Last New Years was the typical college holiday for me. Back at home with a few old high school friends in my small home town looking for some kind of trouble to get into — far from out of the ordinary. But this year could not be more different. I’ve some how gotten myself into the position to be in one of the premier cities in the world for one of the biggest college football games of the year.
And the week leading up to the No. 7 Oregon Ducks and No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes showdown in the 2010 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., has been nothing short of spectacular. Reflecting on the week I have to pinch myself and ask how I got this lucky.
The week began at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday morning when we woke up to catch our 6:21 a.m. flight out from Portland directly to Los Angeles. Yes our flight was entirely paid for with Sports Editor Ben Schorzman’s grandmother’s extra frequent flyer miles, conserving my bank account for the time being.
Once we picked up our fourth and final member of the staff — freshman photographer Jack Hunter — it was off to the hotel. And after getting into a fender-bender less than five seconds after climbing into our first taxicab, we headed to the downtown Marriott Hotel. This being my first lengthy experience in downtown Los Angeles, I’d have to admit that it’s as impressive as it looks on TV. The buildings are just as tall, traffic is just as crazy and best of all its 60 degrees and sunny in December.
Checking into the hotel went smoothly and after a quick nap, we headed down the street a few blocks to the Staples Center to see the defending World Champion LA Lakers take on the Golden State Warriors. I won’t go into how much this meant to me to see Kobe play in LA, because words won’t do it justice. He dropped a season-high 44 points and 11 assists in a thrilling Laker victory and reminded me exactly why I worship the ground he walks on. Okay, not literally, but seeing him and the rest of the team go through warm ups, introductions, etc., is something that isn’t quite captured sitting at home on the couch.
The following morning we got an early reminder what we’re all actually here to do when we attended the zoo that was Media Day. The entire Oregon team, followed by the entire Ohio State team, was available for interviews and at one point I heard there were over 200 people in the Marriott Ballroom including players, coaches and media members. Afterward we returned to our rooms and spent the next several hours transcribing the interviews on our voice recorders and cranked out seven articles between the three of us.
Once the work side of the day was done we visited the hospitality room. And by room I mean full on restaurant/bar/lounge with free food, pool, and college football on multiple big screens with even more comfortable couches. Needless to say we didn’t leave till well after dinner, also compliments of the hotel as was breakfast and lunch, before retiring to the rooms again for a hot shower and some sleep.
Then this morning it was back on the ODE grind when we attended the head coach’s press conference with Oregon coach Chip Kelly and Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. We got there early enough to get basically front row seats and sat in on the media frenzy.
Throughout the morning Kelly’s close friend and former Super Bowl winning coach Jon Gruden, as well as his fellow Monday Night Football analyst Mike Tirico, were seen talking to Kelly and a few other people once his portion of the conference was over.
In addition to Gruden and Tirico, ESPN analysts Lisa Salters and Shelley Smith were also in attendance. And while I forget they’re just at work, they still feel like celebrities to me.
And now that the work portion of today is starting to wind down, my next big decision will be whether to go to the Clippers vs. 76ers game, hang out in the hospitality room for the night again, or check out the media bowling party. Either way, we’ll be up bright and early tomorrow to catch the 9 a.m. police escorted shuttle to Rose Bowl Stadium for the game.
Then the real chaos begins.
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