Just after the Bruin shuffle is played at every home game, UCLA’s most recognizable fan appears on the Jumbotron, dancing to the accompanying hamster jingle that is still blasting through the loudspeakers.
Yet Mark Kowal doesn’t need this kind of gimmick to gain attention. Clad in a blue wig and hoisting a pair of blue and gold Styrofoam noodles, he’s gained his reputation for what he does during the game.
From his front-row seat behind the eastside basket of Pauley Pavilion, Kowal will stand up, scream and flail his noodles wildly every time an opponent shoots a free throw. His distinct cackle with each miss can be heard from the rafters.
“The coaching staff tells me to keep up the good work, and I always do,” Kowal said.
Despite being diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder caused by brain damage that affects the ability to speak or write, Kowal seems to come through loud and clear in the stands. In an almost robotic voice, Kowal explains why his cheering affects the outcomes of the games.
“My secret is my Styrofoam noodles,” Kowal said. “It really makes a big difference between winning and losing games.”
Aphasia is more typically found among older individuals who have suffered strokes, yet Kowal, 39, has dealt with the disorder since birth. Nevertheless, he still worked his way through special education courses to earn a diploma from Eagle Rock High School, and he currently holds down two jobs. It’s little surprise that one of them is related to sports.
On nights when he’s not cheering on the Bruins, Kowal runs the scoreboard and shot clock at his high school alma mater’s basketball games. At a recent game, an opposing team’s principal marveled at how his school needed three people to do the job Kowal did by himself.
“He’s very independent,” his mother Marti said. “He also has an excellent memory and recalls specific games.”
At home games, Kowal meticulously tracks every free throw and field goal from both teams, pointing to statistics where he feels his cheering has jinxed the other team. While Pauley has not been considered a particularly intimidating place for visiting teams to play in recent years, Kowal has tried to give UCLA a home-court advantage by his lonesome.
“He’s always taken it so seriously, watching which side wins and the percentages,” Marti said. “He thinks everyone should cheer. Even in the Steve Lavin years, when everyone was down on Lavin, he thought everyone should cheer.”
Rooting for a program that had struggled immensely over the past few years was never a problem for Kowal. When the Bruins trailed Arizona by 11 points at halftime last year, he would tell nearby Wildcat fans that they had better watch out because UCLA was a second-half team.
“He always thinks we’re going to win,” said his brother Eric, who works for UCLA’s video-editing department and gets basketball tickets for Kowal. “He never gives up.”
Yet despite his feverish cheering, Kowal does not get overly disappointed when the Bruins lose. For Kowal, there is always a next time and this optimistic attitude translates to other aspects of life as well.
An avid bowler, he never got upset like some of the other kids when he didn’t get a strike.
“Mark always figured he could get a strike on the next one,” Marti said.
Having attended every home game this year, there’s always been another chance for Kowal to rattle a free-throw shooter or dance to the Bruin shuffle. Yet for all the energy he expends, Kowal says he never gets tired of cheering.
“I do it for fun,” he said. “That’s my secret.”