MISSING PERSONS THE USC BASKETBALL PROGRAM HAS THE GOODS - JUST NOT THE FANS.Byline: STEVE DILBECK The poor little Trojans basketball team. An orphan in their own home. Treated like some dark family secret. They're coming off one of the greatest seasons in USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. men's basketball history and can't cause a campus ripple. They won 24 games last season, reached the Elite Eight for the first time and in their first game of the season at the Sports Arena drew a home crowd of ... 3,136. Some bar mitzvahs have better turnouts. The USC faithful treat their hoop stars like some badminton badminton (băd`mĭntən), game played by volleying a shuttlecock (called a "bird")—a small, cork hemisphere to which feathers are attached—over a net. Light, gut-strung rackets are used. team. They're not an afterthought af·ter·thought n. An idea, response, or explanation that occurs to one after an event or decision. afterthought Noun 1. , they're a no thought. It wasn't like disaster was forecast. The Trojans opened the season ranked 20th in the country. And then they walked on the Sports Arena floor for the first time since that exciting tournament run, and USC coach Henry Bibby Charles Henry Bibby (born November 24, 1949 in Franklinton, North Carolina) is a former professional basketball player and current assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). looked up and saw 13,000 empty seats staring back. And he immediately thought: ``What does it take?'' In their next home game, the home total swelled to 3,344. This is not momentum. USC Athletic Director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic Mike Garrett Michael Lockett Garrett (born April 12, 1944 in Los Angeles, California) is a former American football player who won the 1965 Heisman Trophy as a tailback for the University of Southern California Trojans. was so distraught, he all but pleaded with USC fans to come out and show the team support. In his monthly column on the school Web site, he raved about the team, their ``magical season'' and then said: ``I'm still disappointed with the crowds at our early home games. It's remarkable that less than 3,500 people came out for each of our first two games to cheer for a team coming off an appearance in the Elite Eight.'' Maybe, and maybe it's just a lifelong trend holding firm. USC basketball can't seem to win for winning. Even when they went 24-2 back in 1971, they averaged only 7,403. And that's their highest average ever. The Trojans have put together three consecutive winning seasons, and Bibby retains high hopes for this season's squad. Yet after all that excitement the Trojans appeared to create before finally getting knocked off by eventual champ Duke in last season's NCAA Tournament NCAA Tournament can mean: Men's Sports
``I look around and see we have 3,100, 5,000 people, that concerns me,'' Bibby said. ``You get more energy, more juice for the games when you see more people out there. ``My job is more about being concerned my basketball team and where we are, but you do look around and say, `What is it going to take? You went to the Elite Eight last year. Now you should go to the Final Four? Maybe they'll come out then.' '' It isn't like the Trojans never see big crowds. Heck, they've already played before crowds of more than 10,000 - at Fresno and Bradley. Bradley has an enrollment of 5,800. USC has more than 28,000 students, and as anyone living in L.A. could tell you, more alumni than the U.S. Army. Yet apparently only close friends and relatives of the team give a flying 180-degree slam. It's the homecourt without the homecourt advantage Noun 1. homecourt advantage - the advantage of playing on your home court in front of fans who are rooting for you advantage, vantage - the quality of having a superior or more favorable position; "the experience gave him the advantage over me" . ``Sure it has an impact on you,'' Bibby said. ``A lot of the guys, pro guys also, play for the crowd. And when there's nobody out there. ... You should have something to play for, but a lot of times guys don't have as much to play for. That's just human nature. ``I know a big crowd gets me excited. I feel better about situations when we're at Fresno State and there are 10,000 people with red shirts on cheering for their team. That makes