I hate hate hate USC but...
by LVBruin on Nov 15, 2009 11:56 PM PST
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PrintBefore I go into my rant here I feel it necessary that I note some of the folowing things to qualify my Bruin faithfulness/fanaticism:
Tonight, I will be leaving Las Vegas at 2AM to drive overnight to the OC, catch a nap at my aunt's house and then head to Westwood for the Ben Ball opener against Fullerton, I will then drive back to Vegas after the game
Two days ago, I gave my mother a Christmas gift request (to this day she insists I try to make a Christmas list every year). I asked for a pair of custom made Blue and Gold Vans to match my myriad UCLA shirts.
Two years ago, on a trip to Europe, I felt compelled to visit Milan almost entirely as a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, the building upon which the facade of Royce Hall was modelled.
Three years ago, I put $1000 on the Bruins to win the NCAA Tournament before the season started and refused o hedge my bet (though I could have easily profited $2500 to $4000) because I felt it would have been disloyal.
I could go on and on but I think you get the point.
Now, all that being said I offer the following - the USC football team has been really really good over the last several years.
I don't know why it gets under my skin so much but it totally bugs me when fellow Bruin fans attempt to dismiss what SC has done in recent years. Doesn't anybody else here like a formidable villain. I look at SC as the Ivan Drago of college football. Rocky IV was awesome because of its awesome villain and its villain was awesome because of the following:
He was a natural rival (like the Scumbags from crosstown)
He cheated (like the Trojies)
He was an arrogant jerk (sound familiar)
He was a dominant force (there's no denying this)
I feel that our dismissal of the SUCsters dominance under Cheatey is just as foolish as Leinert's "I still think we're the better team" comment after the Rose Bowl loss. Both are instances of people dismissing empirical evidence (for Leinert it was the fact that they had just lost, for us it's the fact that nobody consistently crushed top 25 opponents the way the Trojies did during their recent run) and forming opinions based more heavily on their personal allegiances.
My hope is that this year is a relative abberation for the squad of arrogant overpaid "amateurs" at the University of Spoiled Children. I hope that they come back with avengance next year and for many years after. I hope that they consistantly lose one game each year and I hope that each year as they are on the verge of dropping that lone loss the UCLA fans in the stands cheering on their undefeated Bruins as they prepare for a Rose Bowl or National Championship game don't offer that ridiculous "OV-er-RA-ted" chant because everyone will know that the Trojies were rated correctly as the #2 team in the country behind UCLA. Is it just me or would that be way sweeter than crushing an SC team that had returned to pre-PC mediocrity?
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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I don't doubt your allegiance to UCLA, and I appreciate that perspective...
But I don’t agree with it. Not yet, at least. SC has been the bully on the block for so long, that I’m hoping all of the kids in the neighborhood get their shots in. Maybe somewhere down the road, after SC has been thoroughly humbled, I’ll hope that our matchups vs SC will be a ‘battle of gladiators’, so to speak. Maybe. But for now, I’m quite content to see Carroll w/ that look of befuddlement on his face each and every week.
I’m not sure how long you’ve been a fan of the Bruins, but we actually had this development in the rivalry in the 90s. During UCLA’s 8 year dominance over SC, there were some great matchups with Rose Bowl implications for both teams and there were also some that carried less significance b/c SC was struggling. There was definitely a different mood leading up to those various matchups- and yeah, the ones w/ RB implications had a lot more tension- but all of the victories still tasted oh so sweet.
by insomniacslounge on Nov 16, 2009 12:12 AM PST reply actions
+1
You said if perfectly. Before we have that type of back and forth, they need to be humbled a bit. They have in deed been great over the past 7 years, but they are still overrated. With the recruits that they haul in each year (leaving a huge gap in potential on the playing field), I dare to say that they haven’t won enough. They have had a historical recruiting string, but only 1 natl championship and a host of conference chips to show for it. Many programs and coaches have done a lot more with a lot less (during the same time as Pets’s reign). Not impressed.
To your other point
I don’t think Bruin fans have ever claimed that Carroll has won a lot of games or that his reign over the Pac-10 has been empirically impressive. What people question is the means by which he achieved those conference titles and whether, given all of the talent he obtained, if he may have actually underachieved during some of those seasons. Those are reasonable questions, in my opinion.
by insomniacslounge on Nov 16, 2009 12:15 AM PST reply actions
wow....did I have a major error in this post
Instead of “claimed” it was supposed to read “denied”
Only changes the meaning to the exact opposite. Otherwise, perfectly written.
