Football may be a fall sport, but at the University of Southern California we take pride in our football team and spirited game-day atmosphere all year long. Indeed, I first visited USC as a prospective student in the spring of 2004, and as the student tour guide led our group of parents and high school Trojan-hopefuls down Trousdale, the main drag running through the heart of campus, he tried to describe what the wide, tree-lined concrete-and-brick pathway is like before a home football game.
“Imagine,” he said, gesturing with wide arms to encompass the surrounding area, “this whole campus as a sea of cardinal and gold.”
USC is a lively and energetic campus and it is not rare on any given day to see many students wearing school T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, sweatpants, and other paraphernalia. On football game days, however, the Trojan Fever reaches its boiling point, and nearly everyone you see is decked out head-to-toe in USC gear. Painted faces and chests, Trojan swords and foam helmets, and “BOOTY TIME” T-shirts are especially prevalent and popular this year.
Pre-game festivities start at least three hours prior to kick-off, so before a noon game it is not surprising to wake up at 9:00 a.m. and find alumni already barbecuing burgers along Trousdale, erecting “USC”-emblazoned tents and lawn chairs, and tossing footballs in McCarthy quad. As game time draws near, it is a ritual for Trojan students and fans to follow the “Spirit of Troy” marching band, starting at the infamous “Finger Fountain” (a piece of modern art allegedly giving UCLA the bird) and parading along Trousdale and across Exposition street – remembering, of course, to kick one of the lamp posts for good luck! – before crossing the street to the Coliseum. Everyone sings the Fight Song, holds their “V for Victory” signs high, and yells, “Fight on!” to each other.
For me, as for many of my fellow USC students, parents, faculty, and alumni, football games are the perfect way to come together as a school, revel in our Trojan pride, and show that “Fight on!” is right on.
Dallas Woodburn is a sophomore at USC majoring in Creative Writing. Her collection of short stories, 3 a.m., is available at Amazon.com. Check out her nonprofit foundation to encourage youth literacy at www.zest.net/writeon.
Anytime is a good time for Booty Time in Los Angeles
Daily Emerald
November 8, 2006
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