me get going, and I'm sure it does the same thing for our kids.'' Nothing like that road rush. The 6-2 Trojans can't even get any respect in their own arena. And we're talking about the Sports Arena, from which the Lakers See Lake poets , Kings, and even Clippers, fled. The only regular tenant left at the 42-year-old arena and they can't even get in for their biggest home game of the year. Last year, the Trojans drew 16,409 for their home game against UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX . This season, they'll host the Bruins at the Forum. An ice-show date pushed them out of the Sports Arena. The Sports Arena has long been identified as part of the attendance problem. It's not theirs, it's not on campus, it's old. USC has been talking about building an arena since Nixon was in the White House. Paul Westphal Not to be confused with Paul Westhead. Paul Westphal (born November 30 1950 in Torrance, California) is a retired American basketball player and coach in the NBA. A native of California, Westphal has had a storied career in the NBA, both as a player and as a head coach. said they showed him plans for the new arena when he showed up on campus in 1969. USC, sort of identified with money, hasn't been able to raise the $70 million needed for a new arena in more than 30 years. Disinterest dis·in·ter·est n. 1. Freedom from selfish bias or self-interest; impartiality. 2. Lack of interest; indifference. tr.v. To divest of interest. Noun 1. runs at all levels. The student section at the Sports Arena doesn't exactly lend itself to rabid fan support. Unlike most colleges that put the student crazies at midcourt, where they can have the greatest impact, USC's student section is behind the south basket. The primo seats on each side of the floor are reserved for those with deep pockets who join a USC support group. That means if you donate the proper amount of money to an athletic-support group, you get season tickets as part of your package, whether you want them or not. Looks like a lot of tickets are going unused. This doesn't make for a serious homecourt advantage. This doesn't make for a homecourt advantage. ``The larger the crowd, the greater the advantage,'' Garrett said. ``Our players encounter it every time we go on the road and I wish they had that kind of support at home.'' For USC, home is where the heart is, just not the homecourt advantage. WHERE FANS ARE GOING Average attendance figures for major teams in the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. area. The figures are through Monday's games or for most recent season. The number of home dates are in parentheses See parenthesis. parentheses - See left parenthesis, right parenthesis. . 1. UCLA FOOTBALL 66,613 (5) 2. USC FOOTBALL USC football refers to either of two NCAA Division I-A college football programs:
3. DODGERS 35,078 (81) 4. ANGELS 27,777 (81) 5. LAKERS 18,997 (18) 6. CLIPPERS 16,540 (18) 7. GALAXY 16,206 (17) 8. KINGS 15,582 (17) 9. DUCKS 11,666 (18) 10. SPARKS 9,279 (16) 11. AVENGERS 7,652 (7) 12. UCLA BASKETBALL7,486 (3) 13. USC BASKETBALL 4,234 (5) 14. PEPPERDINE BASKETBALL 2,150 (3) PERCENTAGE OF CAPACITY The Lakers have sold out each of their 18 home games, which means their average attendance is the highest percentage of capacity among Los Angeles-area teams. Each team's percentage of capacity follows. The figures are through Monday's games or for the most recent season. 1. LAKERS 100 2. CLIPPERS 88 3. KINGS 86 4. UCLA FOOTBALL 73 5. PEPP PEPP Payment Error Prevention Program PEPP Pediatric Education for Prehospital Professionals PEPP Professional Engineers in Private Practice (division of NSPE) PEPP Probation Environmental Preservation Project . BASK bask intr.v. basked, bask·ing, basks 1. To expose oneself to pleasant warmth. 2. To take great pleasure or satisfaction: . 69 6. DUCKS 68 7. USC FOOTBALL 63 8. DODGERS 63 9. ANGELS 62 10. UCLA BASK. 58 11. *GALAXY 54 12. SPARKS 49 13. AVENGERS 48 14. USC BASK. 27 *-The Galaxy, whose home is an altered Rose Bowl, played one game at Cal State Fullerton. CAPTION(S): photo, 2 boxes Photo: (color) no caption (ghosted image of empty stadium seats) Photo Illustration/Daily News Box: (1) WHERE FANS ARE GOING (see text) (2) (Ran in Final edition only) PERCENTAGE OF CAPACITY (see text) |
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