The Victory Bell, which goes to the winner of the annual Crosstown Rivalry football clash, painted blue due to UCLA’s win over USC this year…
IT WAS JUST ANNOUNCED:
And – I must admit as I won’t lie – as a Bruin alum this is very good news from a personal standpoint…
UCLA’s website, UCLABruins.com, has reported that the Bruin athletic program has won this year’s annual Crosstown Cup, the year-long competition with rival USC spanning the nineteen sports where SoCal’s two largest institutions of higher learning compete against each other,
By a score of 120-70, which tied the Bruins’ record for points in this rivalry competition.
And which is UCLA’s second Crosstown Cup win in the past three years and ninth over their Trojan rivals in the past twenty-three years that this all-sports clash has been held.
“A dominant Crosstown Cup win just adds to (UCLA Athletics) tremendous year,” Bruin athletic director Martin Jarmond commented. “We’re excited to be holding bragging rights while introducing the Big Ten to this all-time great rivalry next season.”
And on a personal note regarding the Bruins’ and Trojans’ move to the Big Ten Conference, which I’ll write about on this blog this summer,
It looks like Michigan and Ohio State will have some real competition for the title of the Big Ten’s biggest rivalry as while UCLA and USC are only twelve miles apart in the same city,
The Wolverines’ and Buckeyes’ homes are located 188 miles apart.
Across two different states.
I certainly feel fortunate and blessed to have seen and, being that I was in the UCLA Marching Band during my days in Westwood,
Have been a part of this unique, Verona-style, Montague vs Capulet-like rivalry as a student and have witnessed many classic clashes across several sports over the years;
I’ll likewise write about that in detail on this blog soon.
As for how the points are distributed…
Ten points are awarded for each sport; if one school wins their majority of contests over the other in a series, i.e., the three games that the Bruins and Trojans played against each other in baseball, that school wins all ten points.
If an even number of games were played and the two schools won an equal number of such contests, they split the ten available points and are awarded five points each, as UCLA’s and USC’s men’s basketball teams did this year.
UCLA won 23 of the 37 total games and in eleven of the 19 sports that they played over USC;
The Bruin sports that triumphed over the Trojans (and vice-versa) listed below…
Joe Bruin, UCLA’s mascot…
USC’s Kayla Padilla (#45) and JuJu Watkins (#12) contesting UCLA’s Charisma Osborne (#20) during the sold-out women’s basketball version of the Crosstown Rivalry Clash in Pauley Pavilion this past season…
USC’s iconic symbols, Traveler ridden by Tommy Trojan along with the USC Marching Band…
Sports where UCLA beat USC and earned ten points:
Football
Baseball
Women’s Soccer
Women’s Water Polo
Men’s Water Polo
Men’s Volleyball
Men’s Golf
Women’s Golf
Women’s Cross Country
Women’s Tennis
Men’s Tennis
Sports where USC beat UCLA and earned ten points:
Women’s Basketball
Beach Volleyball
Men’s Track and Field
Women’s Track and Field
Women’s Rowing
Women’s Swim and Dive
Sports where the two schools split the ten available points:
Men’s Basketball
Women’s Volleyball
UCLA Football getting ready to do battle at the Rose Bowl…
PERSONAL MUSINGS OF THIS FOOTBALL AND MEDIA STAR AND HIS DIVISIVE LEGACY
At least in my opinion,
This was the greatest athlete in the history of the University of Southern California,
My evidence being that if you compare the Trojans’ eight Heisman Trophy winners,
This man was the only one who starred in a sport alongside football, as he set a world record in the 4×400 relay while wearing Cardinal and Gold.
He also had the best pro football career of any Trojan ever, as he was the first man to ever get 2,000 rushing yards in a season, getting 2,003 yards with the Buffalo Bills in 1973.
It was a foregone conclusion that he would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which he was in 1985.
And most of all,
In the 1970s and 80s, except for Bill Cosby,
No black man of African descent in this country was more accepted into mainstream American society than this man.
He could go into more or less any conservative white neighborhood in the most conservative areas of these United States and be welcomed,
The evidence being how so many people hardly raised an eyebrow when he married his second wife, Nicole Brown.
All of this despite the fact that,
The African American community knew what kind of person O. J. Simpson really was, as the black press and black publications such as Jet magazine regularly reported his beating his first wife, Marguerite, and getting away with it because he was such a football, media, and movie personality who was everywhere and all over everything.
Because he was “The Juice”.
I don’t think I need to go into detail about how O. J. went through the greatest exposure of one’s true nature of all time in 1994 and 1995 during his “Trial of the Century”, where he was acquitted of murdering Nicole thanks to his “Dream Team” of lawyers, which included Robert Kardashian.
Who happened to be the father of reality household names Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, and Robert, Jr.
Getting some of his many, many yards during his Trojan days. IN CASE YOU DON’T KNOW: He’s wearing #32. Photo courtesy of collegefootballfaniacs.com
Here’s a bit of a surprise regarding O.J…
I actually met the man in the spring of 1987.
It was at Memorial Park in Santa Monica,
I was a little league coach doing something regarding such, and he was watching his older daughter, Arnelle, play softball for Crossroads School.
Of course the general public didn’t know about his violent tendencies regarding his significant others at that time, so after someone pointed him out to me, I approached where he was sitting and asked for his autograph.
Which he gave, writing “Peace to you” along with his name.
While he wasn’t rude or nasty or anything like that, I will say that he gave an impression of being a tiny bit surly and standoffish, not the outgoing, friendly, and jovial guy that was the definition of his pubic persona in those days.
Unfortunately, by the time all that drama happened seven years later – the Ford Bronco chase up the 405 Freeway with his old friend Al Cowlings driving and him in the back threatening suicide and the subsequent trial featuring Kato Kaelin and company,
I had lost that autograph.
Which I kicked myself for a while as I could have sold that piece of paper and made some decent money during that period.
I reckon some of you are wondering this…
Do I think O.J. committed those murders?
My answer: YES.
The evidence was there, including the DNA, which should have made it an open-and-shut case as opposed to those nine months spent in that downtown L.A. courtroom.
But that’s neither here nor there now.
