I grew up a UCLA Bruins football fan. I went to my first Bruins game at five years old. For the next 13 years, I attended at least four UCLA games at the Rose Bowl per season.
Last year, as an Indiana University freshman, I went all-in as a Hoosier football fan. This background gives me a distinctive perspective on the upcoming Big Ten premiere of the Bruins against the Hoosiers in Pasadena on Sept. 14 (a game I will be attending with my UCLA season ticket-holding family).
The game between the Hoosiers and the Bruins this weekend is not just any Big Ten regular season game, but you know that already. It is the first “Old Big Ten” vs “New Big Ten” game, but you know that already. There are already plenty of great articles talking about what this means for the Big Ten, but I want to shine a light on what this means specifically for Bruins fans and Hoosier fans. Before I go any further, I will acknowledge that I have only been a Hoosier for a relatively short time, but as a fan, I learn fast, so I hope my fellow Hoosiers will agree with my ideas on what this means to us.
I went to my first UCLA football game, which was my first football game of any kind, on Nov. 7, 2009 at five years old. My grandfather, who is a UCLA alumnus, took me to that game with his left arm in a sling because he had just had shoulder surgery. My father had no idea he would be taking five-year-old me to a stadium with tens of thousands of people with only one available arm. Thankfully, the game went well and I was a well-behaved child who did not make things difficult on my grandfather. It helped that he got me cotton candy.
It was at that game, a 24-23 homecoming victory over Washington, that I began to learn the gameday traditions at the Rose Bowl: the shuttle to the stadium from the Parsons Engineering parking lot, the Eight Clap, the Victory Bell (no matter who I am a fan of, I will always love beating the Trojans) and the incredible feeling you get coming out of the long tunnels and seeing the Rose Bowl field for the first time that day. Over the next 13 years, I grew up in Sections 20 and 21, and the gameday traditions became second nature to me. I also learned about the history of the program; the 1954 National Title team, the late Terry Donahue, and the 13-9 victory over Pete Carroll’s Trojans, just to name a few. I never thought I could love a team as much as I loved my Bruins.
However, it was not UCLA which I decided to call home for my college education. After weighing all the options, I could not turn down the outstanding Media School at IU, and the unmatched passion of Indiana fans definitely helped win me over. When I arrived on campus in the fall of last year, I decided to figure out IU’s gameday traditions as I went along. There was no better way to learn than a nearly sold out home opener against Ohio State.
As the band was playing pregame, something happened that surprised me. For those who do not know, UCLA has an “Eight Clap” cheer, and it goes, “U, C, L, A, UCLA, Fight! Fight! Fight!” (I am skipping over the fist pumping, but for any UCLA fans reading, do not worry I know). As the IU band was playing “Indiana Fight,” the crowd boomed “GO! IU! Fight! Fight! Fight!” and all I could do was chuckle. I found some comfort in the fact that, even though I had moved across the country where I did not know nearly anybody when I got here, the same cry of “Fight! Fight! Fight!” is shared wherever I go.
As a UCLA fan, the game on Saturday would make me nervous. I would be nervous about the team getting embarrassed on the field, and fans getting embarrassed in the stands. On the field, this is one of the biggest moments in UCLA football history. After destroying the Pac-12 to move to this conference, the only way to avoid ridicule may be to win this game. In the stands, UCLA has struggled with drawing crowds for many years, which frustrated me as a dedicated fan. (The same issue has also followed me to Indiana, but I will get to that later.)
If UCLA fans are outnumbered in their own stadium by Hoosier fans, the ridicule from the rest of the Big Ten, the rest of the country even, will be painful. For UCLA fans, my parents and my grandparents included, this game is a lot about pride. It is about showing the country that UCLA is a serious football program that will one day compete for a Big Ten title. It is about showing the country that UCLA fans are here, they are numerous and they are passionate. Now, make no mistake, no matter what it looks like in the stands, UCLA fans are just as passionate and numerous as any other fanbase out there, but the game this weekend is about proving it.
As an Indiana fan, this game also makes me nervous (well, to be honest, every game makes me nervous). However, this time it is for different reasons. I am nervous about IU being the same old IU and losing a winnable game. I am nervous that after all the hype leading up to this season that Indiana will lose, the hype will disappear, and the momentum for this season will evaporate in the California dry heat.
I am also nervous about the crowd, but not the one that will be at the game on Saturday — I am nervous about the crowds back in Bloomington the following weekend for the game against Charlotte.
If the Hoosiers drop this game in Pasadena, my concern is, with the hype gone, the fans will not show up at Memorial Stadium. I worry that the students will not stay any longer than the first half (which is already a huge problem which could only get worse with a loss). The general public will not want to spend money on tickets — they will want to save it for basketball season. All of this to say, Indiana’s 2024 season relies heavily on momentum, both on the field, and off. This is where we find out if this train is going to stay on track or not.
This weekend will be an emotional one for me. I feel incredibly connected to UCLA, its fans, and the Rose Bowl. Even though I am an Indiana fan through and through, I still hold a soft spot for those Bruins with whom I spent so many Saturdays of my childhood. Let us just say I hope IU crushes UCLA on Saturday, and then has the opportunity to do it again in the Big Ten title game.
Anyways, back to reality. This weekend will be one that Hoosiers and Bruins alike will never forget. One school’s worries will be validated, and the others will be erased. As for me, I will try to take it all in. It will be difficult to go to the Rose Bowl, my home for the past 13 years, as a visiting fan for the first time. I will have to stop myself from doing the Eight Clap by muscle memory, from clapping and singing the UCLA Fight Song, from smiling when the Victory Bell rings on third down, and from high-fiving my father on a good Bruins play.
When it is all said and done, I will be proud of my Hoosiers, and my family will be proud of their Bruins. No matter which school we are rooting for, there is one thing we can agree on: “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
