April 23rd

Scott Levine
Pi Kappa Phi

Circle April 23rd on your calendar.  Set a reminder on your iPhone.  Whatever you do, just remember the date.  That is the day UCLA will get a taste of what it is like to have its own football team. 

Saturday, April 23rd is the date of the annual spring football scrimmage.  Spring games are held at pretty much every college.  It’s the culmination of spring practices when the team gets to put on the pads and play in an actual game.  While they are playing against themselves, from a fan’s point of view, it’s the only taste of collegiate football until September.

So if this is an annual event, why is this year special?  This year the spring game returns to Drake Stadium.  For the first time in years, UCLA football will be playing a game…on campus.  No carpooling to Pasadena.  No rooter bus.  On April 23rd, all you have to do to support Bruin football is roll out of bed and walk ten minutes to Drake Stadium.

Now imagine this scene.  After struggling to get dressed, eat and shower after a pleasant Friday night, you finally walk out your door to get some fresh air.  You walk over to frat row.  Suddenly you realize that there is no car traffic.  All you can see is a sea of blue shirts.  College students are walking about wearing UCLA shirts.  Grills are going in front of every house, and everyone is laughing, drinking, and hanging out.  The sun is shining, and life is good.  Its gameday and you are tailgating.

This is the normal scene on Saturdays for most big time D-1 football programs.  As I noted in “Football Fans at UCLA Must Step It Up,” schools like Penn State and Michigan “basically turn frat row into one giant tailgate party.”  That is the benefit of having a stadium on campus.  For their football games, they don’t need to wake up at 8 am in order to commute to the Rose Bowl and still have time to tailgate.  They get to wake up when they please and walk outside and partake in all the festivities we hold dear. 

This is why April 23rd is so special.  For the first time in years (the spring game used to always be held on campus), we can feel like an actual football school.  Schools like Florida have their spring games broadcast on national television and play in front of packed crowds.  I’m only asking you to fill up Drake Stadium and support our team.  There’s nothing better than football; but football is a whole lot better when it is preceded by a giant tailgate party that you don’t have to drive to Pasadena to attend.

Scott Levine is a sophomore studying business economics.  You can contact him at SLevine1@ucla.edu.