USRT California - Day 1
Our first day of the California adventure is in the books, and what a day it was!
We got up early and rolled out of San Diego to meet up with one of our sports buddies from LA Ray Oropeza, who invited us to join in for breakfast at a really nicely appointed downtown bistro. Ray is a USC alum and a big Trojans fan, and we shared some great sports anecdotes over omelets and eggs benedict. He also fixed us up with a parking pass in the Museum of History parking lot two blocks from the Coliseum, which as we found out came in very handy, as parking is scarce and VERY expensive.
After getting situated, we walked around the stadium and the adjoining neighborhood, and discovered two things - the area around the Coliseum really isn’t as scary as some would make it out to be. Lots of new condos and retail going up or opened, the park surrounding the Coliseum is very nice, and the talk is rampant that this will be USC’s last year there, as the NFL has designs on razing the building, saving the iconic arches, and building a brand new stadium for an eventual pro team (and what team might that be?!). The second thing we found is that USC tailgating and pregame partying is absolutely awesome; there was entertainment, food, canopies, grills and decorations everywhere and it was an electric and festive scene.
USC was playing their arch rival UCLA, for the right to a berth in the Rose Bowl. The crowd was energetic right from the get go, and the dueling bands during the pregame set the stage for the hatred these two programs have for each other. Form there it was pretty much all Trojans, capitalizing on multiple turnovers to take a 17-7 halftime lead and went on to win the game 24-7. This gave them a record 6th conference championship in a row and their 32nd Rose Bowl appearance. Absolutely amazing!
One cool element during the game is that they light the Olympic cauldron in the arched end zone at the end of the 3rd quarter, to the delight of the crowd.
Coolest t-shirt: “A Bruin is forever, while a Trojan you use but one time.” Heh heh.
It’s Saturday night relaxing at our hotel, gonna grab a bite in a bit and gear up for our big NBA doubleheader at the Staples Center tomorrow - Clippers in the matinee and then the Lakers in the nightcap.