Incidentally, when he was sent to prison in Nevada for that incident in Las Vegas in 2009, one word popped into my mind…
Karma.
In other terms, “What goes around, comes around.”
Which was certainly the case for him as he spent eight years of a thirty-year sentence locked up.
As I type this, two other words are prominent in my gray matter regarding this man and his legacy…
Polarization.
and,
Divisiveness.
I’m pretty sure that’s how O.J. will ultimately be remembered, the way his incidents polarized and divided the bulk of this country,
Even more than his exploits on the football field for ‘SC and in the NFL.
I suppose that’s all I have to say regarding him.
Simpson with iconic USC head coach John McKay (right). Photo courtesy of pinterest.com
Record: 23-8, 16-4 and second place in the Big West Conference
BIG WEST TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS, beating UC Davis 53-39 on March 16th for the title
Won 10 of their last 11 games
Rank: None
Seed: #13 in the Portland 4 Region
First Round Opponent: #4 seed Gonzaga, Saturday, March 23rd in Spokane, WA
Coach: Tamara Inoue
Key Players:
Deja Lee, G – 13.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg
Moulayana Johnson Sidi-Baba, G – 11.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg
Nevaeh Parkinson, C – 8.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg
Diaba Konate, G – 7.6 ppg, 3.7 apg
*CAL BAPTIST LANCERS (women)
Record: 28-3, 18-2 and first place in the Western Athletic Conference
WAC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS
WAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS, beating Stephen F. Austin, 75-74, on March 16th
Undefeated at home (14-0)
Won their last nine games
Beat So Cal teams Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton along with San Diego State
Rank: None
Seed: #15 in the Albany 2 Region
First Round Opponent: #2 seed and 6th ranked UCLA, Saturday, March 23rd, in Pauley Pavilion
Coach: Jarrod Olson
Key Players:
Chloe Webb, G – 21.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg
Filipa Barros, G – 12.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 4.3 apg
Grace Schmidt, F – 12.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg
Khloe Lemon, G – 12.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg
Kinsley Barrington, F – 10.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg
Nae Nae Calhoun, G – 6.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.7 apg
*LONG BEACH STATE “THE BEACH” (men)
Record: 21-14, 10-10 and tied for fifth place in the Big West Conference
THE ONLY MEN’S TEAM FROM SO CAL IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
BIG WEST TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS, beating UC Riverside, #1 seed UC Irvine, and #2 seed UC Davis, 74-70, for the title
Beat Michigan, 94-86, on November 17th
Beat USC, 84-79, on December 10th
Lost their last five games before the Big West Tournament
Rank: None
Seed: #15 in the West Regional
First Round Opponent: #2 seed and 9th ranked Arizona, Thursday, March 21st in Salt Lake City, UT
Coach: Dan Monson
Key Players:
Marcus Tsohonis, G – 17.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg
Jadon James, G – 12.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg
Lassina Traore, F – 12.1 ppg, 10.4 rpg
Aboubacar Traore, F – 12.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 4.5 apg
AJ George, G – 10.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg
Bruins and Trojans battling in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. Photo courtesy of si.com
A player from Long Beach State driving against UCLA a few years ago…
Riverside’s own Cal Baptist Lancers celebrating their 2021 WAC championship…
UCLA and USC getting it on a few years ago…
THOUGHTS & PREDICTIONS…
USC: This is a team that’s not only hot, with one of the best players in the country who is definitely the best freshman player in the country by a large margin,
But also hungry, which is a bigger factor this time of year.
That hunger was clearly shown during the Pac-12 Tournament in their defeat of their crosstown rivals in double overtime in particular, along with another double overtime triumph over Arizona at the end of February.
They’ve certainly shown that they can perform well without their all-universe Supergirl JuJu Watkins,
But does that lead me to see them in the Final Four in Cleveland on April 5th?
My honest answer: no.
While I think they’re capable of giving teams like South Carolina, Iowa, Connecticut and LSU a battle if given the opportunity,
It’s just too hard for me to see them cutting down any nets.
Which leads me to this official prediction for those Women of Troy…
ELITE EIGHT
UCLA: If you asked me what I thought my alma mater’s chances are at postseason glory three months ago, especially after beating ‘SC on the day before New Year’s Eve (which I saw at Pauley Pavilion),
I would have confidently predicted a spot in the Final Four for those Bruins.
However,
As much as I would like to feel the same way now,
It’s difficult to do so due to their pedestrian 10-6 record that they have sported since that blistering 15-0 start.
In fact, those band of Cori Close’s Bruins remind me of former UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, known to Bruin Nation as DTR, in the sense that as talented as that team is, they have made too many mistakes at the worst times that have cost them games,
Like their last two outings vs the Trojans, especially their battle in the Pac-12 Tournament.
Which is why while I’m predicting them to make it to the second weekend, assuming they get past the first round in particular (more on that in a bit)
Being that they would be slated to most likely play defending champion LSU in the third round,
For this UCLA team, I’m officially predicting the…
SWEET SIXTEEN
UC IRVINE: A good, solid mid-major team that had a good, solid season.
If those Anteaters’ first tourney game vs the Zags were anywhere other than their home court in Spokane, I would give UCI a chance at pulling off the upset.
But as that first round game is a home affair for Gonzaga,
My prediction for UC Irvine is…
ONE & DONE
CAL BAPTIST: As a UCLA alum, I need to be honest here.
Even though this Lancer team from my early childhood hometown in Riverside is a 15 seed playing a two seed, who happens to be my alma mater, on the Bruins’ hallowed court for the first time ever,
This game concerns me.
For all my fellow Bruins gasping in shock and screaming how crazy I am,
Let me state the reasons why I’m concerned about those Lancers…
With them winning 28 of their 31 games and not losing on their home court, that Cal Baptist team is no joke
This upcoming match with one of the storied elite blue-blooded colleges in the nation whose number of national championships is surpassed only by Stanford, who’s also the number one public institution in the country, is an ABSOLUTE GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME for those Lancers
With so many of their players having very good seasons, Cal Baptist will undoubtedly go into their first round battle with the big, bad Bruins with a mindset of having ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO LOSE – and I’m sure that they’ll play like that.
