ROSE BOWL: SO WHOSE HOME IS IT?Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Something one of the USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. players said about the Rose Bowl this week should rile 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 before the schools kick off their game on the latter's home turf today. Did this Trojan rag on the Rose Bowl's knee-denting seats? Crack on its narrow roads in and out? Make fun of its helter-skelter parking? No, he seemed to like the old place in Pasadena, almost as if it belongs to the cardinal and gold. Here's what Trojans center Ryan Kalil Ryan Kalil (born March 29, 1985 in Corona, California, U.S.) is an American football offensive lineman for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. Pro career He ran a 4.94 40 yard dash at the 2007 NFL combine and bench pressed 225 pounds 34 times. said of the Rose Bowl on Tuesday: ``It's kind of been a second home to us.'' A second home. Are the Bruins going to stand for that? Are they going to let the Trojans feel that comfortable in their house? Or are they going to get properly territorial and roust roust tr.v. roust·ed, roust·ing, rousts To rout, especially out of bed. [Probably alteration of rouse.] the squatters? I heard Kalil say what he said at Heritage Hall, and I don't think he meant it to tweak the Bruins. He was just answering a question about the weird home-field-advantage dynamic in this rivalry, which finds about one-third of the seats filled with the visitors' fans whether the game is played at USC's Coliseum or UCLA's Rose Bowl. He also was musing on how many games some of the Trojans seniors like himself have played in the Rose Bowl, between the Bruins games in alternate years and the January Rose Bowl games following the 2003 and 2005 seasons. Trojans wide receiver Steve Smith (Taft High of Woodland Hills) will play his fourth game and make his third start in the Rose Bowl this afternoon. So Smith has started as many games at the Rose Bowl as Bruins quarterback Pat Cowan. You can see what Kalil is thinking if he suggests the bus ride to the Arroyo Seco Arroyo Seco (Spanish: "dry creek") may refer to:
prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. mapquest.com's driving directions) than it is to the UCLA campus in Westwood (27 miles). The Trojans spent Friday night in the same hotel they use before games at the Coliseum. ``It doesn't feel like an away game,'' said Trojans coach Pete Carroll Peter C. Carroll (born September 15, 1951, in San Francisco, California) is the current head coach of the University of Southern California Trojans football team, having held that position since 2001. . But, see, that's going too far. At least it should sound that way to Bruin ears. Statements like Kalil's and Carroll's ought to hit the Bruins where they live. This is the 25th season since UCLA football quit rooming with USC at the Coliseum and got a place of its own. This milestone should be significant to the Bruins. And here are a couple of items that should encourage them, though it probably won't be 12 or 13 points worth of encouragement. (That's how much the Trojans were favored by Friday.) In games at the Rose Bowl, Dorrell is winning 79.2percent (19-5), to Carroll's 75 percent (3-1). The Rose Bowl is the only stadium in the collegiate world in which UCLA coach Karl Dorrell Karl Dorrell (born December 18, 1963 in Alameda, California) is the first black head coach in the history of the UCLA Bruins college football team, a position he took on December 18, 2002. has a winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" and USC's Carroll has a losing streak A Losing Streak is the third episode of series 2 of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses. It was first broadcast on 4 November 1982. Synopsis Del Boy, Rodney, and Grandad are making some sort of cheap perfume just to earn money after Del has been losing most of -- even if each streak is only one game. The Trojans' seven-game win streak against the Bruins includes three in a row at the Rose Bowl. But the Trojans' ``second home'' has been a little drafty draft·y adj. draft·i·er, draft·i·est Having or exposed to drafts of air. draft  i·ly adv. lately.
In 2004, the No. 1-ranked Trojans beat the Bruins by only five points, learning a lesson about the danger of looking ahead. Last January, the No. 1-ranked Trojans lost to No. 2 Texas in the Rose Bowl game for the national championship. I asked USC flanker Chris McFoy Chris McFoy (born August 14, 1983) is an American football wide receiver. Pro Career McFoy was signed as a free agent by the National Football League's Oakland Raiders in April, 2007. this week what pops into his head when he thinks about playing at the Rose Bowl. ``Tradition,'' McFoy said. ``Just, I guess, pride in being part of something special.'' Does he think about the Texas game? ``What? Oh, yeah, I remember that game,'' said McFoy, mock-forgetful. ``That's in the back of everybody's head. But that's not our focus (today). You can only cry over spilled milk for so long.'' The Trojans seem to view a game against the Bruins at the Rose Bowl as little different from waging the same rivalry at the Coliseum. Familiar hotel, short freeway trip, cardinal-and-gold fans in the end-zone seats. And a field many of them have played on -- and won on -- several times before. If you're UCLA, you can't let USC make itself at home in Pasadena today. You want to rule the city someday? Start with your own patch of grass. heymodesti(AT_SIGN)aol.com (818) 713-3616 CAPTION(S): box Box: NO. 2 USC (10-1) AT UCLA (6-5) - Brian Dohn and Matthew Kredell |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion