Jason Drantch: Reaching for the major leagues
By Jason Drantch
June 8, 2015 11:04 a.m.
Sports are my life. They always have been and likely always will be.
As a youngster, if I wasn’t out on the baseball field, I was usually at home watching games on television.
However, my skills on the diamond never came close to matching my ability in the classroom. Regardless, I continued to study sports as if they were my homework.
Even if I couldn’t play sports for a living, I’ve always known that I’ve wanted to work in sports. It was just a matter of figuring out what to do.
The Daily Bruin gave me that opportunity and an outlet to put my wealth of knowledge to the test and to write about UCLA sports.
I attended UCLA specifically to write for this newspaper. Yet if you had asked that wide-eyed freshman four years ago if this would be the first and only column that I’d write for The Bruin, I wouldn’t have believed you.
But such is life. You never know how it’s going to turn out. Even though I was never an editor, I was still highly involved with the paper during my four years on campus. And that’s something I would not trade for anything.
Not only did it open so many doors for me in the sports industry, it also allowed me to make many memories covering events and spending time with friends.
Among all the different sporting events I’ve covered, I am thankful that I had the chance to witness Novak Djokovic and Pete Sampras play tennis on a makeshift court in Pauley Pavilion. Another favorite moment of mine was covering a college baseball game at a stadium I’ve been to hundreds of times at the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic.
And I would be foolish if I didn’t mention how much pride I take in the Daily Bruin going 4-0 against the Daily Trojan in our annual Blood Bowl flag football games during my time at UCLA. Playing in these games, along with intramural sports and pickup basketball, with my friends at the paper over the years have been among some of my best days on campus.
It is moments like these that I’ll never forget – including when I broke my finger in an IM football game.
One last thing I’d like to mention is that athletes are often misunderstood by people who don’t get to interact with them on an everyday basis. The Bruin provided a platform for me to remember that despite all they do on the field or court, athletes are still people too, and that’s something that is overlooked far too often.
They are just often in the spotlight and answering the questions, rather than asking them. I have gained so much respect for the student-athletes here at UCLA for how much effort they put into representing the four letters across their chest, all while dealing with classes and the other dilemmas of being a college student.
Getting to understand their personal stories, the adversity that they have overcome and how UCLA has played a part in what they hope to accomplish after college or in their professional careers has always been the best part of the job.
Just as these student-athletes have UCLA to thank for helping them advance in their careers, I know that when I finally do reach the major leagues in my own sports career, I’ll have the Daily Bruin to thank for being the steppingstone to my success.
Drantch was a Sports reporter from 2012-2015, a co-host on Daily Bruin Radio’s “Out of Bounds” in 2013 and a Sports contributor from 2011-2012.