/dying for an edit button
by insomniacslounge on Nov 16, 2009 4:38 AM PST up reply actions
And also....
Rocky IV references?
“There’s no denying this”
…someone’s been reading a lil’ too much Simmons.
by insomniacslounge on Nov 16, 2009 12:16 AM PST reply actions
As a 2000 grad
I became a fanatic during an era in which we dominated not only Southern California but the entire west coast. We were the Goliath and SC the David. However, in my 14 years of diehard fanaticism, I was most pumped for the SUC game in ’05 when it looked like it was going to be a proverbial clash of the titans with national title implications (until we showed our true colors against Zona).
All I’m saying is, I understand the old philosophy “my two favorite teams are UCLA and whoever is playing SC,” I just don’t agree with it. It coincides with my general distaste for the “OV-er-RA-ted” chant. I’ve never understood why fans desire to diminish the acheivment of their squad by calling into question the ability of their opponent. I’d prefer “only slightly overrated in that you were rated higher than us clap clap clap clap clap” but maybe it doesn’t have a nice ring to it.
Next year and in the coming years as our program continues to rise, I don’t want to see SUC drop games to inferior opponents any more than I would want to see Lex Luthor thwarted by the Metropolis police department if that analogy makes any sense. I would rather we play the part of Superman.
As for Simmons, I’ve read a little of his stuff and I think he’s a funny cat but if there are similarities in our writing it’s a coincidence. The Rocky IV reference was just the most apt parallel as far as I could see. Though CRN does sort of have a Luke Skywalker in his 40s look to him and I could totally paint SC as the Empire. Maybe next post.
One place we do see eye to eye
I am in 100% agreement with your distaste for the “over-rated” chant for the exact reason you mentioned: it diminishes the accomplishment of your own team. It basically says, “Well you must actually suck if WE were able to beat you.”
by insomniacslounge on Nov 16, 2009 1:55 AM PST up reply actions
Just wondering...
How long have you lived in Vegas? If you were exposed to the USC bandwagon for the past 7 years on a daily basis, you might be singing a different tune.
I’ve lived in Vegas for about five years now and before that it was Fresno, so you may have a point with regard to the obnoxious fans and bandwagoners.
by LVBruin on Nov 16, 2009 9:38 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
With regard to Simmons pt. II
As the holder of an English degree from UCLA, I’m insulted by the accusation that my writing style is influenced by a Poly Sci grad from Holy Cross (I just checked his bio).
I side with Insomniac on this
There are and have been lots of college football dynasties, but none built on such arrogant, brazen cheating. None. There has been thuggery dynasties, but none that match just$c’s.
Anyway, the real reason I replied was because you mentioned you were an English major. Did you ever have the good fortune to take a class from my favorite prof, who was destined from birth to be an English professor – George Bernard Tennyson?
Nice work - have a syntax error in a post pertaining to English.
Let’s make that “There have been thuggery dynasties ….”
Unfortunately never had the pleasure. If prof. Tennyson was around during my time I missed it entirely (which is hard to imagine). Wonder what other options his parents had “if it’s a girl how about Emily Dickenson Bronte Tennyson”
by LVBruin on Nov 16, 2009 9:49 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
He was a great teacher
I got lucky and had him for freshman English.
U$C*
It is also comical for me when I see so called Bruin fans coming here and lecturing us on why we should respect the Trojans.
You don’t have to look very hard through this community to find out the systematic patter of (alleged) cheating and scandals that have defined Petey. You don’t have to look very hard for how Petey ran up the scores on UCLA game after game during the peak of his “program.” Trojans will never get respect as long as Chetey Petey who has built something based on blockbuster (alleged) cheating that has been swept under the rugs.
We’d respect Chetey Petey’s U$C* if they played by the rules. They didn’t. So they will not get a shred of respect here on BN. Don’t come here and lecture us on why we shouldn’t dismiss them the ultimate rogue and illegitimate program of college football. If you want to do that … preach it as some other “Bruin” fansite. Not here.
I don't think you have to say "alleged."