Which will make those Lancers dangerous as a very large percentage of their students and fans will be in Pauley supporting that team.
While I’m not officially predicting the shocking upset, that does not mean that Cal Baptist should be taken lightly.
At all.
My prediction for the Lancers is ONE & DONE.
But depending on how UCLA comes out against the Lancers, I certainly hope I’m right.
LONG BEACH STATE: I give that program all the respect and props in the world for playing such great basketball in their Big West Tourney and knocking off those three U.C. schools to punch their ticket to the Big Dance,
Especially since they had fired their coach not long before due to their regular season-ending five game losing skid.
As for their chances vs Arizona in Salt Lake, however,
This is a fairly easy thing for me to predict as “The Beach” will most likely not be able to hang with those ninth-ranked, second-seeded big boys from Tucson.
Official prediction: ONE & DONE
UCLA’s Charisma Osborne (#20) being hyped during the season’s first Crosstown Rivalry Clash vs USC. Photo courtesy of dailynews.com
UCLA’s Londynn Jones (#3) driving on USC’s McKenzie Forbes (#25) during their first Crosstown Rivalry Clash of the season. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
ON THE SECOND TO LAST DAY OF 2023,
THE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAMS FROM THE TWO LARGEST INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING IN SO CAL HELD A HISTORICALLY EPIC CROSSTOWN RIVALRY CLASH AT UCLA’S PAULEY PAVILION.
AND I WAS THERE.
In case you missed it because you were too caught up in the College Football Playoff games or some New Year’s Eve revelry in general…
In late November, when both UCLA’s and USC’s women’s basketball teams found themselves off to great starts and on a collision course to clash for the first time in the 2023-24 season at Pauley Pavilion,
I knew I had to be there.
Especially when I found that with undefeated records and ranks of second (UCLA) and sixth (USC), this particular Crosstown Rivalry game was the first time that,
Those Bruins and Trojans have met while undefeated – EVER!
Those Bruins and Trojans have met while both teams were ranked since 1985, and…
Those Bruins and Trojans have met while both teams were ranked in the top ten since 1981!
For perspective, I was in the eighth grade when that happened!
I was fully aware of the historical significance of this game and how it would give a big boost to women’s basketball in general, being that with the Lakers, the Clippers, and the male basketball counterparts at both ‘SC and UCLA having rather mediocre years to date,
It was quite clear that those Lady Bruins, especially after what unfolded at Pauley Pavilion that Saturday night, were the best basketball team in So Cal with those Women of Troy clearly So Cal’s second best hoops squad.
At least for now.
So there I was standing in a very long line outside of Pauley that chilly-with-a-threat-of-rain Saturday afternoon with 13,658 other fans – the largest crowd to ever see a women’s basketball game at UCLA and (I’m sure) anywhere else in So Cal – roughly 90% of them members of Bruin Nation while the remaining 10% were from the Trojan Family, feeling a little disappointed that I hadn’t got there earlier but also thinking as the line stretched past the Wooden Center, me standing in front the statue of the greatest coach in the history of sports;
(That’s John Wooden for all those who had spent the past sixty years under a rock on Mars)
“It could have been worse.”
JuJu Watkins, USC’s phenomenal freshman star and this season’s top recruit who’s lived up to the hype so far. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
McKenzie Forbes (#25), who scored 23 points on Saturday. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
THEY PAVED THE WAY: UCLA women’s basketball alumnae celebrating the Bruins’ legacy at halftime. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
Bruins celebrating a key moment in their Crosstown Rivalry Clash. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
I made it to Pauley and my seat behind and to the side of the baseline, and settled in to not only see if this #2 vs #6 clash would live up to the hype,
But also if those Bruins in particular – me being a UCLA alum and all – were truly legit in my mind, or a mere fraud.
To put it simply,
That Bruin-Trojan clash was very successful in living up to the hype it generated, with them being undefeated and ranked in the nation’s top six.
Everyone in blue and gold, as well as cardinal and gold, was appropriately pumped with a DJ spinning tunes and a host talking things up throughout the contest.
AS FOR THE GAME ITSELF…
As UCLA scored the first eight points and twelve out of the game’s first 14 points, only to see ‘SC take a brief lead before the Bruins took a one-point lead at halftime,
Then stepping up their defense and hitting some CLUTCH shots in the second half, making Bruin Nation happy and proud with their 71-64 triumph,
As much as I was appropriately glad over a UCLA team beating ‘SC, there were three things that were prominent in my mind after it all ended,
As well as they played, I felt those Bruins could have played better as they missed way too many easy lay-ups in the first half, letting those Trojans into the game after taking their initial ten-point lead
Two USC players, JuJu Watkins and McKenzie Forbes, scored fifty of their team’s 64 points while there were four UCLA players in double figures, led by Londynn Jones’ 21 points – which meant that the Bruins were more balanced and have more balance in their scoring, as well as more depth.
and…
While Bruin Nation should be ecstatic over the win – I know I was – they should also keep in mind that there will be a rematch between those two crosstown rivals at the Galen Center on USC’s campus, on January 14th.
As sure as I’m typing this,
That Galen Center will be packed to capacity, much like Pauley Pavilion was.
And with them having lost to the Bruins, those Trojans will now have a factor that will very much play into their favor…
REVENGE.
Which is why that Trojan Family will be as hyped as the Bruin Nation was,
And which was why I was telling fellow Bruins to enjoy the win, but remember the upcoming rematch.
As such,
In stating the obvious, I had a good time watching my alma mater’s women’s basketball team prove themselves to me;
It was a very nice way to close 2023.
And of course it should go without saying that the rematch on the 14th of this month will probably attract more attention than the first clash was.
