Dec. 18, 2008

BY MARK PATTON
SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS

December 18, 2008 7:03 AM

Tis the season when UC Santa Barbara turns into UC Santa Claus.

Each year this month, Gauchos from every sport turn into Christmas elves -- 7-foot-3 basketball player Greg Somogyi included -- in such guises as the "Holiday SWishes and Baskets of Fun" and "Adopt A Family" programs.

And so a Westmont College alum decided that it would be a good time to jot out one of those letters to Santa and send it to UCSB baseball coach Bob Brontsema. His Christmas wish was for baseball equipment that might help the cross-town Warriors replace some of the things that were destroyed in the recent Tea Fire.

"We pretty much lost everything in the fire -- our dugouts, our bleachers, the fencing, some uniforms and just about all of our gear," coach Scott Deck said. "We pretty much had to shut down our fall season a whole month early."

But after receiving the letter, Santa Bronts reacted so lively and quick, all the Warriors knew in a moment that he must be St. Nick.

Brontsema enlisted Cal Poly coach Larry Lee and UC Irvine's Mike Gillespie to join him as the new Three Wise Men. But instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh, they delivered a dozen bats, many boxes of balls, several sets of catcher's gear and even bases.

Six Warrior baseball players were stunned when their workout at the charred remains of Russ Carr Field was interrupted by Santa Bronts lugging sacks of gear.

"The idea was just to help them get through a little tough time before they can get back on their feet," Brontsema said.

Deck was floored by the way Santa Bronts and his helpers decked his halls with balls of jolly.

"It was pretty overwhelming and humbling that they would take it upon themselves to do something like that," said Deck, whose season opener is just 43 days away. "We've been trying to build a program and we were having a really good fall, and then everything burns down ... It was pretty disheartening. But then to have your spirits lifted like this, the timing couldn't have been better.

"It made us realize that there are people out there who do care, and it just spoke volumes about UCSB and the class of the people over there."

It's nothing that the Gaucho coaches haven't been asking of their own players.

Earlier this week, the sight of Somogyi and several other basketball giants taking 52 needy youths on a Christmas shopping spree made quite a stir at Kmart. Several of the Gauchos even dug into their pockets to pad the $100 amount that each child was allowed to spend.

Brontsema has his own players give until it hurts -- donating blood twice a year. They've been able to help stock the Santa Barbara Blood Bank with about 60 pints of blood for each of the last 15 years.

It's helped to persuade me to give until my own muscles hurt this Sunday when the Santa Barbara Breakers conduct a basketball game to honor the Montecito Fire Protection Department and benefit the Tea Fire Long Term Recovery Fund.

The game, scheduled for Sunday at 4 p.m. at Westmont's Murchison Gym, will pit the Montecito fire fighters against a media-celebrity team that includes volleyball Olympian Dax Holdren and ex-NFL star Ron Heller.

Another exhibition game will follow, pitting the aspring pros of the West Coast Basketball League's Breakers and the Ventura Jets. A donation of $5 can be given at the door.

UCSB baseball star Brian Gump is an aspring pro himself, having been drafted last spring by the New York Mets. But the Gauchos centerfielder returned for his senior year to continue his education -- and his good work as co-president of the Student Athletic Advisory Board with track and field star Kayla Smith.

"It's not like Brian is from a real weathy family, he works on the events staff just to help him get through college," Brontsema said. "You read and hear on TV so much about the selfish student-athlete who gets into trouble, but there are far more who are like Brian -- who give of their time and are great students and great people."

Gump and Smith spent much of the fall soliciting $2,000 from fellow athletes and ICA staff to help fund the SAAB's "Adopt A Family" program. They capped the campaign by purchasing Christmas gifts for the adopted families. They held a gift-wrapping party last Thursday.

For several recipients, food topped their list of Christmas wishes.

"Some of these families are so needy," Gump said. "Some don't even have the money to buy their work shoes or clothes.

"When I got nominated to be SAAB president, I really didn't want it at first. I wasn't sure that I'd have the time. But now I'm really glad I'm doing it.

"It's helped me grow as a person."

Playing Santa can make a person feel jolly, too.

Mark Patton's column appears on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail: mpatton@newspress.com