Why am I calling them "kids"? I think I am officially old.

I'm not really into football, but I'd have to be in a coma to not know there was a huge UCLA/USC game today. When I left for the gym around 4:00, the game had just started and UCLA had a short lead.

After my workout I headed to the nearby Whole Foods, which is located across from all the UCLA fraternity houses in Westwood Village. (Mmmm, fraternity boys...) Just as I started to wonder if the game was over yet, I heard a roar of cheers, shouting from the streets that sounded loud even from inside my car - with the windows closed and the radio on. The cheers continued as I walked from my car to the store entrance, and were audible thoughout the entire front half of the market. Even I knew that UCLA was the underdog in the game, and, since I have no allegiance one way or another, was kind of pleased that they pulled it off.

I drove home through the village, and passed throngs of students partying in the streets, yelling, cheering, fists pumping in the air. Other cars were honking in spirit, flashing their lights, as kids stood up through the sunroofs, whooped through the windows. Normally I'd probably be annoyed at that stuff, but it so reminded me of my sophmore year at Syracuse when our basketball team made the Final Four, and I smiled with pride at the memory.

One of the reasons I had wanted to go to Syracuse because they had decent sports teams and were known across the country for it. My high school was small, and while we had a good basketball team, our football team suffered a 20 game losing streak over the course of two years. I had a lot of school spirit, but high school only wet my palate for the tailgating parties and excitement I knew that a major college could deliver.

By second semester sophmore year, I was going out four nights a week anyway; March Madness just gave us all a reason to. The night we won the game that led us into the Final Four, all the students poured out of the bars, dancing and shouting in the streets just like the kids tonight. When we played Kentucky, a few nights later, I went to Harry's because they brought in huge screen TV's and served .50 cent Bud Lights, so it was the only place to be seen on M street. I barely remember watching the game; in fact, I may be mixing up memories here because I seem to remember cheering in the freezing Syracuse streets after that game as well - only we lost. But still, it was the furthest our team had gone in a long, long time, and we were all so happy to have been a part of it. The camraderie, the spirit, the .50 cent Bud Lights - life really did not get much better. Watching the UCLA kids tonight totally brought me back.

Fortunately, more than ten years later, I still have the Syracuse camraderie and the spirit, although drinks are a hell of a lot more expensive. The memories, however, are priceless.