USC/UCLA Football
When I was a wee lad, my Father & I would often go to UCLA Football or Basketball games. See, my Father was a clinical professor at UCLA for most of my younger years and decided that UCLA season tickets were the thing we needed to do. So, we did and we did it often. Probably for four or five years or so. While I remember the football games most vividly, I don’t remember the name of any of the athletes save one Basketball player, Kiki Vandeweghie (now the GM of the Denver Nuggets). I know I saw a number of future NBA and NFL players, but hell if I can remember their names. Going to the games was lots of fun, but I think mostly it was fun hanging out with my Dad eating hot dogs and the occasional sip from his beer cup.
Getting back to the games, every year the game I looked most forward to was the annual USC/UCLA Football match-up, easily the biggest rivalry in Los Angeles sports. The games were rowdy. The games were loud. The games were amazing. For this young guy the cheering, chanting, booing (of Tommy Trojan, naturally) and everything else was just an enormous blast. No experience like it in live sporting events to be certain. USC/UCLA sporting events are like human sized cock fights in a bowl of jelly that’s been lit on fire. So much fun.
A month or so ago Tracy called to see if I wanted to go to this year’s USC/UCLA Football game at the World Famous Rose Bowl (while it’s got history, it’s a piece of stuck poo). It’s been a long time since I’d been to one of those matches, so I figured it was time. BTW, she’s a USC fan. Boo.
I go to a lot of sporting events. Lots and lots of Clippers games. Good loads of Lakers and Kings games. I get to at least three or four Dodger games a year (went to the fourth playoff game this year) and maybe one or two Angel games. I’ve been to Anaheim Duck’s games and loads of games outside LA. I’ve even been to an XFL game. And let me tell you this people who might be reading – there’s nothing that compares to the excitement of a USC/UCLA Football game.
Sure, I’ve been to heated and exciting sporting events. I’ve been to NBA Playoff games, Stanley Cup final games, great rivalries like Dodgers vs. Giants, but there’s something special about the USC/UCLA Football rivalry. College sporting events have so much more spirit than professional games. I was decked out in my UCLA finest in a sea of crimson and gold. I sat for maybe ½ of the game. Lots of up and down, screaming and yelling. And it turned out to be a great game. The final five minutes of the game you stood the entire time. The final minute was tense as it looked like UCLA was possibly going to steal the game. The 88,943 people in the stadium lent a special energy that if possible to be captured would light the city of Las Vegas for three days straight.
I admit, the first five minutes of the game this last Saturday had me a little teary eyed. It reminded me of all those games I went to with my dad. It reminded me of just how much fun it was.
I had forgotten just how exciting college sports can be. I’ve already called about getting some UCLA Basketball tickets for this season. Can’t wait for that.
To finish, here are some images snapped with my camera phone while at the game. BTW, for those of you without the sports knowledge, O.J. Simpson’s USC football jersey was adorned with the number 32. Make with the click for the largeness.
