The Venue

Pauley Pavilion opened in June, 1965. In the years since it opened, it has been the site of the 1984 Olympics gymnastics (I was there), The 1992 MTV Video Awards (I was there too), hundreds of concerts (I've been to several), a 1988 presidential debate between George Bush and Michael Dukakis (missed that one), and of course the UCLA men's and women's basketball and vollyball teams.

With the bleachers in use, Pauley has an official seating capacity of 12,819. Without the bleachers, it can accomodate 10,337. The highest actual attendance it has had for a men's basketball game was 13,478 for the UCLA vs. Duke game on February 23, 1997. I was at the game. I don't know where they squeezed in the extra people, but it was packed. At the time, Duke was ranked number 6 in the AP polls, but UCLA beat them 73-69. The previous high-attendance game was also against Duke, in 1992. I was also at that game, though the Bruins lost 75-65.

Recently, along with the Wooden Center, Pauley has become the summer mecca for pick-up basketball at the highest level. Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, and a host of other NBA and collegiate players flock to UCLA to enjoy basketball at a street level, but with much better than street skills.

Since Pauley Pavilion opened, UCLA men's basketball's record in the building is 473-53. Of the 53 losses, 31 have been to conference opponents. From 1970 through 1976, UCLA had a home winning streak in Pauley of 98 games!!!. Last season (1997-8) the Bruins were 13-2 in Pauley, with only losses to Arizona and Stanford.

One of the prominent features of Pauley Pavilion is the banners hanging in the rafters. It's gotta be intimidating for opposing teams to come into Pauley and see ELEVEN NCAA men's basketball national championships hanging up there, not to mention the other banners for the NIT championship and volleyball championships.