Adam Karon Karon would like to thank
David Sway for his help and invite those who want to go north or
just want to send a comment to e-mail him at [email protected]. Click
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This is a call to arms. Strap on your blue and gold, secure your
12th man towels and fill your gas tanks. We’re heading north
and taking no prisoners.
Ladies and gentlemen, I come to you in a time of need, proposing
a solution to those lazy Saturdays we all experience when there is
no football in Westwood. Sitting in front of the television simply
does not compare to sitting in front of a drunk behemoth with a big
belly and the letter U painted across his chest. Do you yearn for
the smell of the grass, the cheer of the crowd and the pure glee
that comes with yet another Bruin win? Or do you prefer your
moth-infested sofa, flat Natural Ice and Keith Jackson’s
inane ramblings?
There is an answer to the aforementioned Saturday monotony. Go
north, young men and women! The air is clean, the streets are empty
and the Stanford fans are ripe to pick on. Fill your Geo Metro
with six or seven buddies, a case of your favorite cheap brew and
enough blankets to keep you warm through the night.
It is time for a road trip.
We all know the important role road trips play in the life of a
college student. Each of us who embark on such a trip learns more
than we could ever possibly glean from a classroom. Heck,
it’s more educational than VH1’s pop-up video. If you
have not packed up the car and headed to a foreign land like San
Bernardino or San Luis Obispo, you are really missing out.
Inevitably, a carload of students will start off as friends and end
up hating each other 30 miles down I-10. Hitchhikers, police
and the occasional opossum stand in your way, and only the strong
survive. Sound like fun? Then it’s time to head north.
There might not be a better destination for a UCLA road trip
than Stanford University. It is an easy five-hour drive, depending
on the size of your bladder, and it provides a rare opportunity to
smile in the face of conceit.
Stanford regularly wins the Sears Cup, an award given to the
school with the most prolific college athletics program. The
scoring is based on top finishes, and points accumulate for every
varsity sport. But Stanford has an unfair advantage. Because of
insane financial endowments, the Cardinal has over 32 varsity
teams. UCLA, which regularly finishes second, has just 22 teams.
Stanford’s fans think this means they are better. Instead, it
merely means Leland Stanford had more money than the state of
California.
Some might argue that a trip to the Cal game, called
“all-Cal weekend,” is more enjoyable, but we all know
that Berkeley smells like a pot roast grandma left in the
refrigerator for the last couple decades. Who wants to spend time
on a campus filled with students who seem to be suffering from
lingering fumes of tear gas dropped nearly 40 years
ago? Besides, Cal gets to be beaten in the Rose Bowl this
year, so that option is out.
A road trip to Arizona would be fun, but again, we do not have
that option in 2001.
That means Palo Alto is the place, and I expect to see you all
there.
There really is no excuse to miss this game. Nearly half of UCLA
is from Northern California, so unless you spend your days playing
Japanese animation video games and braiding your happy trail, you
should be able to find a friend who’ll let you crash on the
sofa.
Can’t get a ride? No problem. E-mail me whether you have a
car or not, and I’ll set up a carpool reminiscent of the days
of recreational soccer, minus the minivan.
Worried about where to get a good meal? Fear not, the
Stanford dining halls are extremely easy to sneak into.
Sophomore Rob Krauss secured his Stanford plans early last
week.
“We wanted to take a Winnebago up for the game,” he
said. “But then we realized that actually required us to be
responsible, so instead we’re just going to try and
hitchhike.”
If Rob wears blue and gold while standing next to the I-5
onramp, he is almost guaranteed to find a ride. Starting early
Friday afternoon, there will be a steady stream of cars heading
north with Stanford as the final destination. And there is always
room for one more.
Stanford Stadium holds 85,000 people, but the Cardinal football
games rarely sell out. That means there are plenty of tickets
available, some of which can be secured by calling the Central
Ticket Office at (310) UCLA-WIN.Â
If nothing else, the game gives some students their first chance
to go home since moving into their closets, er, dorm rooms.
“This will be my first road trip,” freshman Dan
Crossen said. “I’m probably going to go home for a few
days, but I just don’t want to miss a game during this
unbelievable season.”
Crossen hails from San Francisco (not ‘Frisco, for all you
Southern California folk), and urges all who head north to visit
his fair city. If you need a place to stay, there should be plenty
of vacant apartments after the dotcom crash.
In any event, a trip north on Oct. 27 gives anyone a chance to
get out of town, on the road and into a stadium for yet another
Bruin football game. Plus, you’ll avoid a weekend parking
ticket in Westwood.
I know I’ll be there, and I hope you all can join me on
the Farm.Â
Go the extra mile, and I promise you’ll return with a
smile.