PARTISAN RESIDENTS RIB RIVALS; TROJAN FANS, BRUIN BACKERS GATHER TAUNTS IN SIDE BATTLES TO BIG GAME.Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer Jo Ann Jacks' boss kept sneaking by her desk this week to tape U-C-L-A over the USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. banner emblazoned atop a photo of Jacks and her family at a Trojans game. He sent e-mail messages that flashed ``Go Bruins'' across her computer screen, in a smug reminder that his team, not hers, is favored to win the Big Game today. These sorts of amusing high jinks played out in the Valley and all across Southern California the past few days, as hundreds of thousands of alums geared up for the annual gridiron clash that establishes bragging rights in a perennial winner-take-all contest that is the USC vs. 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 football game. But Howard Abrams, president of PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, Tax and Bookkeeping in Tarzana, had the nerve to go even further than good-natured razzing of his executive secretary. He had the gall to ask Jacks for game tickets. He pulled rank, pulled strings (albeit cardinal gold ones) to upgrade from the shoddy Coliseum end zone seats USC reserves for visiting fans. ``He called me into his office and said `Can you get me six tickets for the UCLA-USC game?' '' Jacks said, laughing at his gumption. ``And I said, `Well, they'd be in the middle of the USC cheering section.' And he said, `Well I don't care, at least they'll be better seats.' '' That's just a bit much for a USC fan to take, particularly when she's the president of the Trojans Club of the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. - a post Jacks assumed in July. Jacks dutifully procured the tickets, but she grumbled good-naturedly that Abrams' party of blue will stand out in the USC cheering section's sea of red and gold. And she admitted she dreads dreads pl.n. Informal Dreadlocks. hearing whoops of victory when UCLA scores. ``It's not a lot of fun to have them in your section, especially when they're beating your butt,'' she lamented. Abrams, for his part, was cagey ca·gey also ca·gy adj. ca·gi·er, ca·gi·est 1. Wary; careful: a cagey avoidance of a definite answer. 2. Crafty; shrewd: a cagey lawyer. about any competition between them. ``I've been very nice about it,'' he insisted. His only indulgence, he maintained, was ``a couple little e-mails. I don't tease.'' ``He teases all the time!'' his partner, Barry Horowitz, interjected. As students at both schools stage rallies and bonfires, as morning talk radio hosts like Kevin and Bean  This article or section resembles a .Please help [ improve this article] by removing excessive trivia, irrelevant praise and criticism, lists and collections of links that are of . of KROQ-FM (106.7) fan the flames of the historic rivalry among their teen-age callers, adults throughout the city are jumping into the fray as well, spicing up drab offices with a dose of adversarial mischief. ``It's very intense,'' Encino resident Erik Deutsch said of the rivalry. In his office at the Los Angeles communications company Tellem Incorporated, the tension takes the form of ``general gloating,'' after the game. Although Deutsch, a graduate of both schools, maintains a certain equanimity e·qua·nim·i·ty n. The quality of being calm and even-tempered; composure. [Latin aequanimit with regards to the game, he conceded he is biased toward UCLA, and has been since he was born in the UCLA Medical Center UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. It is rated as one of the top three hospitals in the United States and is the top hospital on the West Coast according to US News & World Report. 31 years ago. Indeed, family ties seem to play a defining factor in grown-ups' team loyalties. Neither Abrams nor Jacks attended their respective favorite schools. But Abrams, 55, a Northridge resident and CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge graduate, is married to a Bruin and the proud father of one. And Jacks, 58, who lives in Chatsworth and graduated from the University of Nevada University of Nevada could refer to either of the universities in the Nevada System of Higher Education:
``My son came out of the womb singing the fight song,'' she boasted. Her husband previously served as the Valley Trojan Club president, as has her son. So given such a family history of fierce Trojans loyalty, the team's six-year losing streak to UCLA - and its underdog status today - has been hard to swallow. ``Nobody gives us a chance,'' she said wistfully - and in private. ``But anybody can win this game. Granted they've got a better team. But I'd love to win.'' In front of Abrams, though, she's all bravado. ``The day is coming Howard,'' she warned. ``We're going to beat you.'' ``The '90s is UCLA's decade,'' he countered. Well then, she concluded, ``We only have two more years to go.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: UCLA fan Howard Abrams and his executive secretary, Valley Trojans Club President Jo Ann Jacks, anticipate today's football game. Tina Gerson/Daily News |
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