A great shot of the record 13,659 that witnessed the recent women’s basketball version of the Crosstown Rivalry clash; I can see me in the lower left hand corner wearing a blue baseball cap! Photo courtesy of twitter.com
Most Valuable Player: Caleb Willliams (for the second straight year)
The Trojans’ MVP for 2023 (DUH!) Photo courtesy of foxnews.com
Analysis and Thoughts:
After finishing the season on such a pathetically dismal note in going 1-5 during the back half of the season, the one win being a barely, skin-by-the-teeth 50-49 outscoring of Cal before losing to Washington, Oregon, and UCLA in a salt-in-the-wound defeat at the Coliseum that lost them the Victory Bell (I’m sure the Trojan Family agonized over seeing the Bruin football players ringing that bell and taking it back to their Westwood campus after that game)
The fact that those Trojans enacted some vengeance on their crosstown rivals by getting Bruin defensive Coordinator D’Anton Lynn, who turned UCLA’s defense into the best in the conference in this one season in Westwood, to come to USC with a contract worth over $2 million, twice what the Bruins were paying him,
Served as a sort of redemption for the Trojan Family, I’m sure.
If Lynn is successful at recruiting, ‘SC’s days of being absolute sieves on defense will likely be over.
And just in time for their entry into the Big Ten Conference, where they will need a smash-mouth shut down defense in order to have any chance to beat the likes of elite blue bloods Michigan – who will be playing Alabama in the College Football Playoff semi finals at the Rose Bowl on January 1st – Ohio State and Penn State.
And to think,
I had those Trojans winning the Pac-12 and in the College Football Playoff at the start of the season, which shows how much I know!
But I also reckoned that they would have trouble in the second half of the season, especially after just barely getting by an Arizona team that in my view ended up being the best team in the conference outside of Washington and Oregon as those Wildcats drove ‘SC crazy and came this close to pulling off the epic upset.
And beginning with their shellacking at the hands of rival Notre Dame, I was proven right.
As they say, it is what it is.
Coach Lincoln Riley and that USC program of his certainly took a good step in the right direction with the hiring of Lynn;
Offering double what UCLA was paying him usually works wonders when getting someone to switch to a rival school.
Now the question is who will fill Williams’ shoes as the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner won’t even play in the Holiday Bowl vs Louisville, which doesn’t surprise me in the least as being a projected first round and possible number one overall pick when the NFL Draft commences on April 25-27,
It would be a bad idea to risk injury by playing in a bowl game and risking roughly fifty million dollars.
I’ll be interested in seeing what they do vs Louisville in San Diego;
Will they play half-hearted in a “Call it a day” fashion,
Or will they “Fight On”?
We’ll see when those Trojans take the field at Petco Park – by the way, why on earth is that Holiday Bowl being held at a baseball stadium when a perfectly good, and brand new, facility is right down the road…
Two days after Christmas.
Getting ready to battle UCLA in the Crosstown Rivalry Clash. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
USC’s and UCLA’s captains flipping the coin before the start of their Crosstown Rivalry Clash. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
WRAPPING UP THIS YEAR’S COVERAGE OF THE CROSSTOWN RIVALRY CLASH WITH MY THOUGHTS AND ANALYSIS OF UCLA’S 38-20 STATEMENT WIN OVER USC AT THE COLISEUM
Once again, It’s my duty to make this beginning statement regarding how things unfolded at the Coliseum on Saturday…
I WAS WRONG.
As has always been the case, as a UCLA alum and longtime Bruin Nation member I’m quite happy to be wrong in my prediction of who would win this year’s Crosstown Rivalry game and what the score would be;
I’ve always felt the need to be honest in that sentiment.
And as always, as someone who’s committed to be impartial, objective and realistic in how I see things with So Cal’s two college football teams would unfold when they played each other,
After UCLA’s two previous games where they were outscored 44-17 by the state of Arizona, I felt there was a good reason to predict the game the way I did.
As it turned out, the Bruins and Trojans flipped the scores I gave them.
One thing was certain in this 93rd Battle For L.A. showdown,
UCLA’s players came to play.
And except for Caleb Williams and Brendan Rice (son of NFL legend Jerry Rice) – with Williams throwing for 384 yards and a 74-yard touchdown to Rice in the second quarter that ended up being their big highlight of the day,
USC’s players did not come to play as their issues on defense in particular continued.
Those Bruins entered the Coliseum with several chips on their shoulder, and it showed in the way they played on defense;
The run defense allowed a minuscule three net yards. THREE!
That defense fulfilled one of my keys to the game in sacking Williams four times, and
Three turnovers – an interception and two fumbles (with UCLA forcing three in all), one of them resulting in a scoop and score by Eric Johnson that in my view was the turning point of the game – were forced by that number one defense in the conference
Which is why that unit as a whole has earned my personal and annual Co-MVP honors for this 93rd Crosstown Rivalry Clash,
Along with Bruin running back T. J. Harden with his 142 rush yards on 22 carries and a touchdown to open the scoring.
In short, UCLA showed two things against ‘SC that I certainly did not see the previous two weeks against the Arizona schools, especially against now 3-8 Arizona State,
HEART and GUTS.
And the fact that it was the Bruins’ second straight win over the Trojans in their Coliseum house – along with hearing that now-blue painted Victory Bell as the players rolled it up the tunnel – put a smile on my face;
Even though USC has also won two straight Crosstown Rivalry games in UCLA’s Rose Bowl house, but that’s besides the point.
It is interesting that the visiting team has won the last four games in this rivalry clash.
Trojan quarterback Caleb Williams (#13) scrambling from the Bruin rush. Photo courtesy of on3.com
IMO – THE TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: Alex Johnson (#36) scoring after recovering a USC fumble to increase UCLA’s lead to 28-10, with Caleb Williams pursuing him in vain. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
Kenny Churchwell III (#23) stripping the ball from Zachariah Branch (#1) in the first quarter. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
UCLA defensive starts Laiatu Latu (#15), Darius Muasau (#53), and John Humphrey (#6) celebrating their great day. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
It is also interesting that one head coach was being said to be set to lose his job if his team had lost this past Saturday, and now it’s the other head coach who has been put on the hot seat by at least some of his fan base and very wealthy boosters and alumni (hint, hint).
Only a fool would be reluctant to give Chip Kelly significant props for orchestrating such a statement win over the crosstown rival,
But while I certainly can’t speak for anyone else, in my mind that triumph earns him, in a sense, a one game at a time reprieve as now that the rivals from just south of Downtown L.A. have been vanquished for this season, the Victory Bell is back in Westwood and painted blue, and bragging rights have been secured for Bruin Nation,
The hard part is now upon that UCLA team…
Not letting down vs a decent Cal Bears team that handled Stanford relatively easily in their recent Big Game, and will enter the season finale vs the Bruins with bowl eligibility at stake as their five wins is one short.
