Friday, Dec. 1, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.
His UCLA teammates continue to rib junior defender Mike Zaher about his starring role in singer JoJo's "Too Little Too Late" music video.
"Yeah, it's a nice ongoing joke," Zaher said. "Hey, if they had the opportunity, they'd have jumped in line for it, too. But as much as they mess with me, they think it's cool."
In the video, Zaher declines to take a call from JoJo on his cell phone, then he's seen with other girls. Soccer is a main theme, and he misses a crucial late goal. Then the sun breaks through a cloud for JoJo, whose real name is Joanna Noelle Levesque. The song was a Top-10 hit from her second album, "The High Road."
JoJo picked him out of a crowd for the starring role. He read some simple lines into the camera.
"They said, 'Maybe the producer will like you? Who knows?' " Zaher said. "I had no clue, whatsoever. They called the next day and said the producer loved it, this and that, and they wanted me to be the main guy. It landed in my lap."
The soccer scenes were filmed at East L.A. College's football stadium, and other scenes were shot at a home in Hollywood and at Universal Studios.
Zaher, 21, heard he typically would have made nearly $8,000 for working three days on the project. "That wouldn't have been bad," he said. But NCAA rules prohibit him from earning soccer-related income.
He did make a new friend; JoJo, who turns 16 on Dec. 20, has visited L.A. a couple of times since that May shoot.
"We're pretty good friends," Zaher said. "She's from Boston. When she's bored in L.A., she calls me. I'll pick her up and we hang out, go to the movies or a restaurant. She's young, but she's a nice girl and real talented."
As UCLA prepares to play for the national soccer championship, Las Vegas native Mike Zaher recalls that he nearly left the team after his freshman season. He considered transferring to Oregon State to continue a soccer legacy left unfinished by his late brother, Joe.
"I wanted to go up there and experience what he experienced," Mike Zaher said. "He was only there four months, but he made great friends. Then I thought, I made this decision to come to UCLA, so I'll stick to it.
"I absolutely think he'd be proud of what I decided."
Starting today Zaher, a junior defender, will try to help the Bruins win their fifth national title in the College Cup in St. Louis. UCLA plays Virginia in the semifinal; UC Santa Barbara plays Wake Forest .
Today also is the fourth anniversary of Joe's death in a single-truck accident on a wet Las Vegas road. He had just won Pac-10 Conference freshman-of-the-year acclaim and the Beavers had just played in their first NCAA tournament match.
Losing a slew of key veterans and a general discomfort at UCLA made Zaher seriously ponder leaving Westwood in February 2005. Ultimately, he couldn't renege on his original commitment to the Bruins, so he didn't sign the transfer papers.
Now Zaher, 21, is a key veteran on a UCLA team that has the tight camaraderie he's always sought.
Before playing Duke last weekend in Durham, N.C., Zaher wore a T-shirt adorned with a photograph of the two brothers, above the dates of Joe's birth and death. He choked up explaining what Dec. 1 meant to him.
"It's where I need to be," he said, "to play for and with my brother (on my mind)."
The Bruins rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win, 3-2, in overtime. Zaher assisted on the Sal Zizzo goal that tied it, 2-2, in the 78th minute.
Zaher (rhymes with care) said he relishes talking about his older brother. "I knew my teammates would understand," Zaher said. "Maybe it would bring a little inspiration to the table. I really thanked the guys after the game for pushing. It was like fate ."
Some visitors to Zaher's apartment in Westwood are caught off guard by the many photographs of Joe .
His favorite, which he had made into a poster that hangs above his bed, shows Joe smiling and zipping back downfield after scoring against California. It took place weeks before his death, about the time Mike helped Bishop Gorman win a state championship. Their mother, Maureen, didn't know that Joe had his tongue pierced until she saw that picture.
"You can see the excitement he had for the game," Mike Zaher said. "The expression on his face he's so happy. It was awesome. Breathtaking."
A friend had Joe's image lasered onto dog tags that Mike Zaher wears around his neck. Six of Joe's former Oregon State teammates got tattoos in his memory. They sent Maureen Zaher photographs of the tattoos and a heartfelt poem encased in a glass frame after Joe's funeral and wake.
"The wake was the shocker for the family," Mike Zaher said. "The amount of people who showed was incredible. Some people couldn't get into the auditorium. As sad as it was, it was awesome to hear some people whose lives he had been a part of."
Zaher returned to Gorman recently to fire up the soccer team, including younger brothers Zac and Sean, before a state semifinal match against Las Vegas High. Zaher slipped into the team's Crusader mascot outfit, and interim coach Nick Arbelaez turned over the pre-game talk to him.
"They thought, 'Huh? What the (heck) does the mascot have to say?' " Zaher said. "Then Zac and Sean heard my voice, then I flipped off the top. They smashed Vegas." Zac scored twice in the 5-1 victory.
Gorman, with two more goals from Zac, beat Silverado for the title. Zac has committed to play at Oregon State.
"It'll be a good experience for him," Mike Zaher said. "I'm really proud of him. It's cool to see him go to Oregon State. I think he'll love it there."
MIKE ZAHER
UCLA junior defender
Age: 21
Height: 5-feet-10
Weight: 165 pounds
Hometown: Las Vegas
Family: Mother, Maureen; father, Jack; younger brothers, Zac and Sean; and about five dozen extended family members in the area
High school: Bishop Gorman
Major: Business-Economics
Honors: First-team All-Pac-10, honorable mention conference All-Academic team
Favorite player: Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos
Resume: Gatorade state player of the year in 2004; two-time Parade All-America; member of U.S. Under-18 national team; earned varsity letter at Gorman in '04 in bowling; avid Risk player.
ON TV
Semifinal: UCLA vs. Virginia, 3 p.m. today, ESPN2
Championship: UCLA-Virginia winner vs. UC Santa Barbara-Wake Forest winner, noon Sunday, ESPN2
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