2007 Rose Bowl Game:  Pre-game report from the stadium

By T Erickson  |   Monday, January 01, 2007  |  Comments( 2 )

College Football
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If you're a true college football fan and you've never been to a Rose Bowl Game, put it on your list of things to do before you pass away into the Great Beyond. Even during what many critics consider a "down" year for the Rose Bowl, with a contest featuring two teams that had their sights set--just a month ago--on the national championship game in Arizona, the feeling is electric.

Acres and acres of tailgaters blanket the parking lots and public golf course that surround the stadium. Various strains of rock and rap music clash from competing ghetto blasters, and the aroma of grilled tri-tip, burgers and polish sausage overwhelm the senses. Local radio stations broadcast from throughout the grounds, passing out souvenirs to participants in their trivia games.

Footballs fly back and forth over cars and partiers in the tailgating areas, while good-natured ribbing (for the most part) prevails between Michigan and USC fans. A lot of alcohol is shared amongst the revelers. This is, after all, just a few hours removed from the New Year's Eve bashes that many braved throughout most of the night.

These are folks who are used to visiting this venerated ground regularly; both teams have played in the Rose Bowl Game three of the last four years, and more than any other two teams over the past 50 years.

Forget what other sportswriters are saying about this game being a consolation bowl. It's an instant classic because of the matchup of Trojans and Wolverines. We're talking tradition here. Rock-solid tradition. USC has won more Rose Bowls than any other program in the 93-year history of the contest, and Michigan has won more games, period, than any other program in college football history.

If not for a few plays here or there, these two squads could be playing for the national title. As many as 21 players on the field today are projected to play in the NFL during the next few years. Both Pete Carroll and Lloyd Carr have won national titles with their programs in the past nine years, and their teams are projected to be preseason favorites next summer for playing in the 2008 championship game.

And then there's the Trojan and Wolverine marching bands and their rousing school fight songs. If they don't get you revved up for some heavy hitting on the field, nothing will. I could go on, but it's close to game time and I've got to pack up and race down the runway to that hallowed ground...a little piece of football real estate that can best be referred to as "gridiron nirvana."

Todd Erickson is the author of Road to the Rose Bowl (Silverback, 2005) the definitive book on the last 50 years of matchups and tradition in the Rose Bowl Game. He also writes the weekly RealFootball365 column Fourth and inches...
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