The alleged MSM uses the word “alleged” to keep from being sued for libel. Let Cheatie sue any BN contributor for libel. First, that defendant would get lots and lots of free legal help. Second, Cheatie would NEVER file such a case because it would open him and just$c open to discovery and that will never ever happen. Third, and most important, truth is a defense, and it is a fact (not an alleged fact) that Cheatie cheats. He has admitted it (most recently regarding his “consultant” who served as an extra coach.)
wait a minute
I never said I respected the Trojies, quite the opposite. I despise them and wholheartedly believe that their success has been predicated on cheating and further marred by their arrogance and thugishness. I do however admit that they have been successful. My post was actually born out of a series of attacks against another poster on another thread. He was basically arguing that SC had been and probably would continue to be a very good college football team under Cheatey and he was getting totally flamed for it.
by LVBruin on Nov 16, 2009 10:05 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
You advocated rooting for the Trojies
You wrote:
My hope is that this year is a relative abberation for the squad of arrogant overpaid “amateurs” at the University of Spoiled Children. I hope that they come back with avengance next year and for many years after.
The idea that a Bruin would root for the Trojans is pathetic. Don’t want to see that garbage on BN. Thanks.
Thank you!
I can’t believe a BRUIN would write such a thing. For me, I took A LOT of satisfaction in them getting destoyed on Saturday and against Oregon. It was simply awesome. Their arrogance has to end. It’s time for a power shift to the blue and gold.
I think you missed the point there. I hope they continue to be a national power in years to come so that we can repeatedly play the part of dream crusher. I don’t know about anyone else here but one of the toughest losses I’ve ever had to swallow as a Bruin was the loss against SC in basketball two years ago. I was at that game and left feeling emotionally empty inside. I want that feeling visited on SUC fans repeatedly. Naturally, the feeling would be even stronger for Trojies as they walk away from further 13-9 type losses as the late-season loss would deflate their national title hopes. I guess I just prefer our arch enemy be a supervillain (that we repeatedly defeat) than one of many weaklings we trounce. It didn’t pain the average pianist to hear Mozart play, but for Salieri the music is a constant reminder of his relative mediocrity. I would like SC to be our Salieri. Naturally, I can understand if I’m alone in this regard
by LVBruin on Nov 16, 2009 2:25 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Disagree totally and from the core of my being.
I want just$c* to lose every game in every sport. I want each of their trophies recalled. I want their students to have all their degrees withdrawn after just$c* admits that its academics are as phony as their ncaa compliance department. I want Cheatie Petie indicted for fraud. I want Mike Garrett to walk the perp walk for something, too.
I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point.
Thanks, but no thanks
I hope that they come back with avengance next year and for many years after.
I could not disagree with this statement any more than if it said the sky was orange and water is dry. I could never, never, never, never, never, never wish USC any kind of success in any athletic venture. I’ll relent on academics because even Trojan alumni contribute to society, but the world is a better place when USC sucks.
I hope this is just the beginning of USC’s plunge to Notre Dame-esque mediocrity. At least Notre Dame has an excuse because they still maintain academic integrity. I hope USC becomes the very program they are compared to the most: Florida State of the 90s. But where Bobby Bowden has disarming Southern charm, Carroll is just a condescending jerk.
The people who rankle me the most aren’t the coaches or the players, it’s the fans who are even more insufferable after a loss than they are after a win, which is pretty hard to imagine considering how incorrigible and haughty they’ve been during their recent glory.
by ishXdavid on Nov 16, 2009 8:22 AM PST reply actions 2 recs
The $SUC* fans and alumni are the most obnoxious on the planet
I can proudly say that I have hated $SC* for over 40 years – and I have taught my children (both Pac-10 alumni) to do the same. That is the only (conscious) prejudice that I shared with my kids!
What's gotten into people
How many "you aren’t respecting the awesomeness of Pete Carroll and SUC football’ posts do I have to put up with?
Jesus, If I wanted that viewpoint I could get it 24/7 with zero counterpoints at the following:
The LA Times
The LA Daily News
The OC Register
Jim Hill
Colin Cowherd
Steve Hartman
Rob Fukazaki
Steve Mason
John Ireland
etc, etc, etc…
Why can’t we have one place without having to put up with this cr@p? Its like these “bruins” have the stockholm syndrome or something…
"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"
by silverlakebruin on Nov 16, 2009 12:04 PM PST reply actions
I agree!
