Spectator Spectacles

From guys in funny hats to sports lovers who dress up in costume for women’s volleyball games, UCLA inspires its own kind of fanatics. We celebrate their support and salute some of the more imaginative Bruin die-hards.

So you think you're a fan?

You go to all the UCLA home football games, never miss a UCLA men's basketball game on television? You attend the occasional volleyball match, gymnastics meet or softball game? You revel in each Bruin victory and suffer with each Bruin loss?

Sure, you're a fan. But in the world of UCLA athletics, there are fans and there are … spectacular spectators.

There's the highly visible fan, exemplified by alumni cheerleader Geoff Strand '71, who can be found at the Rose Bowl on football Saturdays exhorting "every man, woman and child" to stand up and scream their lungs out. There's the behind-the-scenes fan, who gets his or her fix of Bruin sports on BruinReportOnline.com (BRO), owned by Tracy Pierson '83. BRO typically gets 300,000 page views and thousands of message board posts each day. It's a Web site for the "knowledgeable, but also slightly obsessed, fan," Pierson says. Yes, UCLA fans run the gamut, and some of them reach new heights to prove their loyalty, as you'll see when you meet the following folks. These Bruins—while completely different—are all true blue.

The Denizens

On a cool January night, 16 members of The Den, UCLA's official student fan group, are huddled together in a small conference room in the J.D. Morgan Center to discuss upcoming business. If you've gone to any UCLA sporting event in the last few years, or even if you've just watched some events on TV, you've seen The Den. The blue-shirted students can be seen jumping and cheering in the bleachers at Pauley Pavilion, in the seats of the Rose Bowl and at just about every other venue that supports UCLA athletics.

On this night, there are many agenda items, so President Matt Crisafulli keeps the meeting moving at a brisk pace. "To avoid using profanity on the referees, we need ideas," he begins. "We need chants that are effective, not lame."

Senior Christo Rose, sporting blue hair, offers, "How about, 'does your wife know you're screwing us?' " Everyone laughs. A female Den member suggests a chant she heard at another game: "I'm blind, I'm deaf, I want to be a ref."

Denizens obviously have fun, but it's not as easy as it looks. Crisafulli and his executive board—athletics coordinator Matt Monges, communications coordinator Bryan Parker and treasurer Brian Gay—organize a group of about 100 hardworking members who attend meetings, write for the group's newsletter, The Dirt From the Den, and serve as liaisons between The Den, the different sports teams and the Athletics marketing department. More than 500 students are on The Den's mailing list.

"Every year, we recruit great athletes who will carry on our championship traditions. In a sense, they are our 'future,' " says Dan Guerrero '74, director of intercollegiate athletics. "An equally important component to our success are the fans who support and attend Bruin athletic events, starting with our students. They, too, represent the future. Organizations like The Den germinate and promote the enthusiasm and loyalty that we trust will remain with our alumni long after they've exchanged backpacks for briefcases."

"The Den is the soul of our team," adds an appreciative Alfred Aboya, sophomore forward/center on the men's basketball team. "Our team feeds off of their enthusiasm. I think they're the best fans in the country."

The Strategist

He may not be a movie star, but Chuck Winner could be UCLA's answer to Jack Nicholson. The CEO and president of Encino, Calif.-based Winner & Associates—a strategic planning crisis management company that provides public relations for such clients as Edison International and Major League Baseball—proudly attends every UCLA men's home basketball game with his wife, Annie. They sit in the courtside seats Winner purchases for $23,000 per year.

"The ball will come at you, which is OK with me, but it scares my wife," says Winner, who is also a principal of Winner & Mandabach, a firm that handles ballot measure campaigns. "My job is to defend her," he adds, laughing.

A fan of UCLA basketball since 1947, when he was an asthmatic 6-year-old who would listen to the games on the radio, Winner started buying season tickets when he was a young man. "They were lousy seats, but they were all I could afford then," he says.

Today, he and Annie—parents of Zachary, Ethan, Nicole and Justyn '00—are grant-in-aid donors, having endowed two $100,000 scholarships in men's basketball and football. Winner also uses his expertise in strategic communications to provide free consulting services to UCLA Athletics, says Ken McGuire, associate athletic director for development. Lending his leadership, resources and staff, "Chuck advises the department on how best to present and market itself to its constituency and to the UCLA community as a whole," McGuire says. Through their relations with UCLA, the Winners have gotten to know the staff and players quite well, including head basketball Coach Ben Howland.

"Chuck and Annie are just warm, genuine people who care about others," Howland says. "It's nice when you get to know people and realize how wonderful they are and how much they give back to the community."

