Now that football and basketball are over, the question is… Will you show up?

Basketball may be the most popular. Football may be the most
attended. But if fans want to see results, spring quarter is the
best showcase for UCLA’s best teams. As the new quarter kicks
off, six Bruin teams have legitimate shots at winning national
championships. Yet typically spring quarter has been the weakest in
terms of fan attendance and support. Here’s a look at the fan
experience for each of the spring sports and a key date to mark on
your calendar.

TENNIS
Venue: Los Angeles Tennis Ctr.
Ranking: Men – No. 6 (19-2), Women – No. 13 (12-4)

The Good: Location, location, location. It’s so easy to
stop by the LATC on your walk to or from class and see some of the
best college tennis players in the country. Tennis is fast-paced,
exciting, fan-friendly, and these Bruin teams consistently compete
for a national title. The players would sure appreciate the
attention, especially considering the low attendance at each match.
“It’s kind of disappointing,” senior Chris Lam
said. “It’d be nice to get more spectators out. But
what can you say? I guess tennis isn’t that popular.”
The Bad: It’s sometimes hard to sit through an entire match,
with many of them eclipsing the three-hour mark even though the
team outcome has already been decided. Once the NCAA Tournament
starts though, play is suspended once one team clinches the four
needed points. Unfortunately, the NCAA requires students to buy
tickets for postseason play. Don’t Miss It: USC, April 15-16.
The men have had this one circled on their calendar ever since they
inexplicably crumbled and lost 5-2 at USC back in March.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Venue: Pauley Pavilion
Ranking: No. 2 (22-3)

The Good: The student presence at men’s volleyball games
is more vocal than any of UCLA’s other spring sports. The Den
makes its presence known, taunting opposing servers and making fun
of opposing players’ shortcomings. If that’s not
enough, the 18 championship volleyball banners hanging from the
ceiling at Pauley Pavilion are also plenty intimidating for
opposing teams. And in what other sport can you actually have
members of the team (redshirt players) sit in the stands with you,
screaming at the opposition? The Bad: Spacious Pauley Pavilion is
too large for volleyball. The empty seats detract from the
environment, and the fans that are there sit too far away from the
court to create the sort of hostile environment that BYU or
Pepperdine has. Don’t Miss It: The Final Four, May 5-7. The
Bruins have the privilege of hosting the Final Four this year,
which could be a rare opportunity for fans to come and see the
Bruins vie for a championship on their home court.

WATER POLO
Venue: Sunset Canyon Rec. Center
Ranking: Women – No. 1 (22-0)

The Good: In a quaint surrounding where the action in the pool
is encircled by pine trees forming a scenic backdrop and a grassy
area for those itching to lay out, making the hike up to Sunset
Canyon seems all the more appealing. Water polo matches usually
last under an hour, so for the busy fan, it is quite accommodating.
And with the way the UCLA women’s team is playing, games are
usually over in the first 15 minutes. The Bad: Basically no one
comes out to these games. The only people you’ll see are
parents and friends of parents cheering on their daughters with an
occasional murmur of an 8-clap. It gets boring after a while
watching UCLA squash every team by double digits. The only two
teams that can compete with the Bruins year in and year out are USC
and Stanford. The rest of the teams around the nation just
don’t stand a chance. Don’t Miss It: Long Beach State,
April 20. It’ll be the last chance for you to see the
top-ranked Bruins at home this season before their road trip to the
NCAA championship.

