A Healthy Rivalry

Today, the Bruins played the Trojans at the Rose Bowl.

And the Bruins won. :-) (<--understated emoticon of the year!)

First of all, I must say that I am beyond thankful that my husband didn't make me get up at the crack of dawn to get to the stadium. I am so glad there are intense fans who are willing to arrive at 4 am, but I just couldn't do it. The game started at noon, so five hours of tailgating before kick off was plenty for me.

For our morning tailgate, I stuck to fruit for breakfast, perhaps because I was just so tired, but I helped myself to two slices of an Italian sub for lunch, along with some chips, a little pasta salad, and cookies. Oh, and plenty of mimosa action throughout the morning!

The game itself was fantastic!!! I can really see how our team is evolving under Coach Mora's leadership. The team is completely buying in to all of Mora's advice and accepting his philosophies. After the game, an interviewer asked a player about next week's game against Stanford; the player responded that they have a 24-hour rule--embrace the results of this game for 24 hours before moving to the next one. I love that idea!

Today's game was the first time in 51 years that the game was played in the rain. Fun fact, but it sorta sucked to be wearing glasses...

But we won!

I won't burden you with too many details of the game here, but I do have some fun facts to share about the UCLA-USC rivalry that might interest even those who don't care about these schools or football.

• A few years ago, the teams started a tradition of both wearing home jerseys, no matter who is hosting. The gesture requires the visiting team to lose a timeout, so the home team forfeits a timeout as well to show good will. 
• The winner of the rivalry game each year gets to take possession of the Victory Bell. Originally, UCLA was given the bell as a gift, but USC stole it. Eventually, it was agreed that the bell would temporarily belong to (and be painted in the appropriate color for) the school that wins the football game each year.
• Each school's students camp out to protect their respective statues during the week before the game. Past pranks have included paint on the statues and cutting off Tommy Trojan's sword to stick it somewhere...um...inappropriate.
• The current score: USC 46 victories, UCLA 29, 7 ties
• UCLA holds the longest rivalry streak at 8 wins in a row.
• The schools are only 12 miles apart, one of the closest geographic rivalries in the country.

Okay, I did my best to keep this post more or less unbiased. Obviously I'm thrilled that UCLA won, but I tried to omit any unkind words to the other school. (I suppose you can guess where the rest of this is going...)

That said, you should know this: During the game, my husband said, "Jules, I really like the side of you that comes out every year at this game. You are so intense! It's like a whole different person." 

It's true. I really can't help it. When I became a Bruin, something sparked in me that just makes me cringe at anything crimson and gold. I'm still upset that Gryffindor's colors are red and yellow. I'm physically offended by the idea of Bruins who marry Trojans--how could you possibly love each other? (Terry and I have discussed on multiple occasions that--even though we are clearly meant for one another and perfect together--we could never have worked if one of us had attended that other school. Then again, being Bruins is so ingrained in our blood now that we couldn't even fathom that.) 

And I'm pretty pissed that the Trojan marching band stayed in our stadium to play their post game concert (seriously, how many songs did they play?!) during our alma mater. But that's all I'll say. 

For now. Oh, and...

(Source)

Go Bruins!!!

Do you have a big sports rival? Share some of the history! I love that stuff!