What makes it worthwhile to Winner are the kids. "I'm interested in watching these young guys grow and become men and great citizens. Watching them win is a bonus. But if they never won, if everything else was instilled in them, it would still be worth it."

The Disruptor

Bruin fans who attend the men's basketball games at Pauley Pavilion can't help but smile when they see Mark Kowal in action. From his seat on the floor level, Kowal does his best to distract opposing players when they line up to shoot free throws. He jumps up and down and waves his arms, his blue wig bobbing.

"Every time he does that, even if I'm on the bench, I crack a smile," says junior center Lorenzo Mata. "If I were on the other team, it sure would bother me."

Kowal, who is aphasic, estimates that his antics work about 65 percent of the time. He has sat in the same spot since 1995, when his brother, Eric '91, began working in the video unit of the Athletics Department and got the floor seats. Prior to that, Kowal sat in the upper level with his mother, Marti '78.

"I get to see the action up close and personal," Kowal says. "I know not only Coach Wooden, but I also know one of his former Bruin players, Michael Warren. And I'll also sometimes see Bill Walton."

Kowal used to wave blue and gold noodles (foam tubes), but he gave them to a kid last year after the UCLA-Oregon game. "I used to wave towels, but I probably lost them somewhere," he says.

When he's not working as a food sales clerk at the Los Angeles Zoo, Kowal enjoys bowling (his average is in the 180s) and supporting the UCLA football team and the UCLA women's gymnastics team. After he attended the NCAA gymnastics championship in 2004 in Pauley Pavilion, which the Bruins won, Kowal recalls receiving an e-mail from Coach Valorie Kondos Field '87. "It said, 'Thanks for supporting us. We needed a Bruin fan who is a real gymnastics expert,' " he says proudly.

The Centrists

There are 18 Olympic Sport Support Groups on campus, ranging from baseball to water polo, and each one is fiercely dedicated to its sport. Among the most enthusiastic is the women's basketball team's Center Court Club, whose 40 active members attend all home games in Pauley Pavilion and also travel to the Pac-10 Tournament in San Jose, Calif.

Frank Cardenas and his sister, Louisa Cardenas '74, have been loyal members of the Center Court Club for the past several years and are, in fact, staunch supporters of all women's sports. "What we try to do is get people to join Center Court Club," Frank says. "Get the information out; inform them as to what we do. There are other Pac-10 teams, such as the Oregon schools, whose clubs have around 8,000 members."

Membership in the club ranges from Bruin Circle ($200–$299) to Coach's Circle ($1,200–plus) and includes admission to games and invitations to team events. Last year, Frank—who is general manager of Casa Vega restaurant in Sherman Oaks, Calif.—designed T-shirts as a fund-raiser. He'll make more for the Pac-10 tournament.

"I wish there were more people who realize how important women's sports are, especially in terms of role modeling for young women," says Louisa, who retired from UCLA's Facilities Management department in 1993. "It's great to see the little girls come out and realize they can excel in a sport."

The club's efforts have paid off with at least one young woman. "When I first came here, Frank already knew a lot about me," says senior guard Noelle Quinn. "As a freshman, just having people who are so loving, kind and family-oriented really helped me to realize that I'm at a great place."

The Jolly Giants

Imagine an extremely tall bunch of guys dressed up as characters from The Wizard of Oz: Dorothy, Toto, the Tin Man, Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion … and three 6'8" Munchkins waving giant lollipops. If you were at the UCLA women's volleyball team's 2005 playoff game against the University of Kansas, you wouldn't have to imagine. You'd have been treated to the bizarre sight of Dorothy and gang, also known as the UCLA men's volleyball team, dressed in costume in support of their female compatriots.

"Ryan Ratelle was Dorothy, and he looked exactly like her," says junior Tony Ker, who plays libero on the men's team. "It was scary how much he could have passed for a girl. He even wore red women's underwear."

Women's Head Coach Andy Banachowski '68 appreciates having the support of other athletes at his team's matches. "The men's volleyball team has been our best fans for the past few years," he says. "They make it a fun event by dressing up in a particular 'theme' and coming to cheer the team on."

Before each women's game, Ker, the ringleader of the group, consults with a few teammates to decide how they'll dress. Past successes have included dressing up as huskies when the women played Washington, and having 6'9" sophomore Sean O'Malley dress up as a tree when the women played Stanford.

"During a break between games, we 'cut' Sean down," Ker says. "A couple of us had axes and we were like, 'Whack, whack!' And then he fell over. It was really funny."

Published Apr 1, 2007 8:00 AM