Ben Bolch - 100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die

To Emma and Max, who amaze me every day.

Contents

Foreword by Gail Goodrich

My love affair with UCLA began in the spring of 1960, following my junior year in high school. That was when I received a letter from Jerry Norman, UCLAs assistant basketball coach, expressing interest in my basketball potential. In late October of that year, coach John Wooden invited my dad and me to visit the UCLA campus and watch practice. Wooden also offered me a basketball scholarship. Needless to say, I was thrilled. My dream growing up in Southern California, only 16 miles from The Hills of Westwood, was to play college basketball. Coach Wooden had just given me the opportunity to pursue my dream.

UCLA is a very unique institutiona school with a reputation for excellence in academics, research, and diversity as well as tremendous athletic accomplishments. My parents always stressed the need for higher education and knowledge. UCLA was perfect for me. It was the place where I was able to experience college life, grow as an individual, expand my horizons, and begin the journey that would enable me to meet challenges later in life.

During my years at UCLA, the basketball program began to excel. We won consecutive national championships in 1964 and 65. We were a group of players from totally diverse backgrounds who came together and coalesced into a real team to reach a common goal. Life lessons were learned from Coach Wooden in the pursuit of perfection. Who could forget Coachs annual tutorial on how to put on your socks and lace up your sneakers? Furthermore, never to be forgotten are Woodens daily afternoon practice admonitions: Be quick, but dont hurry, Make every day your masterpiece, and Goodness gracious sakes alive with every mistake.

Our team formed lasting friendships. A special bond of shared experiences and enduring respect exists to this day. The 1960s were a time of unrest in the country, but there was a sense of pride and excitement among the students when it came to UCLA basketball. It was the beginning of 10 championships in 12 years for the Bruins. UCLA became the most prestigious college basketball school in the country.

UCLA also experienced athletic excellence on the football field, with Rose Bowl appearances, as well as track and field championships and national titles in other sports. Such notable athletes as Arthur Ashe, Jackie Robinson, Rafer Johnson, and Kenny Washington provided outstanding performances while at UCLA and in the years to follow. Since the 1960s, the Bruins have in many ways dominated college sports, becoming the first university to reach 100 NCAA championships.

UCLA provided me with incredible memories I will always cherish. There were enjoyable times spent with teammates, fraternity brothers, and friends with whom I shared both campus life and leisure time in Westwood Village, which was a huge part of college life. Whatever the interest, UCLA offers something for everyone.

The school has grown tremendously through the years with the expansion of its facilities. College athletics has changed in recent years with emphasis on athletics as a business. For me, however, college athletics will always be about preparation, competition, and perseverance toward victory on the playing field.

This book is a series of vignettes of famous UCLA players, coaches, games, and things to do. It documents many of the accomplishments by the Bruins in all sports and is a must read for all of the schools alumni and fans.

Gail Goodrich

Foreword by Kenny Easley

As a senior at Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, Virginia, Id told anyone who would listen that I was going to attend and play football for the University of Michigan. However, in the presence of my high school classmates and teachers assembled in the high school auditorium one morning in February 1977, I announced that I would attend UCLA. Gasps could be heard. Confusion reigned. Asked by friends and coaches afterward why I said UCLA, I told them I did not know. Perhaps it was divine intervention, but as they say, the proverbial cat was now out of the bag and there was no turning back.

I walked onto the campus of UCLA for the second time in July 1977, a few days before my first college football training camp was to begin. My first trip to UCLA had been during my official visit as a recruit in December 1976. My goal was to survey the area and take in the beauty of the campus. I was housed with the other freshman football players in Dykstra Hall, upwind from Drake Stadium (where the track and field team practiced and competed) and Spaulding Field (where football practices would be held). It was an easy walk down the hill going to practice, but a torturous walk up the hill after two-a-day practice sessions.

Fall classes wouldnt commence until after wed played two games in September, winning one and losing one. The Monday morning after the second gamea 177 victory for the Bruins against the University of Kansasa mass of humanity of all stripes was now moving about the campus of UCLA. I remember my first class, History 101b, where there were more people in the lecture hall than in my entire high school at Oscar Smith. Blew my mind! However, I was now also the starting free safety for the UCLA Bruins and playing with only a minimum amount of confidence, as I had to speed learn the defensive coverages because I was also charged with making the secondary calls. And that was much harder than starting as a freshman free safety.

Although my freshman season was literally a blur, I managed to lead what was then the Pacific-8 Conference with seven interceptions. I was named first team All-Pac-8 and Freshman Defensive Player of the Year, but we lost a nail-biter to Southern Cal, 2927, and a chance to play in the Rose Bowl. In fact, my biggest disappointment over my four years as a Bruin football player was that I never played in a Rose Bowl game. After the 77 season, I worked really hard to build up my body, as I had entered UCLA weighing only 177 pounds. I now knew I would not last long at this level if I did not add some weight and muscle to my frame.

Reminiscing now about the 1978 season, when I was a sophomore, we were good enough on defense to make a run at the national championship. I had put on 12 pounds (now weighing 189), shaved probably 1.2 seconds off my 40-yard-dash time, grown two inches, and was a much stronger player. We started the season with a great 107 victory over the Washington Huskies in Seattle, as I blocked a punt and Brian Baggott recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown and the win. (Interestingly, this would also be when Jack Patera, the Seattle Seahawks coach, said he started thinking about drafting me.) After eventually improving our record to 71, we lost back-to-back games against Oregon State (1513) and Southern Cal (1710) that we should have won. We went to the Fiesta Bowl and finished in a 1010 tie with Arkansas to conclude our season with an 831 record, Oh, well! Anyway, I made my first consensus All-American team in 1978.

I did six things really well over the next two years at UCLAI played good, confident football; I got bigger; I got better; I got stronger; I got faster; and I made All-American teams in 79 and 80. When the pro scouts came to UCLA for my pro day in March 1981, I was 6'2" and 210 pounds of sheer terror coming at a ball carrier from a 12-yard head start. UCLA had given me an opportunity to compete and play free safety as a freshman and I seized it and put a stranglehold on the position for the next four years. In 1980, we finally defeated Southern Cal, 2017, and that was the best gift I could have received as a departing senior.