
years at UCLA. There was Shakespeare, Milton, Zaller’s
theories on the mass media and politics, and even a little bit of
Italian.
I also learned about how the UCLA athletic department works,
about the people inside it and the fans who support it.
There have been positive stories and there have been
negative stories. There have been stories that made you want to
hit a wall and stories that made you cry. But underlying all of
these is one truth: there is more to athletics at UCLA than what
happens on the field of play.
Consider some of this year’s biggest stories and how they
affected us. Fourteen football players were charged with, and
ultimately admitted to, illegally obtaining disabled parking
placards. That’s 14 of this campus’ strongest, most
able-bodied students, abusing a privilege reserved for the truly
disadvantaged. And all for the sake of convenience, to avoid
walking 10 minutes to class.
What did that incident say to the public about UCLA? It said
that UCLA is synonymous with disrespect. It said that UCLA students
don’t care about anyone other than themselves.
You’ve heard the jokes before, I’m sure.
How many UCLA students does it take to screw in a light bulb?
One ““ he just holds the bulb and lets the world revolve
around him.
Sound familiar?
There were other stories like it, too. The UCLA softball team,
defending national champion and the greatest powerhouse in the
history of the sport, was disappointed after its fourth-place
finish in Hawaii’s Paradise Softball Classic in February.
Somehow, their trophy ended up in a dugout trash can, discovered
by a Honolulu journalist. It’s still unclear whether it was
head coach Sue Enquist, the team collectively or specific players
who disposed of the “garbage.” But that taught
thousands of young softball players that losing is unacceptable and
degrading, and that winning at any cost is all that matters, even
at the college level.
That is hardly the definition of amateur competition I remember,
and even the university’s apology to the University of Hawaii
doesn’t erase the act completely.
There were issues that threatened higher education itself, for
example a number of players leaving school early to play
professionally ““ in a number of sports. That for a university
that has always prided itself on graduating athletes before they
make their mark and money at the pro level.
One of those players to leave early, basketball forward JaRon
Rush, had his own issues with the NCAA. Rush was suspended for most
of the season after an NCAA investigation revealed he accepted
anywhere from $6,000 to $17,000 from his former youth basketball
coach and a sports agent, depending on whom you believe.
Good things happened too. The Olympic sports ““ of which
men’s and women’s water polo, women’s gymnastics,
women’s track and field, and men’s volleyball ““
made everyone realize that UCLA isn’t just a football or
basketball school, while defining what a student athlete really is:
someone who loves competition and academics equally, not just for
the sake of a scholarship.
Students and fans learned a lot from those athletes who gave
themselves to academics and athletics, who showed that even for
world-class athletes a degree is something to work for.
And even the bad moments taught us valuable lessons. Head
football coach Bob Toledo, in his fatherly wisdom, said that he
didn’t care if he was playing the Little Sisters of the Poor,
he wouldn’t use any of the players who supposedly obtained
disabled parking placards in the Bruins’ first two games.
Some fans were outraged, feeling Toledo had essentially forfeited a
nationally-televised game against Ohio State by suspending the
players for a second game. But Toledo chose to hold his players
responsible, no matter what the cost to his team.
We also learned from Rush. The sophomore, who is not legally
accountable to the NCAA now that he turned pro, doesn’t have
to pay back the money he said he accepted from Myron Piggie and
Jerome Stanley, but he says he will because it’s the right
thing to do.
As an editor, reporter and writer, that makes me smile, because
it’s good to see the press keeping these athletes
accountable. It also points out the fact that, in sports, sometimes
the most important events aren’t those which happen on the
field or court, but what happens off of it.
That’s where the athletes learn their lessons and, by
their popularity, teach us the same ones. And that’s why
there is “negative press,” because, in the end, it
makes the world a little better.
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