Being that it will be the very last regular season game that those flagship U.C. schools will play as members of the Pac-12 Conference and notably against each other, at least for the foreseeable future,
Anyone who doesn’t think that those Golden Bears’ motivation to end their Pac-12 days and their series against their younger “Southern Branch” brothers will a win will be sky-high needs to completely change such thinking.
As such, with the Bruins’ defense being what it is I’m fairly confident that they’ll get their eighth win, which will match my preseason prediction of their record.
But then again, I was also confident of UCLA getting a win over Arizona State.
My message to that football program of my alma mater’s…
Do. Not. Let. Down.
And DO NOT take Cal lightly.
As for those Men of Troy from the University of Southern California,
That those Trojans finished 7-5 with losses in five out of their last six games was and is SHOCKING is an understatement, especially after I had them winning the Pac-12 and in the College Football Playoff (which shows how much I know!).
I knew they’d have trouble with the back end of their schedule after their 6-0 start over relative cupcakes,
But I didn’t think their troubles, particularly on defense, would be that pronounced as I knew that the firing of defensive coordinator Alex Grinch before their Oregon game wouldn’t solve their issues on that side of the ball;
Lincoln Riley might as well have kept Grinch and waited until after the season to let him go.
To be honest, much like two years before in that 62-33 beat down I felt that ‘SC’s players had given up by the end of that rivalry clash, them along the rest of the Trojan Family feeling dejected over losing to both of their traditional rivals.
I hope they show some Trojan pride in their upcoming bowl game,
Which may well be seven miles southwest of the USC campus at SoFi Stadium for what is now known as the “L.A. Bowl Hosted by (NFL star) Rob Gronkowski”.
With Williams as good as gone to the NFL with an eight figure contact as the very possible number one overall pick this coming April, Riley will have some rebuilding to do.
But I’ll elaborate on that when on the upcoming season wrap-up of that ‘SC team next month.
It was certainly an interesting Crosstown Rivalry Clash between the two largest colleges in So Cal, the last one as members of the Pac-12 as they will be members of the Big Ten Conference when they meet again on November 23, 2024 at the Rose Bowl.
And I reckon it will be just as interesting if not more so by that time.
THAT’S A WRAP ON THIS YEAR’S CROSSTOWN RIVALRY COVERAGE;
ONCE AGAIN, YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED!
AND I HOPE THESE POSTS WERE ENJOYED!
UNTIL THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 18-23, 2024…
A SIGNIFICANT SPOIL TO THE VICTORS: Muasau (#53), Duke Clemens (#62), and Siale Taupaki (#59) taking a by-now blue Victory Bell out of the Coliseum and back to Westwood. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
Former UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson (DTR) scoring during the 2021 Crosstown Rivalry Game, the previous time it was held at the Coliseum. Photo courtesy of latimes.com
UCLA BRUINS (6-4) vs USC TROJANS (7-4)
DAY & DATE: Saturday, November 18, 2023
PLACE: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
TIME: 12:30 p.m.
TV: ABC Channel 7
RANK: None by either team
AT STAKE BESIDES BRAGGING RIGHTS AND THE VICTORY BELL:
Nothing except a better chance to play in a more prestigious bowl game, to be honest
ALL-TIME SERIES: Trojans lead 50-33-7 (two USC wins vacated due to NCAA sanctions)
FIRST GAME: 1929, Trojans won 76-0
MOST RECENT GAME: 2022 at the Rose Bowl, Trojans won 48-45
LAST UCLA WIN: 2021 at the Coliseum, Bruins won 62-33
LONGEST CROSSTOWN RIVALRY WIN STREAKS:
UCLA – Eight straight from 1991-1998
USC – Seven straight from 1999-2005
LINE: Trojans favored by six and a half points
Former Bruin running back Zach Carbonnet (#24) powering through Trojans during the 2021 game. Photo courtesy of latimes.com
ALL RIGHT TROJAN FAMILY AND BRUIN NATION,
HERE IS HOW I OFFICIALLY SEE THE UPCOMING 93rd MEETING OF USC AND UCLA IN FOOTBALL UNFOLDING,
WHAT I SEE THE OUTCOME BEING,
AND THE NUMBER ONE TRADITION OF THIS BLOG:
MY OFFICIAL PREDICTION OF THE FINAL SCORE…
As a UCLA alum and a longtime member of Bruin Nation who has spent his adult life going to sporting events on and off campus,
To state that I dearly want to see my alma mater’s football team beat their crosstown rival in their house this Saturday, regain that Victory Bell and see it painted blue once again would be stating the painfully obvious.
However,
As a sports blogger who has both pledged and vowed to be impartial, objective and realistic in my assessments of the teams I cover in this blog, including the institution where I earned my bachelor’s degree and the pro sports team whose fan hood was passed down from my grandparents that happens to play north of downtown off of Sunset Blvd,
With regards to how this upcoming Crosstown Rivalry / Battle For L.A. Clash will unfold,
After watching how the Bruins performed the past two weeks, particularly in their most recent game against a team who, with seven losses already, is playing out the string and is out of bowl consideration, losing to them at home no less,
I honestly cannot see them beating a crosstown rival who, despite their season long ineptitude on the defensive side of the ball that has cost them four out of their last five games after a 6-0 start,
Will still have the reigning Heisman Trophy winner taking the snaps behind center;
A reigning Heisman Trophy winner who is second in the nation in passing yards and touchdown passes,
And who leads the nation in total touchdowns, with eleven of his forty scores coming via his legs.
While I see the Trojans’ offense having a bit more trouble with UCLA’s defense against the run, Caleb Williams will try and remedy that by going to the air early and often as SC’s wide receivers are still stellar.
He will be pressured at times by Laiatu Latu and the rest of the Bruins’ front seven, but he will also get his yards and scores.
