It's rivalry week here in Los Angeles. Earlier today, the USC Trojans battled the UCLA Bruins in the annual Battle for the Victory Bell, with USC coming out ahead for the eighth time in nine years. This week is special for Los Angeles and unique among all cities in the country. In a city without any professional football, all eyes are on the two teams. There are many other rivalries in the country which may get more hype, but NOWHERE else are the rivals located in the SAME CITY, with most rivalries existing in two entirely different states!
That being said, what should have been a week dedicated to the two teams turned ugly when USC announced they have begun negotiations with the Rose Bowl to play next season at the venue, leaving the L.A. Memorial Coliseum after 80+ years.
As I aluded to earlier here, the Coliseum is run by an incompetent group of members who are notoriously the most difficult group to deal with in politics. It is consisted of a nine person committee, with three members representing the city, three representing the county, and three representing the state. That, coupled along with the Coliseum's stature as a historical monument, make dealings with the venue extremely troublesome.
Fellow blogger Nate at The Stuge already wrote a great piece on this story, but I thought I had to express my thoughts as well. Seeing how frustrated I already was with the Commission with my earlier post, I was not surprised in the least when this news came out.
Fortunately, USC is combating the Coliseum extremely effectively. Once the story broke that they were negotiating with the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, USC sent out a huge press release to get the public on their side. They presented all the relevant information in simple and reasonable language (as can be seen here on their website). USC proposal included a $100 million pledge for rennovations with the terms being they be made the master tenant with control over any potential naming rights and power over individual events.
This, of course, would pretty much make the Commission irrelavent, which is something I am very much in favor of.
It also would shut the door on any plans for the NFL to play at the Coliseum, which I also am in favor of - and so is the NFL. The Commission is holding onto some ridiculous notion that the NFL may one day return there and would be willing to put in up to $800 million worth of renovations, which the NFL has flatly said will never happen anyway.
Thankfully, the Mayor (finally doing something I agree with) and the Governor have already pledged to do all they can to keep USC in the Coliseum and prevent them from fleeing to Pasadena. All parties involved say they want to continue the relationship, but are very far apart on the terms. USC plays an amazing home schedule next year, including visits from Ohio State and Notre Dame among others, and on a selfish note it would be a shame to not be able to see the games in LA where they belong. The Rose Bowl, while a beautiful venue and setting, is an absolute terror to go to. Parking is non-existant, traffic is beyond horrific, and sightlines in the stadium are abysmal. The Rose Bowl is perfect for hosting the ROSE BOWL GAME - but not the regular season.
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3 comments:
As much emotion as this issue has elicited from USC students, I urge a great deal of skepticism at USC's motives. Remember that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Giving the University total control of the Coliseum gives them free license to price gouge students in yet another area. While I agree the Coliseum Commission is extremely inept, I absolutely think that if the school takes control, there must be some method of accountability, whether it be student body or an outside firm. But total control by USC concerns me...
I believe that the Rose Bowl is a landmark and a beautiful stadium at that. However, as you note the parking is absolutely horrible (parking on a golf course) and we would be sharing it w/ our #1 rival (we can't do that come on). I really hope that the trojans can stay at the coliseum, I love having the convenience of being able to walk to the stadium and not having to deal with parking. I hope a deal comes soon b/c I would be very unhappy with having to drive to the rose bowl every other week. good post.
I agree with you that there is no way that USC should ever play at the rose bowl unless we win the Pac 10 or against UCLA every other year. I was excited to see that the mayor expressed his concern in keeping USC at the Coliseum. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
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