LETTERS TO THE SPORTS DESK

For shame, fleeting Bruin fans!

I was astonished at the negative tone of Monday’s Daily
Bruin regarding the loss to USC in football. I thought maybe I was
reading the Daily Trojan by mistake. Bad as the loss was, the
Bruins have nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. Rather,
they should be proud of the turn-around the team has made this
season, their overall record, and one of the greatest comebacks of
all time against Stanford.

The USC team they lost to is not just another Trojan football
team. By any measure, it is one of the greatest, possibly THE
greatest college football team of all time, which no one has been
able to beat for almost three years. It almost certainly has two
Heisman winners (maybe a third by next year), and clearly,
‘SC got a lot of breaks in that game.

I mean, what do you expect when ‘SC’s coach can
simply tell the referee to spot the ball a couple of feet further
downfield so they will get a first down? (On the other hand, be
happy Matt Leinart’s aim was off in the first half.)

The only shame was on the fair-weather Bruin fans who left
early, leaving few to cheer for UCLA’s touchdowns except the
sarcastic Trojan fans. The Bruins were still playing their hearts
out to the end, and the fans should have supported them to the
finish.

Sure, USC is not “just another game,” but it is also
not the end of the season. I am counting on the Bruins to exhibit
that same never-say-die resolve and incredible come-back ability
they have shown all year by overcoming this setback and crushing
Northwestern in the Sun Bowl.

Look at it this way if you want some consolation: USC honors the
Pac-10 as a whole and earns UCLA a bigger share of Bowl money by
sending a Pac-10 representative to the BCS championship Rose Bowl.
Go Bruins! Beat the Wildcats!

John MacDougall

UCLA Capital Programs staff

USC ’71

Supporters proved their lasting loyalty

Despite our devastating loss to the Trojans on Saturday, I left
the Coliseum very proud to be a Bruin. While many stadium seats
became empty early in the game as our point deficit was growing
rapidly, the student section remained surprisingly resilient.

With seven minutes remaining and our Bruin team still without a
touchdown, we continued to shout the 8-clap and began to litter the
coliseum with blue confetti torn from our pom-poms. We were going
wild with pride despite the circumstances ““ not out of
boredom, as Bryan Chu implied in his Monday article. We had
accepted that even our “Comeback Kids” weren’t
going to pull us out of this one.

Yes, it was a letdown. But life goes on. It is an unfortunate
fact that our rival school happens to have the No. 1 team in the
country. It certainly was not going to be an easy task to defeat
this team that had won 33 straight games. And you know what? It may
take a few more tries. But the UCLA community knows that the
football game is only one facet of this rivalry. Any Bruin student
can recite a list of reasons why they believe our school is
superior to USC.

The Bruin supporters showed tremendous spirit and heart in those
final minutes. As fans, we did our part. Instead of hanging our
heads, we cheered proudly and did our best to ensure that the
Trojans will be finding blue streamers falling from their campus
trees for weeks to come.

Trisha Hildreth

Third-year, political science

In response to your letter, Mr. Regan…

I know you are probably very upset your early Christmas gift
““ a win over USC ““ did not get delivered to you and the
Bruin faithful. Very sorry about that.

But didn’t your beloved coach and your team of character
get the memo that they had a football game to play Dec. 3? Was that
product they displayed on the football field last weekend a result
of three weeks and a full season of preparation and character
building? Nice game plan. Very smart coaching staff.

Look. Mrs. Clause and I are Trojan fans, but even we were
dreadfully embarrassed for the Bruins and all the arrogance they
expressed in the pre-game predictions of a win by UCLA. So good
luck with your football program, really great, they look like nice
fellas led by some great football coaches.

I am off to New York to deliver another early Christmas gift to
my beloved Trojans, Mr. Bush and Mr. Leinart.

Yours truly,

Santa

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