As for UCLA’s offense,
While I see T.J. Harden and especially Carson Steele doing well against that much maligned Trojan run defense, let me put it like this with regards to the most important position,
Caleb Williams is at least five times better – if not more – than Dante Moore, Ethan Garbers, and Collin Schlee COMBINED.
Which will ultimately be the difference in this 93rd Crosstown Clash as Moore, while a five star recruit who’s the most talented of the Bruin QBs and remains the future of the program, is still a true freshman who has made costly true freshman mistakes.
Garbers, though he did a good job against Stanford and Colorado, is still in my view not the kind of quarterback who can be counted on to win big games like the Crosstown Rivalry;
Colorado and Stanford are one thing.
USC is a completely different animal, especially in the Coliseum.
And in my opinion, Schlee is a bruising running back who happens to play quarterback;
Therefore he’s definitely not the type of guy who can match Williams.
And neither can Moore nor Garbers.
Which is the reason, in accordance to this blog’s number one tradition,
My prediction of the final score of this season’s Crosstown Rivalry Game is thus…
USC TROJANS – 34
UCLA BRUINS – 20
With Chip Kelly being given his walking papers and severance check soon afterward, probably by the end of the next day.
And to be completely honest, I feel I’m being a little generous to UCLA as far as how many points I see them scoring;
If you saw their offense in their previous two contests, you would understand;
Seventeen points combined in the past eight quarters is pretty poor, don’t you think?
Of course as a Bruin alum and a Bruin Nation member, I hope I’m wrong in this prediction.
And I certainly hope that football team of my alma mater’s proves me wrong.
But as an impartial, objective and realistic sports blogger, it’s simply too difficult for me to see things going any other way.
As always,
We will all – the Trojan Family as well as the Bruin Nation – see what unfolds in Exposition Park in roughly forty hours from this writing.
AS YOU ALL SHOULD KNOW,
OUR COVERAGE OF THIS YEAR’S CROSSTOWN RIVALRY GAME IS NOT DONE YET!
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THIS BLOG ON MONDAY FOR MY POST GAME THOUGHTS AND ANALYSIS!
A Trojan and a Bruin going for a pass during last year’s Crosstown Rivalry Game. Photo courtesy of seattletimes.com
UCLA running back DeShaun Foster going up and over USC defenders for a touchdown. Photo courtesy of latimes.com
MY ANNUAL CROSSTOWN RIVALRY COVERAGE CONTINUES,
WITH SOME PERSONAL MEMORIES OF THE 1998 BRUIN-TROJAN CLASH.
WHICH HAPPENED TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO (YIKES!)
Some would say that 2012-2014 was a pretty good period for UCLA Football,
What with Jim Mora ushering in that period with three straight wins over USC, two ten-win seasons and two bowl wins.
However,
While I can’t really speak for anyone else,
As far as I’m concerned, the true golden years for my collegiate alma mater in football was during a twenty-year period during the 1980s and the 1990s.
A twenty-year period which saw the Bruins…
Go to eight straight bowl games in the 80s, including a Fiesta Bowl which saw them beat big bad Miami, a Cotton Bowl which I had the pleasure of being at as a member of the UCLA Bruin Marching Band, and three Rose Bowls – with the Bruins winning seven of them consecutively – which is still a record!
and,
Beat their cardinal and gold-clad rivals from just south of Downtown L.A. no less than eight consecutive times in the 90s – which remains a record to this day and which pushed UCLA’s record over USC during that twenty-year period to 13 wins, six losses, and one tie.
Whenever I tell the current Bruins about those exploits, I get wide-eyed reactions and expressions of “WOW!”, me being sure that they were wishing that time machines existed so they can go back and watch those glorified triumphs;
Which unfortunately illustrates how far down the football program at UCLA has gone.
I personally witnessed four of those Bruin victories over those Trojans during that eight-game streak, in 1993, 1994, 1996 – the only overtime game in Crosstown Rivalry history which saw UCLA furiously come back from 17 points down in the fourth quarter,
And 1998,
Which I’m going to reminiscence about due to the fact that this season marks twenty-five years since that eighth straight Bruin win over ‘SC.
Cade McNown, UCLA’s superstar quarterback who went 4-0 against USC. Photo couresy of baltimoresun.com
Saturday, November 21, 1998 was a typically warm, sunny day in So Cal…
I was a full time graduate student, working for my master’s degree and secondary teaching credential at Cal State Northridge after several years of working as an elementary school P.E. teacher,
And along with the rest of Bruin Nation enjoying the good times and memories that UCLA’s football team was giving us, the 3rd-ranked Bruins having won a program record 19 straight games going into the 68th Crosstown Rivalry clash with a just-okay USC Trojan team that, with freshman quarterback Carson Palmer, sported a 7-3 record and (I’m sure) was desperately looking to ruin the Bruins’ quest for a Pac-10 title and a possible spot in the BCS National Championship Game.
I had taken a friend of mine to the Rose Bowl for UCLA’s game with 11th ranked Oregon a month before, the Bruins pulling out an overtime win.
She had quite the good time watching the Ducks get beaten, so when I asked if she wanted to witness the number one sporting event and rivalry in So Cal – and on the West Coast, to be honest – she said yes as looking back, I think she wanted to see and experience what the rivalry between Los Angeles’ two biggest institutions of higher learning was like.
She said that would meet me at the edge of Lot H, the grassy area just south of the Rose Bowl where the UCLA Alumni Band, which I was and am a part of, played their pre-game concert for the tailgaters.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she, in retrospect, had wished she had gone to the Rose Bowl with me as she arrived right after the Alumni Band finished their concert and just before we were all about to head for the gates and our seats at Section 2.
I think, while probably not overwhelmed, she was quite impressed at the pregame pageantry with the two marching bands hyping their students, alumni and fans up with their fight songs, seeing all of us waving dollar bills at the USC band while they played “Tribute To Troy”, “Fight On”, and “Conquest”, and hearing all of us scream the “Eight-Clap” during the UCLA band’s “Sons of Westwood”, the chant “BEAT ‘SC!!” practically being heard all the way to the Westside.
She also saw a little of the Trojan Family’s obnoxiousness – which they were notoriously known for at that time but which has lessened in recent years – when a Bruin friend saw a USC band member flip him off.
