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Congratulations to the Trojans for handily defeating
Michigan during another incredible
trip to the Rose Bowl. USC did
what they needed to do - they played
sound, aggressive offense and went
after Michigan's defensive backs.
The Trojan defense forced John
Navarre to move around the pocket on
big plays and we all know he just
doesn't move and throw well.
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Going
into the game all I wanted Michigan
to do was to not defeat themselves
as they did at Oregon and Iowa.
In hindsight that wasn't enough as
USC went out and beat
Michigan. That doesn't happen
very often to the Blue.
Hats
off to Southern Cal and
I'm glad they are
getting their piece of
the national
championship. I'd
typically rather watch a Mad
About You marathon than watch M get
beat, but somehow I
survived this one. |
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Pregame & Tailgate
Jeff
Arch and I left Venice at around
8:30 and made the trek over to
Pasadena. This was my fourth
Rose Bowl and second time driving
(the first two we took the tour
bus). As inevitably happens on
the
way to the game we ended up
monkeying around Pasadena and
running up against the Rose parade
route. I have to give it to
the security and volunteers around
the parade. They must of
fielded hundreds of questions from
confused people trying to find the
stadium (including about nine from
me and Arch), and each time they
politely gave out directions.
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When
we finally arrived, Arch scored a
Costanza-esque once-in-a-lifetime
parking spot right up against the
curb ensuring an easy lane out of
the game. Soon after we
parked, Michigan pal & roommate
Brian Bolick met up with us, then
the Jerry Roberts-led crew in their
fresh convertible rolled up and
joined us for a few drinks. We
tailgated at a few different spots
before the game, including with a
solid group of M ΣAE men that made a
big showing.
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Our
seats seats were good,
right in the heart of
the M section in the
corner of the Michigan
end zone. We were
given 11x17 cards with
instructions describing
when to hold them up
during the Star Spangled
Banner. The
instructions on the card
and on the big screen
referred to a "Section
Captain" whose was
presumably going to
guide us through the
confusing task of
holding a card over our
head and then flipping
it once. I
searched earnestly but
in vain for our
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Captain so I declared to
anyone within ear shot
that I was assuming the
duties of Section 14
Captain. Thirty
seconds later I
resigned.
After all of this,
somehow our section
managed to hold up the
cards on time.
Jokes aside, it looked
really cool. |
Stealth Flyby
The
stealth bomber flying overhead after
the anthem was absolutely breathtaking. I've said some form of
the word awesome about a geegsillion
times in the past, but this scene was definitively
awesome.
Other Takes
- Some
MENSA candidate came up with an
idea for the "waterless urinal" to
help out during California's water
shortage. It's supposed to
trap the pee and the smell beneath a
valve. If I never smell a reek
that heinous again it will be way
too early. Maybe the $140 per
ticket price would cover a pallet of water and a air
freshener/puck in the john?
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Thumbs up to the USC band because we
must assume that they have finally
stopped playing that damn song.
- I've
never seen shorter
beer
lines. You could have literally
pulled up a stool and bellied up.
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One
dude treated a confused stadium with
a few belts of "GO STATE" during and
after the game.
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Thumbs up to seeing Jill Dehlin and
Doc James outside our section at the
game. It turned out Doc was
our Section Captain but got caught
in the line in the men's room.
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Deuce Bigelow Male Gigolo sat about
ten rows in front of us. It
must be great being a celebrity... as
shouts of "DEEUUUUCE!!" rained down on
the poor guy the entire game.
Junior and the Giant Hat
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Concerning the head referee and the
gigantic white hat
he was wearing.
Early in the game I
belted out
some reference to the ref, his huge
hat and the Pillsbury doughboy to
the delight of no one except the
eight year old kid sitting right
behind me. At the end of game
the little feller was begging me to
yell out some more takes about the
ref's hat. To not disappoint
the lil' man, I unloaded something
about that hat having its own area
code or the Goodyear hat or
whatever. Junior ate up every
word. Then, I swear this is
true, the youngster pulls Arch aside
laughing hysterically and says "I
can see my house from here", as
though he were sitting atop the
giant hat. I was in stitches.
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Right before they started the
national anthem some rummy
belted out a hearty "TAKE OFF YOUR
HATS YOU COMMIES!", prompting about
14 punks in front of us to scrap the
lids off their greasy melons. |
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- A
huge thanks to the guys
driving the Michigan
semi for allowing me to
get a few photos with
them before they left to
pick up the players'
gear after the game. |
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Before Junior left the game he
looked at me one more time and
started laughing. I whispered
that if it rained later we
could all wait it out under the
ref's hat. I
left him with one final blast: "Hey
Junior, I heard President Bush
ordered the ref to take off his hat so
the stealth bomber could clear the
stadium." |
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