“Forgotten Hollywood”- UCLA Honors Jackie Robinson…
Manny P. here…
UCLA will retire number 42 across all of its sports in honor of Jackie Robinson. This was announced by UCLA Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero. The university is my alma mater.
All three UCLA student-athletes who currently wear number 42, senior women’s soccer defender Ally Courtnall, sophomore women’s softball utility player Jelly Felix, and freshman football linebacker Kenny Young will each be able to finish out their Bruin career donning the iconic number.
With UCLA football players wearing number 42 on their helmets and Robinson’s iconic number 42 painted onto the Rose Bowl field, UCLA made the announcement during the break between the first and second quarters of its annual crosstown rivalry football game. In conjunction with UCLA, the City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Committee, the Rose Bowl subsequently unveiled Jackie Robinson’s iconic number near the east scoreboard and will make it a permanent fixture in the historic stadium this offseason.
Additionally, UCLA will also permanently display Robinson’s iconic number 42 inside each of its athletic competition venues. The retirement of Robinson’s number 42 follows UCLA’s announcement of a series of 22 athletic and recreation facilities across campus that will be named the Jackie Robinson Athletics and Recreation Complex. Campus recognition of the complex will be an in-ground number 42 at each entry point to UCLA’s training centers, competition sites, fields, and stadiums as a reminder of Robinson’s courage in the face of adversity.
The UCLA Library carries Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History. This is an accurate Hollywood-and-Vine metaphoric moment in time.
Seventy-five years ago, Jackie Robinson claimed a place at UCLA. From 1939 to 1941, he starred in four sports. In football, Robinson played both offense and defense, returned punts, caught and threw passes, kicked extra points and in the process, earned honorable mention All-American accolades. In basketball, he twice led the Pacific Coast Conference in scoring. In track, he won the NCAA championship in the broad jump. And in baseball, he began his legendary journey as a highly-regarded shortstop for the Bruins.
Six years later, Jackie Robinson claimed a place in history. Wearing number 42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, on April 15, 1947, Robinson shattered the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Despite enduring racial abuse, jeers of fans and fellow players, death threats, and profound harassment, he endured it all with grace and dignity – not to mention exceptional play – earning Rookie of the Year honors and a National League Most Valuable Player award; in addition to helping the Dodgers win the 1955 World Series. A career .311 hitter, Robinson played in six World Series, six consecutive All-Star games, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, during his first year of eligibility.
Fighting tirelessly for civil rights and integration in professional sports after his time on the diamond, Robinson best summed up his own legacy with a typically understated yet poignant quote – A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2014 at 10:29 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
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