And if I recall correctly, I saw a Trojan fan, with whom I’m sure was his little boy next to him, give the middle finger to either the UCLA band or the Bruin football team as they came out of the tunnel.
As for the game itself…
It went more or less as expected, the favored Bruins answering SC’s initial field goal with two touchdowns, taking a 27-10 lead and pulling away to a 34-17 win, giving Bruin Nation the right to keep the Victory Bell blue for the eighth straight year with me, my friend, and my fellow Bruin mates among the 88,080 in attendance that afternoon.
I remember my friend complaining about the Trojan band’s incessant playing of “Tribute”, saying that it gave her a headache,
Which I shouted in their direction in the south end zone seats; “You’re giving my friend a headache!” I yelled.
As the fourth quarter began to wind down, alumni yell leader Geof Strand started a chant that very quickly ran through the Rose Bowl growing ever so louder…
“EIGHT MORE YEARS!”
I walked her to the gate after the game ended, then joined some of my fellow Bruin Nation friends in a little celebrating before heading home, none of us knowing that a disaster that would ruin the Bruins’ season would strike that UCLA team in Miami two weeks later.
And at that time,
None of us knew that those Trojans would not only end that eight game streak the next year, but also become a dominant dynasty for the next decade under a new coach, some guy who was fired by the New York Jets and the New England Patriots after a year with the Jets and three years with the Patriots named Pete Carroll, that would see them,
Win two straight national championships and come to within a yard of winning a third,
Win seven Pac-10 Conference championships,
Win four Rose Bowls,
See two of their players win Heisman Trophies,
Have a winning streak of over thirty games
and eventually…
Have it all come crashing down due to NCAA rules being broken with one of their Heisman Trophy winners having to return his award, the program being forced to vacate 14 wins, and getting a two-year bowl ban
CLICHE ALERT:
The fact that it has been twenty-five years since that last triumph in the Bruins’ eight-game win streak over the Trojans freaks me out a bit.
I don’t think I’ll ever find it believable that twenty-five years can seemingly go by so fast.
I only wish the current UCLA students, particularly the Spirit Squad and marching band, and the students who were in Westwood for the bulk of this century, could have been there in the 1980s and 90s to see a Bruin football team that was up there with the Michigans, Ohio States, Alabamas, Georgias, Penn States, and Florida States among the nation’s elite programs.
Or were at the very least in the conversation of who had the best chance to win a “Natty”
I know I sound like an “oldie” pining for the good old days when I say this, but…
Those really were the good old days in Westwood.
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THIS BLOG TOMORROW!
The Reason:
MY OFFICIAL PREVIEW OF THE UPCOMING 93rd MEETING BETWEEN UCLA AND USC,
WHICH WILL INCLUDE MY KEYS TO THE GAME FOR BOTH THE BRUINS AND THE TROJANS.
So…
WATCH FOR IT & DO NOT MISS IT!
DeShaun Foster going up and over (again!) against the Trojans. Photo courtesy of ocregister.com
UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman (#8) getting hit by a USC defender during the 1988 Crosstown Rivalry Clash. Photo courtesy of dailynews.com
CROSSTOWN RIVALRY WEEK IN SO CAL HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!
AS HAS OUR ANNUAL CROSSTOWN RIVALRY COVERAGE, WHICH IS MARKING ITS NINTH YEAR ON THIS BLOG!
I BEGIN THIS YEAR’S UCLA vs USC COVERAGE WITH A COMMEMORATION OF THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VERY FIRST TIME I SAW THE BRUINS FACE THE TROJANS IN PERSON…
I know this is a cliche, and I honestly don’t like cliches,
But the fact that it’s been thirty-five years since I saw my first Crosstown Rivalry game in person is truly mind blowing.
Actually, my first true Crosstown Rivalry experience as a card-carrying member of Bruin Nation came to pass three days before the early afternoon kickoff at the Rose Bowl on November 19, 1988;
It was near the end of Fall Quarter, me beginning to finish my first quarter as a UCLA student after realizing my dream of being a Bruin, having transferred from Santa Monica College after the thick manila envelope with the letter stating “Congratulations!” arrived in the mail the previous February.
I was immersed in my first year as a tenor saxophone player in the UCLA Bruin Marching Band, enjoying the friends that I had made and even pledging Kappa Kappa Psi, the band service fraternity, just to see what it was like in a “Don’t knock it ’til you try it” way.
I was also involved with the band’s flag football team, and we were busy getting ready for the “Band Bowl”, a flag football game played between the UCLA and USC bands the Sunday before the “real game” is played; the game was scheduled for Wednesday evening that year because of some Trojan band commitment for that previous Sunday.
Unfortunately due to an accident with a broken beer bottle, the stitches in my foot from that incident rendered me as being unable to play that November 16th, though I was on that yellow school bus with the rest of the team heading down the I-10 and making the right turn on the Vermont Ave. exit that evening for needed support (“Let’s go back to the sixth grade, shall we?” cracked our team captain).
The game itself went well, our Bruin band team comfortably beating our ‘SC band counterparts 21-7,
But I did get a good baptism in how hateful the crosstown rivalry among the bands was when at halftime, when the Trojan band members came onto the field and played their tunes, after the last song they promptly turned around to face the Bruin band members and friends that came with us at what’s now called Loker Stadium, USC’s track and field facility, proudly stuck their middle fingers in the air and screamed, at the tippy top of their lungs, loud enough to be heard at City Hall downtown,
“F*** THE BRUINS!!”
Which constituted their vocabulary for that night, emphasizing their hatred in getting into our Bruin band’s faces while water balloons were being thrown at us from the roof of the building behind us, our band director having to chase those perpetrators away.
I remember being glad that we won that night and were able to claim the big trophy as our spoils, or things would have surely been worse for us Bruin Nation members at the hands of our Trojan adversaries on that enemy turf.
