UCLA Rally Committee UCLA fans have been participating in
card stunts like this one at the Rose Bowl for the past 75
years.
By Amanda Fletcher
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Some say it’s tradition, some say it’s a waste of
time. Either way, the UCLA Rally Committee says that due to lack of
interest, their card stunts are in danger of cancellation.
“It’s mainly due in part to student apathy over the
years and (the football team’s) performance,” Rally
Committee chairman Jerry Lopez said.
A tradition that has lasted 75 years, the card show was once a
UCLA trademark.
“Believe it or not,” Lopez said, “it’s
what we’re known for.”
So much so that the UCLA Rally Committee was approached by
filmmakers in 1993 to do the card stunt seen in the movie
“Forest Gump.”
UCLA is also one of the last schools to do card stunts at every
home football game. The only other school to do shows is Ohio
State.
The recent decline in card show participation is due to a
combination of technical problems and lack of support.
“One problem is that the PA system isn’t loud enough
or they start playing music so it drowns out our
instructions,” said Tim McGrath, the Rally Committee art
director.
Another reason is that when students are holding the cards, they
can’t see the show themselves.
“In the past when they’ve come on the screen, the
stunts are a lot better,” Lopez said. “Otherwise
they’re just sitting there holding cards.”
The stunts aren’t always televised these days because
there is so much more going on in the stadium than there was in the
1950s when the card show was at its most popular.
“The game is a big production,” Rally Committee
Advisor Melissa Abraham explained. “There are a lot of
different things going on, and if the card show doesn’t look
good they choose not to put it on.”
The students themselves also create problems.
At the Rose Bowl, the card show is done between tunnel six and
seven, usually in rows 31 to 60. During a larger show the stunt
extends to row 70.
“That’s where participation is the worst,”
McGrath said. “The top half are those students who are late
because they’ve been tailgating and drinking and sometimes
aren’t even paying attention to the game.”
Students also resort to throwing their cards, an act that has
led to the cancellation of card shows at other universities.
“The vice chancellor’s wife got hit in the eye, so
they banned card shows at USC,” McGrath said.
In 1993 during the UCLA-BYU game, the Bruins scored a touchdown
right before halftime and everyone threw the stunt cards into the
crowd resulting in the cancellation of the show.
Today, throwing cards at the Rose Bowl results in immediate
dismissal from the game and may even result in expulsion, according
to McGrath.
“It hasn’t happened this year. Everybody’s
been pretty good lately,” he said.
But pretty good isn’t enough considering the fame, glory
and tradition that the card show once received.
According to the Rally Committee Web page, the first documented
evidence of card stunts are pictures taken in 1925 at the
UCLA-Occidental College football game. There is also some evidence
that UCLA may have participated in card stunts done during the
Cal-USC football game as early as 1922.
Since then UCLA’s card show has seen its share of of fame
and change.
In 1940, stunts during night games were performed using metallic
cards and a huge searchlight was reflected off the cards.
A year later, Life magazine ran an article while the New York
Sunday News ran a multi-page color layout of UCLA card stunts.
Fast becoming an icon of UCLA spirit, in 1951 the UCLA-USC game
marked the first time the card show received national television
coverage.
A point of pride and school spirit, the card show was once a key
factor in the rivalry with USC.
In 1957, USC students managed to change a small section of cards
so that a red “U.S.C.” appeared during the entire
performance.
In 1963, after USC students broke into the store room and stole
some stunt cards, UCLA displayed the infamous stunt which read:
“WE CAN’T BUY OUR DIPLOMAS.”
To those who participate, the UCLA card show is an emblem of
school spirit and tradition.
This weekend, in order to give the students a chance to see the
show and perhaps spark their interest in participating, stunts will
be performed in the alumni section.
“We’ve been trying to flood the student section with
flyers trying to stress the point that it’s been going on for
75 years, but there’s only so much we can do because football
season is already half over,” McGrath said.
“The popularity has gone down, but there’s always
the possibility of it getting better.”
For information on how you can participate in the card show this
weekend, visit the rally committee’s Web site at http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/rallycom