Victory feels sweeter after late-night vigil at Pauley

They used to seem a little strange, a little crazy to me.

In fact, I’m sure at some point I actually shook my head
and scoffed at them in naive disapproval.

I’d see them setting up camp and sleeping outside Gate 10
of Pauley Pavilion, all for a better seat at basketball games.

Yes, these people really do exist.

And the system they were supporting ““ the Rally
Committee’s assignment of game-entry priority numbers ““
at the least looked a little unfair and inefficient.

Why couldn’t fans just line up early for games?

After getting up at 4:30 a.m. Saturday to make it to Pauley by 5
to sign up on a list for courtside seats at the basketball game
against No. 12 Washington, I sat outside for an hour and a half in
the cold, protected from the rain only by the eave of the
pavilion.

But as gloomy as it appeared, I have seven words for you that
may change your outlook: Don’t knock it ’til
you’ve tried it.

Granted, I can’t say anything about sleeping outside to be
first in line because, well, I couldn’t get around the idea
that my bed is more comfortable than concrete.

But for making it out there hours after the first people on the
list, I was OK with being 27th in line.

And, truth be told, there was some comfort in knowing there were
at least 26 other people in the world who thought there was no
better time than 5 a.m. on a Saturday to be awake for just this
reason.

The priority numbers weren’t handed out until 6:30 a.m.,
so I had a good hour and a half to question my sanity and ask
myself over and over why I was doing what I was doing.

By the time 6:54 a.m. rolled around, I was back in bed, still
not knowing why I’d just done what I’d done and why, by
6:30 a.m., 142 other people had done the same thing.

Well, 140, seeing as No. 85 and 86 weren’t really there. I
looked all over for them, but I never found UCLA men’s
basketball alumni Dan Gadzuric and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

My answer as to whether the early morning shenanigans were worth
the lost sleep would come some 12 hours later, when I took a seat
at half-court in the second row.

Actually, I take that back. My answer would come right before
halftime, when the Bruins finally woke up and started playing like
they meant it.

Before then, when UCLA was down 30-9, I’d be lying if I
said I didn’t have thoughts of strangling my friend next to
me while shouting at the top of my lungs, “I was out here at
5 a.m. for this?”

But the Bruins did get back on track to beat the Huskies 95-86.
And somehow after the game I felt better off for losing sleep to
see a game in which UCLA overcame a 21-point deficit.

Some might wonder if the committee’s system is the best
option out there for determining who gets the best seats.

Yes, there’s something partly fun (yet partly masochistic)
about getting up so early for priority numbers. What about those
who want great seats without having to brave the wilds of Westwood
and keep a vigil for killer squirrels?

They might say that the priority process is unfair, that it asks
students to sacrifice too much.

Well, sure, the committee’s system does require sacrifice.
But I think that’s the point.

The best people to have on the front lines to cheer on the
Bruins are those who are most committed to the team.

A supposedly fairer system might involve a lottery of some type,
but leaving the allocation of seats to chance puts in jeopardy the
fan base that UCLA coach Ben Howland, senior Brian Morrison and
freshman Jordan Farmar acknowledged as a major contribution to
defeating Washington on Saturday.

From what I saw Saturday morning ““ and let me tell you,
having my eyes open was an accomplishment in itself at that time of
day ““ the current system yields the best results, the best
fan base and, from all appearances that night, the best Bruin team
Westwood has seen in a while.

Look for Looper outside Pauley Pavilion in the wee hours of
game days from now on. And e-mail him at
[email protected].