A Trojan running back getting yardage during the 1988 Crosstown Rivalry Clash. Photo courtesy of insidesocal.com
Fast forward three days…
Being that the 58th meeting of UCLA and USC in football, with both teams ranked in the top ten (the Trojans 2nd, the Bruins 6th), a then-Pac-10 championship and a spot in the Rose Bowl on the line, was at 12:30 p.m.,
I arrived at the UCLA Band’s practice field by Drake Stadium at around 8:00 a.m (if I recall correctly) wearing a Hawaiian Lei that my “Big Sister” which every Kappa Kappa Psi pledge was assigned to, told me to wear as she would reveal herself by wearing a lei of her own.
I won’t say her name for privacy reasons, but I wasn’t too surprised when I found out who it was; she was a nice and friendly young lady back then whose outgoing nature sort of tipped me off, and remains a nice lady today – I know this because we are Facebook friends, even though I haven’t laid my actual eyes on her in well over a decade.
She even remained my friend when I realized that Kappa Kappa Psi wasn’t for me and quit a couple of weeks later, which I give her much credit for.
As for the game itself, there are several things that I remember…
The atmosphere being very intense, with the Trojan Family showing their pronounced obnoxiousness as a tomato thrown by an ‘SC person hit me while I was marching with the UCLA band to the Rose Bowl’s visiting tunnel, where I saw a few of the members yelling at one of USC’s players, who answered with their two-fingered “Victory” sign, before we marched out onto the field,
The intensity continuing during the pregame shows, as I remember one of the USC band members giving us a middle finger while playing “Fight On”, then hearing roughly 70,000 or so of the over 100,000 fans in that sold-out Rose Bowl scream the UCLA “Eight-Clap” while we played “Sons of Westwood” on the field, me thinking “D**n!” as “Fight!! Fight!! Fight!!” was probably heard all the way back to Westwood Blvd,
The game, most unfortunately, not going the Bruins’ way as the Trojans answered UCLA’s three field goals with three touchdowns of their own, USC giving up a mere 73 yards on the ground and just flat-out outplaying the Bruins in winning 31-22; the Trojan band gleefully striking up “Conquest” and “Tusk” with a more than healthy doses of “U-C-L-A SUCKS!!” from their fellow Trojan Family members in celebration afterward, and…
While it would have been about a million time more fun if we had won and were able to paint the Victory Bell blue, it was a fun day and a pleasant memory for me anyway, particularly when I and the rest of the band saw a huge banner that one of the fraternities put up on Gayley Ave that said ““USC STILL SUCKS!” as we arrived back on campus.
While those Trojans ended up losing soon-to-be-national-champion Notre Dame at the Coliseum a week later, and to Michigan on that same Rose Bowl turf six weeks later, we Bruins happily ended the season well in beating Arkansas – the whole state as well as that Razorback team as that stadium next to the Texas State Fairgrounds in was awash in bright red – in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
Which of course is another story that I’ll reminisce about on this blog another time.
As I had stated at the beginning of this post,
Though I’m not a fan of cliches,
Thirty-five years really is a long time.
And it really does seem like it has only been thirty-five days.
I’ve just realized that a baby born that year is now a full-fledged adult at thirty-five, with a decent chance of being married with kids of their own.
Which freaks me out!
CHECK OUT THIS BLOG TOMORROW AS THE CROSSTOWN RIVALRY COVERAGE CONTINUES WITH ANOTHER ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION AND REMINISCENCE OF A UCLA vs USC CLASH;
TO FIND OUT WHICH GAME, WELL…YOU’LL JUST HAVE TO GO TO THIS SITE!
USC quarterback Rodney Peete (smiling) and a Trojan teammate joyful over their successful play during the Crosstown Rivalry game. Photo courtesy of insideusc.blog
Last Game: Lost to Notre Dame, 48-20, on October 14th
Next Game: vs Utah at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 21st
Caleb Williams saving the Trojans during their three overtime win over Arizona on October 7th. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
COMMENTS:
After beating up on the teams they were supposed to beat up on,
And barely squeaking by two other teams – namely Colorado and Arizona – that gave them much trouble,
Especially Arizona at the Coliseum with that three overtime epic of a battle,
With the exception of Cal on October 28th,
The rest of the teams on USC’s schedule will be of the “big boy” persuasion in the grand proverbial tradition of “picking on someone your own size”,
Starting with the team that beat them twice last year, including for the conference title;
If Cameron Rising, who has been out all season with a torn ACL that he suffered from in the Rose Bowl this past January 1st, returns under center this Saturday,
Those Utes from Salt Lake City will have quite the decent chance of continuing ‘SC’s frustrations against that tough team.
As such, I see those Trojans winning due to:
The game being at home
That entire Trojan Family desperately wanting revenge for what happened against Utah last year, and…
Those Trojans desperately needing to get that whipping suffered at the hands of their longtime rival in South Bend out of their mouths
After that and the game in Berkeley vs the Golden Bears the following week, however,
I’m officially predicting bad times for old ‘SC the next two games as they will be facing:
Washington at the Coliseum, and…
Oregon in Eugene
Two top ten teams that have clearly shown that they’re the two best teams in the Pac-12.
Meaning that while I never make any predictions regarding the Crosstown Rivalry clash until two days before kickoff,
I’m about 99.999% sure that USC will have, at minimum, three losses on the season by the time UCLA comes to the Coliseum to try and get the Victory Bell back on November 18th.
Contrary to what more or less everyone is likely saying, though he’ll do his share of bailing them out like he did vs Arizona,
I don’t think it will be Caleb Williams that will necessarily be the number one factor in how the Trojans’ season will unfold in this second half,
But rather their defense, which has been much maligned and has performed just as bad as they did in 2022;
I had an inkling that such would possibly be the case when they gave up 28 points to sad sacks San Jose State and Arizona State,
Not to mention all those points that Colorado and Arizona as well as Notre Dame scored on them;
I’m sure that those Huskies from Seattle and those Ducks from Eugene are both chomping at the bit and licking their lips at what their offenses could do when they meet USC.
Can that defense improve to the point where last minute Caleb Williams won’t be needed?
Will that reigning Heisman Trophy winner find himself having to bail out those Trojans on multiple occasions?
Stay tuned.
No, that’s NOT Caleb Williams, but Mason Cobb (#13) celebrating with Shane Lee (#53) during USC’s epic barn burner with Arizona. Photo courtesy of twitter.com