Fans rush for victory shirts

Fans rush for victory shirts

Student store bombarded, tees sell out in minutes

By Patrick Kerkstra

and Nancy Hsu

Daily Bruin Staff

Throngs of UCLA students and alumni swarmed the student store
yesterday, snatching up T-Shirts, sweatshirts, hats and just about
anything else emblazoned with the Bruin logo in the wake of
Monday’s basketball victory over Arkansas.

As soon as the boxes of $17 T-Shirts reading "NCAA (National
Collegiate Athletic Assocation) Champions" were brought into the
Bearwear area, students converged on store employees, crowding
around and grabbing four or five shirts at a time.

Employees shouted out sizes before launching the shirts into a
sea of outstretched hands, as students pushed and shoved their way
toward the prized garments.

They were sold out before they could even be put on the
shelves.

"We’ve suffered through so many ups and downs," said Jerome
Garrett, a fifth-year political science major, as he attempted to
push his way through the crowd. "We want to show our pride in this
school.

"Everyone at work will know I’m a Bruin. They will bow down at
my feet. I’m a Bruin and I want my shirt," Garrett continued.

Bruin pride charged the crowd as customers hauled heaps of
merchandise to the registers of harried employees throughout the
day.

"This is the first championship in 20 years," Truc Bui, a
fifth-year biology student, shouted over the noise. "I’ve waited
five years for this moment. I graduate this year and this is just
fantastic."

As worn dollar bills and checks changed hands at the store, the
fortunes of the associated students’ improved with every
transaction.

Association officials hope that the windfall from this year’s
championship will have the same effect as last year’s Rose Bowl
appearance.

The association’s financial situation last year was dire until
the Bruin’s Pac-10 football championship caused a glut of purchases
in Bearwear. The profits from those sales helped the organization
avoid a major loss and actually post a small gain for the year.

"Hopefully it will improve our sales in the store and possibly
have ramifications for our licensing," said Karol Dean, a
representative on the association’s board of directors.

Unlike the Rose Bowl however, the NCAA Final Four comes and goes
quickly, leaving less time for purchases.

"I have the feeling it (the championship) will have a (weaker)
impact on the bottom line then the Rose Bowl sales," Dean said.

"You have a longer buildup to the Rose Bowl, so there’s more
time for people to buy things, and you’re also more likely to sell
sweatshirts as opposed to T-shirts in football; and sweatshirts are
a lot more profitable for us," Dean continued.

But if many more share the testimonies of the UCLA students and
alumni shopping yesterday, the association could find itself
rescued once again by Bruin athletes.

"I grew up at home with my parents talking to me about the
Wooden years. So I didn’t want a Final Four shirt, I wanted a
championship shirt," asserted Paul-Wayne Mahlo, a fourth-year
physiology student.

Jay Goldman, a 1986 UCLA alum, sneaked out of his office at
Hughes Aircraft to purchase some Bruin T-shirts, but he was not
expecting the crowd that met him.

"It’s lunch time," Goldman said. "It’s quite a distance, but I
just had to get out of the office. When I was going here, (the
basketball team) went to the NCAA, but not very far into it. It’s
like John Wooden’s days again."

The Daily Bruin offices were besieged by T-shirt seekers
yesterday as well.

Another 300 shirts, featuring The Bruin’s game coverage and the
NCAA trophy, were available to those willing to pay $14.95 and wait
in line for a few hours.