Jumping Through Hoops

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Most Angelenos and sports fans have probably heard of the Bowl Championship Series, or BCS, for college football. It’s an imperfect computer rating system, based on a bunch of variables, intended to produce the top teams in order nationally. The two top teams ranked by the BCS near the end of each season play for the national championship, and this season it’ll be played on Jan. 7 in Pasadena between Alabama and Texas.

The problem this year is that there were five undefeated football teams. Could the BCS fairly reduce five to two, who’ll play for all the marbles at the Rose Bowl? It’s certainly an imperfect science, and it causes much local and national commotion each fall.

But just like the BCS system, UCLA has adopted its own computer point scheme to advance the redevelopment efforts of venerable Pauley Pavilion. And UCLA’s BCS-like ranking system is causing a big stir among donors, loyal season ticket holders and alumni in Westwood.

Pauley Pavilion, which opened in 1965, is due to be remodeled and upgraded shortly. It’s expected to close in March 2011 and reopen its doors in fall 2012, according to UCLA. Efforts have been made to raise private money to modernize the historic facility. As of October, UCLA claims to have raised $58 million in donations.

The school has instituted a convoluted point system to award people newly stamped season tickets to men’s basketball games when Pauley reopens. Basically, the more points one acquires by the drop-dead date of March 31, 2011, the better your season tickets can be to watch the gritty Bruins basketball team the following year.

According to department officials, points are awarded for consecutive years of holding season tickets and sponsorship to the Wooden Athletic Fund. The amount of lifetime donations to the school is also very relevant to point collection. Minor amounts are accumulated for being an alumnus and prior varsity athlete, too.

But big points can be gathered now by making large contributions to the school’s Campaign of Champions. In fact, donors acquire more points contributing by Dec. 31 than by delaying the check until 2010 or 2011. The incentive is to donate now.

The point-gathering system is heavily weighted toward the dollar, overshadowing years of fan loyalty and tradition.

I have a good friend, Marv, an alumnus and season ticket holder for about 10 years with very good seats. “I just want to keep comparable seats to the ones I have now,” Marv said. “UCLA has requested $30,000 from me to the campaign, but I’m not sure that will do the trick. The school said a $50,000 pledge had a better chance of guaranteeing my seats.”

Then there’s Hal, another close friend of mine and season ticket holder for about 30 years. He’s opting out of the bidding war for new tickets.

“If I’m going to contribute $30,000 and I can’t get my same seats after 30 years, then something’s wrong,” Hal said. “I’d rather watch the games on the big screen at home.”

Dollars seem to speak more loudly than loyalty at UCLA these days. And it’s probably not the best message to send to students and our younger generation.

When Pauley Pavilion reopens in 2012, there will be many new faces in seats. Thousands of loyal season ticket holders and alumni will be displaced by UCLA’s point system. Many fans simply can’t afford $30,000 pledges to keep quality basketball tickets.

No doubt, the school’s BCS-like system is rewarding the rich and slighting the passionate middle-class fan who has loyally attended games for years. Let’s just hope corporate clients and new faces in rows and the hot dog lines will be as passionate about UCLA basketball as the veterans they’re displacing.

Yes, today there’s quite an uproar and big stir happening across campus in Westwood. And there’s no easy trick or solution to calm the disgruntled.

Ted Lux, a graduate of UCLA, has been involved in real estate lending in the Los Angeles area for more than 20 years. He is author of the investment book “Exposing the Wheel Spin on Wall Street.”

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