USC Rose-Bowl Bound*

Although the USC Trojans must beat the UCLA Bruins to qualify for the 2008 Rose Bowl Game, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that the Trojans may be going to the Rose Bowl even more in the near future.

Since talks between the NFL and Los Angeles fell through, the University of Southern California has been negotiating a 99-year master lease with the moribundly complex intergovernmental commission which oversees the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The University was ready to pony up $100 million of its own alumni's money to pay for improvements to the historical structure just off campus.But the Coliseum Commission hasn't bought on to the deal, instead offering the Trojans a two-year lease, which has yet to be signed. So instead, USC called up UCLA to ask permission to enter into negotiations with the Rose Bowl Operating Committee to move their home football games into the Pasadena-based stadium. The matter has progressed far enough that a potential lease with USC is on the Rose Bowl Operating Committee's agenda.

Matt Szabo, press secretary to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Vllaraigosa, tells FanHouse, "The Mayor is absolutely committed to keeping the Trojans at the Coliseum. USC football is one of the most important economic engines in South Los Angeles and the Mayor has no interest in seeing those jobs leave for Pasadena."

As a major donor and season ticket holder, this Trojan would be very upset if the team left the Coliseum to share the Rose Bowl with UCLA. From traffic congestion to parking on a golf course, the Rose Bowl Stadium has to be one of the most inconvenient venues in all of college football. At the Coliseum students and fans can tailgate on campus and walk to the game--and traveling to Pasadena should be an expierience one is only forced to go through once a year--on January 1st!

UPDATE: USC Coach Pete Carroll at least has a sense of humor about the move, saying, "It's kind of been our second home since we've been here."

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-27-2007 @ 10:06PM

eri said...

whats wrong with the commision ,100 mil can do a lot to the place

11-27-2007 @ 10:41PM

naz said...

Dude, socal winter turtle necks? digg a little deeper into the aol media archives for us next time.

11-29-2007 @ 12:21AM

Charlie said...

It's really stupid for USC to leave the Coliseum, where they have made their home. Can't they just wait until the bowl season each year. They'll probably go there anyway.

11-28-2007 @ 1:43AM

insomniac said...

Once again, the Coliseum commission reaffirms its ineptitude. First they botch the opportunity to be the home of a NFL team when the league was doing its best to hand the city a team, and now they risk losing the Trojans (tho it does just sound like a negotiating ploy to me).

On the bright side, since so many SC fans and students move away from South Central at the first opportunity, it's not really that big of a difference to be stuck on the freeways to Pasadena rather than surface strettes in the hood. Plus, you don't have to pay 50 bux to park, and any tailgating could actually involve a tailgate.

Wonder what kind of a domino effect this could have? Would it push UCLA towards building its own stadium on campus (unlikely w/ the money being sought for Pauley renovations)? If the Rose Bowl was bringing in revenue from both Bruins and Trojans games, maybe, just maybe they would be more willing to forfeit the outdated Rose Bowl game in favor of a playoff system as outlined by Dan Wetzel on Yahoo! sports.

11-28-2007 @ 6:52AM

dot-head said...

I have been to both places and to me he coliseum has a lot of history. I have seen the who play a concert there in 82 and have seen the rams and raiders also ucla and usc games. It wiil be missed

12-01-2007 @ 6:52AM

BruinSam said...

It would be a huge loss for USC to leave the Coliseum. Not only does the program have so much history in that stadium, it is--literally-- adjacent to the campus. In face, most out-of-towners probably think the Coliseum is ON USC's campus.

That said, for all its drawbacks (bathroom lines and those damn tunnels-- getting to and from your seats is a cattle-herd nightmare), the Rose Bowl does have a few advantages over the Coliseum.

It's not that hard to get to-- the Rose Bowl is immediately adjacent to the 210 Freeway, so Trojan fans traveling from West LA can shoot right over the hill, out the 101, to the 134 to the 210 and, bam, you're there. Parking may be on a golf course, but at least there's parking! If you don't pony up big cash to USC football to get a parking pass, forget about parking at the Coliseum-- you have to hunt for the privilege to pay $50 to some local entrepreneurial parking lot vendor. And finally, once you are in the Rose Bowl (in your seat), the sight lines of the stadium are markedly better than the Coliseum. The Rose Bowl feels like a 50,000 seat stadium that somehow fits 80 or 90 or whatever. Covnersely, the Coliseum has you miles away from the action if you're above, say, Row 55.

All that said, this sounds like nothing more than a negotiating ploy for USC to gain leverage over the Coliseum Commission. No way the Trojans end up in Pasadena full-time.