If I wanted to see pro-Pete Carroll stuff I would head to another site. I like this site because the people who put it on are awesome, and totally committed to everything Bruin. That means………nothing Trojan. I remember when I was a kid and the Trojan Band squirted me with a squirt gun as they were walking down the coliseum steps. Just cause I had a Bruin hat on. I was 10. Ever since that day, I hate everything Trojan, from the band to that damn horse. Screw Pete Carroll and the rest of those assholes at SC. Have you ever had to walk through that campus before a UCLA vs. USC football game? I was lucky to get out alive once. I remember sitting and watching Pete Carroll stick it to us with huge leads, going for two-point conversions and touchdowns with minutes remaining……….just to pour salt in the wounds.
I wish them no success, will never wish them success, and hope that that cheating program with that cheating coach goes as much in the toilet as Reggie Bush has in the NFL. That is all……..my blood pressure is up and I can’t wait for two weeks so we hopefully can keep piling on those South Central Bandwagoners.
I disagree with this post...
I would love nothing more than to see SC struggle for a few years. The fans drive me crazy and the team cheated its way to the top. If UCLA doesn’t win the Pac-10 next year, I would much rather see any of the other 8 teams win it than USC.
That said, I don’t think we should be ragging on LVBruin for his opinion. His point was that it’s better for the rivalry if both teams are good. Neuheisel and Howland have said the exact same thing a trillion times. I personally would rather see SC suck, but I can respect that opinion. If you want to cherry-pick a quote to make it sound like he’s saying something he’s not, go ahead, but I’ll leave that to the MSM.
by Spird on Nov 16, 2009 6:38 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
No one is cherry picking anything
If one wants to dream about SC coming back with a vengeance, they can root for that to happen somewhere else. It shouldn’t be very difficult to get the concept that we don’t root for Southern Cal in any way or shape. Period.
And I find that a lecture about “MSM” kind of funny coming from someone who appears to share the same name as a former Daily Bruin sports editor (the same paper that celebrated “moral victory” against Southern Cal just years ago and as recently as few weeks ago was prematurely bloviating about CNR’s team “falling apart”). Whatever.
After 23+ years as an $C hater...
I despise them even more today, more than ever. While I understand LVBruins’ argument, that seeing SC slain by a mighter and more potent Bruin team often makes for a more exciting finish, and that such a ‘script’ would be the ultimate way to beat them and make for great reading in the annals of UCLA-USC history, I TOTALLY DISAGREE, like most of us here at BN.
Fox, Nestor, muircoach (above) have said it best, but allow me to elaborate on the intensity of this hatred…
As Bruins we can NEVER root for these guys, we simply can’t…
I am often astounded by some Bruin fans back east (where some of us live) who mildly pull for $C against the likes of Notre Dame or other notable programs esp. back easet when they face off either early in the season or in a bowl game. They cite their loyalty to the Pac-10 or to the west coast… I could NEVER do such a thing. ESPECIALLY after the ‘Pete Carroll era’ which should be synonymous with thuggery and all around disingenuousness and yes, scandal. While I do recognize the talent Petey recruits year in and year out, he breeds an ‘asshole’ culture that lacks any kind of class or gentlemanly civility. They are a bunch of uneducated brutes who stop at nothing simply to win and to humiliate.
I am APPALLED by Carroll’s recent quote this past weekend when he was asked by the press about Stanford’s choice to for a two-point conversion: “I don’t know what they were thinking with that.” (read Plaschke’s column in the LAT related to this past Saturday’s SC loss) Sure, Harbaugh (Stanford) was ‘piling’ on just a bit by going for a two-point conversion when they were up by 27 points with 8 minutes left. But why is this so terrible?? As if Carroll had not done that REPEATEDLY not only to virtually every opponent he’s faced but esp. to us.
During the 66-19 debacle of 2005 (probably one of my worst days ever) and two years prior (47-22) i can count on TWO hands the times Coach A-hole went for it on fourth down, or the two-point conversion, or the TD, when they were up by 25-30 or more points against us (there may even have been an onside kick there somewhere). And he’s miffed by Harbaugh doing that to him now You ($C) were losing at HOME to a team that is trying to send a statement to a team that lacks any sense of sportsmanship(!), and you are suddenly insulted by a little aggressiveness? Where the hell do you get off, Pete, citing ‘unsportsmanship’ when you do this time and time again?
