Not your average tennis fan
Ken Bodenstein watches Sunday’s UCLA-Virginia match in Athens, Ga. Bodenstein coined a motto famous to UCLA tennis fans, “The big one’s in the bank!”
By Brantley Watson
May 24, 2010 11:05 p.m.
Bodenstein, whose wife Diane was a member of the Bruin Racqueteers, has been an avid UCLA tennis fan for nearly 20 years.
ATHENS, Ga. “”mdash; There is always that one fan.
I don’t know any other way to describe it.
That one fan.
If you go to a UCLA men’s basketball game, you will notice one particularly outlandish fan standing behind the basket wearing a blue wig and ferociously waving his hands during an opposing player’s free-throw attempts.
UCLA basketball fans are accustomed to it. That’s what he does.
If you go to a UCLA football game, you’ll see UCLA alumnus Geoffrey Strand decked out in Bruin paraphernalia, standing on top of an on-field podium, microphone in hand, chanting, “Every man, woman and child! Stand up and cheer!”
UCLA football fans are used to that. That’s the phrase he has coined.
But if you thought the realm of enthusiastic UCLA sports fans, with signature actions or phrases, began and ended with Bruin basketball and football, you’re sadly mistaken.
And if you have ever attended a UCLA tennis match, men’s or women’s, you know exactly what I’m referring to.
“The big one’s in the bank!”
Meet Ken Bodenstein, an executive managing director for the financial advisory firm, Duff and Phelps, and avid UCLA tennis fan.
Unlike Strand, Bodenstein has no particular allegiance to UCLA. He did not attend UCLA, and he’s not even from California.
However, Bodenstein’s second wife, Diane, was a member of the Bruin Racqueteers, a support group for the UCLA tennis teams, which he said opened his eyes to the UCLA tennis program.
“I graduated from Columbia back East,” Bodenstein said. “I’m a tennis player. I still compete in the 70 and over (tournaments). My wife and I, we were both widowed, and I married Diane and she was a member of the Racqueteers. I got involved maybe 20 years ago. The rest is history. I support both the women’s and the men’s team here, and I come to all the matches if I can.”
Seems like a logical enough story, right?
Funny thing is, UCLA men’s tennis coach Billy Martin, who has led the program for more than 15 years, can’t even recall how Bodenstein became such a big fan. Martin attributes Bodenstein’s “fanhood” mainly to his deep love for the sport of tennis.
“I don’t know where it started, but he and his wife Diane are such faithful followers at our home matches as well as a lot of our road matches,” Martin said. “Ken’s a tennis nut. He loves to play, and he still plays tournaments himself. So obviously he’s a competitor and loves the sport of tennis. We appreciate it, and he’s a fun guy to be around and very knowledgeable about the game of tennis. He understands what’s going on out there.”
But let’s get back to the serious issue at hand: the catchphrase.
“The big one’s in the bank!”
I can remember the first few times I went to UCLA tennis matches. Each time the Bruins would win a set or win a match, out of thin air comes this man’s voice for the whole stadium to hear.
And after awhile, I began asking myself, “Who is saying that?”
Never would I have imagined it to be Bodenstein, a 30-year-old trapped in a nearly 75-year-old man’s body.
But it wasn’t until this past weekend that I decided to chat with the tennis veteran. Both the UCLA men’s and women’s tennis teams were competing in the NCAA Championships, held in Athens, Ga.
And lo and behold, who do I hear, not see, at the women’s match Thursday?
“I’m there at most home matches because I still work, but I’ll be retired by the end of the summer, so maybe I’ll make them all,” Bodenstein said.
“But it depends. If my wife and I have a free weekend, we might go up to Stanford or Tucson or Ojai. But I’ve been coming to the nationals when I can now. It’s my fifth.”
Now that’s a true fan.
Oh wait, I’m veering off course … the catchphrase.
“It just came from me,” Bodenstein said. “When they win a set, it’s, “˜One’s in the bank!’ When they win a (singles) match, it’s, “˜The big one’s in the bank!’ When they win the (overall) match, it’s, “˜The really big one’s in the bank!'”
Wow KB, you’ve got it all figured out.
“He’s kind of become infamous for that,” Martin said through chuckles. “It’s maybe a source of irritation for our rivals. But it’s harmless, and I don’t think it’s that out of line.”
Irritation? One would think so.
Friday, during the men’s match against Stanford, one Cardinal fan decided to heckle Bodenstein, mocking the UCLA fan’s famous line.
“It only happened once, and that was here against Stanford,” Bodenstein said. “That’s the first time.”
Really, Ken?
“Really,” he replied.
But from speaking with Bodenstein, the impression I got was that more important than tennis, more important than road trips, are the relationships that Bodenstein has made with the UCLA tennis family over the years.
Now, Bodenstein has become a part of that family.
“I know Stella (Sampras Webster) and Billy (Martin) and Bill Zaima and Rance (Brown),” Bodenstein said. “We’re good friends, and it’s just a great team. The kids are great. In all the years I’ve been following them, they just have a great bunch of kids. It’s fun. They’re good people, and I love it. I love it.”
E-mail Watson at [email protected].
