Correction appended
No, there was no 12th national championship banner hoisted for
the basketball team in Pauley Pavilion this year. No victory over
the ‘SC football team in the Big Game, either.
But it was a great year for UCLA’s two biggest sports.
The football team did well, eventually ranking as high as No. 7
in the country in a season with lower expectations.
But even they were overshadowed by the basketball team’s
run deep into March Madness, restoring UCLA’s marquee
tradition to its rightful place among the college basketball
elite.
On a campus as diverse as UCLA’s, it’s remarkable
that a sports team could have such a powerful impact on bringing
the campus together. But this one did.
Our players proved that some of the old tenets of sports ““
defense, teamwork, dedication ““ can take a team far. They
also left the rest of us with some great memories.
Jumping and screaming as Luc Richard Mbah a Moute laid in a
last-second lay-up to beat Gonzaga. (Continuing to cheer as Adam
Morrison wept at half court.)
High-fiving fellow Bruin passersby in Westwood. Spontaneous
8-claps.
Uniting for the championship game with thousands of students in
Indianapolis, Westwood and Pauley Pavilion ““ only to unite in
sorrow a couple hours later.
But enough with the sappy stuff. Good job, boys. Go Bruins.