I am incensed by people who give these guys a pass time and again… they probably DESPISE us more than we despise them and they do a good job of showing that hatred toward us, more than we do them. That’s what liars and cheaters do… if you don’t doubt they are LOVING the fact that our football program has been (emphasis on past tense here) ‘down and out’ for several years now, you need to get a clue.
They don’t wish for us to be competitive, ever. They LOVE re-living 27-0, 47-22, 66-19, etc. etc. The seven straight years of victories (the only thing that makes me happier recalling all of the above is that we beat them EIGHT straight prior). Fact is they LOVE seeing us fall hard and they rub it in. Hoping that they are competitive is like hoping your worst enemy torments you and then you get the last final punch to knock him out. I’d rather keep my enemy in his place, where he belongs, on the turf, never to bother me again (I am really a loving and peaceful person, mind you… and I don’t wish harm on my fellow man, but you get the idea here… it’s a different philosophy when it comes to US versus THEM in this rivalry of rivalries).
I concur re. having to walk through their campus prior to games, being hissed at, booed at (literally), and threatened by some inebriated lug who probably doesn’t even go to U$C (half their fans are wannabes who have never even been enrolled in their second-class ‘university’) …. I also, have begun breeding my own generation… my 10-year old stepson hates them with a passion now as he is discovering the intensity of UCLA-USC and my four-year old immediately recognizes their silly acronym and their uniforms and already verbally says ‘USC is bad because they hate UCLA’ … I’m doing my part, people! :-) (all in good fun here, right? I don’t want the overly sensitive type to think I’m teaching my children to hate, but you get the idea)…
I almost got into it the other day with a UCLA alum (undergrad and med school) who I know through a family member, who has SEASON TICKETS to $C because ‘he admires good talent, good football’ … yes, there IS that type of alum who doesn’t care, but that I table to years and years of a culture we’ve bred that lacks high expectations for our program. But we’re doing our part to change that, by instilling a new priority, a new focus on improving the program and making it what it should be — and to hope that USC never rises, EVER AGAIN. No, we’re not ‘just a basketball school’ as even Terry Donahue once alluded. We’re more than that, and hopefully we’re on our way to getting where we need to be.
I LOVE the fact they’ve lost three games and that they’ve been THRASHED in two of the games this year. They deserve it and they deserve more whippings. Carroll sucked as a pro football coach and he deserves credit for ‘finding himself’ to an extent as a college coach. But to give him full credit and call him ‘one of the greatest’ coaches ever is ABSURD. Get real people. He’s a cheat, and he doesn’t deserve that much credit. He deserves several years of mediocrity at best just to show him that it doesn’t pay to play by the rules the way he has. Here’s hoping $C SUCKS for many years to come!
Lastly, think of the following images and tell me if you EVER want these guys to be competitive…
1) Cheaty Petey laughing away and clapping it up when they’re up by 40 points in the third quarter against us
2) Todd Marinovich flipping off Matt Darby in the 1990 game when Darby kindly offered to help ‘Marijuanovich’ off the ground
3) Mike Williams catching a TD pass and pushing off/stiff arming our safety back in the 2003 game, and then saluting and mocking our defensive player just beat on the play
4) OJ Simpson’s long run in the 1967 game
5) an overrated Rodney Peete (who amounted to nothing in the NFL) twice beating Troy Aikman (future Hall of Famer)
I could go on and on (Mike Garrett, Marcus Allen, Frank Gifford, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush — all jerks), and there are other moments that I and many of us can recall that hammer home the point.
Moral of the story?? NEVER root for ‘them’ — EVER.
Go Bruins!
W.S. Montano Class of 1994
by wsmontano1994 on Nov 17, 2009 8:46 AM PST reply actions 4 recs
I've Tried...Can't Do It
There have been a few occasions over the past 35+ years when it would advance our cause to have $c beat someone. Even when it would clinch a conference championship for us to have them beat Washington or whomever. I start watching knowing I’m supposed to be rooting for them, but it doesn’t take long before something deep down inside stirs and I have to curse any success they have and revel in their misfortunes.
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