TRACK AND FIELD
Venue: Drake Stadium
Next Home Meet: Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational,
April 7-9

The Good: This weekend’s RJ/JJK Invitational offers fans
the chance to see a handful of the top international superstars in
the sport. And the storied crosstown-dual meet between USC and UCLA
is one of the most underrated sporting events in Los Angeles,
boasting a large crowd and a handful of future Olympians each year.
During a lull in the action, fans can mingle with some of the Bruin
legends that routinely drop by like Rafer Johnson, John Godina or
even Baltimore Raven Jonathan Ogden. The Bad: There’s no
guarantee that any of the top Bruins will be competing in the
events they specialize in early in the season, or even if they will
be competing at all. Plus even in the big meets, it’s almost
impossible to follow the action from the stands. You can’t
see the marks for most of the field events, the scoreboard almost
never has the correct sprinter for every lane on the track, and the
PA announcers do a poor job of informing fans of the team scores in
dual meets and championship meets, leaving the public ““ and
the Bruins themselves ““ unaware when they have clinched
victory. Don’t Miss It: The Pac-10 Championships, May 14-15.
The top collegiate track and field talent in the conference will
descend upon Drake Stadium looking to unseat the defending champion
Bruin men and women.

SOFTBALL
Venue: Easton Stadium
Rank: No. 7 (19-9)

The Good: UCLA ditched the bleacher seats at Easton this year in
favor of stadium seats, making the environment much more
fan-friendly. Softball is fast-paced, easy to follow, and
there’s a good chance fans will witness a UCLA victory since
the Bruins are the two-time defending national champions. And, hey,
if softball’s not for you, at least the games only typically
last two hours. The Bad: Parking is difficult and the walk to
Easton Stadium is uphill, a huge deterrent for today’s
effort-conscious student. And once fans get to Easton, they
aren’t likely to see too many runs. UCLA’s offense is
struggling, and softball is traditionally a low-scoring sport
already. Expect plenty of 1-0 thrillers or snoozers. Don’t
Miss It: Arizona, April 16-17. The biggest rivalry in college
softball comes to UCLA later this month. Too bad fan favorite
Jennie Finch will be in the ESPN broadcast booth instead of on the
field.

GOLF
Venue: Golf courses
Ranking: Women – No. 2, Men – No. 11

The Good: Whereas almost every other sport has a place for you
to sit, watch and wait, golf has no seats, no limits and no
boundaries, as you can be as close as five feet away from the
action. Furthermore, there isn’t a better spectator sport for
fans to enjoy nature, as golf is the most picturesque of all
sports. The Bad: There’s a lot of reasons people don’t
like golf. Here are a few. First, it takes close to five hours for
a golfer to finish his/her round, and a collegiate team event can
take close to over eight hours on a single day. Also, there’s
a lot of walking, which gets tiring after awhile. No accessible
concessions is also a damper. Combine that with the slow pace of
golf and the fact that most tournaments are played away from
Westwood, and that’s why you have UCLA’s least-attended
pair of sports teams. Don’t Miss It: Women’s NCAA
Championships, May 17-20. Not to take anything away from the men,
but the women have the better shot at securing the national
title.

BASEBALL
Venue: Jackie Robinson Stadium
Ranking: Unranked (7-17)

The Good: Peanuts, crackerjacks, soda pop and $1 hot dogs at the
end of a game are always plusses in drawing fans to attend a
baseball game. The crowd is usually small and pleasant, so the
opposing players always hear everything you have to say. The Bad:
The Bruins are a young team and have struggled this year with 13
straight losses. Aside from being dead last in the conference,
Jackie Robinson being off-campus doesn’t draw crowds, and
with the fact that the venue doesn’t sell beer, what’s
going to bring students to games? Don’t Miss It: Oregon
State, May 6-8. Try to find out how a team from Corvallis, Ore. is
ranked No. 18 in the country.

WOMEN’S CREW
Venue: Marina Del Rey

The Good: The women’s rowing team is possibly the least
recognizable team on campus, but it works just as hard if not
harder than many other sports. The ladies practice before dawn
every day and navigate eleven miles of Los Angeles traffic each way
to get there. They deserve some support. The Bad: Rowing may be the
least spectator-friendly sport. The race is over a mile long, which
means you can only watch a small section and then wait for the
results over the loudspeaker. Don’t Miss It: The Miller Cup,
April 16. Because, well, that’s the only home meet left.

Compiled by Bruin sports staff