Trojan Candy was not able to volunteer at Heritage Hall on Friday, 9/25. I flew up, unexpectedly and frantically, at 9:00 am on Friday, to Belmont, CA, after receiving a 5:00 am wake-up call from my daughter Kelly. My second grandson was going to be born 12 days early! Kane was born at 1:30 pm!
Being a LOYAL TROJAN, I will be attending the USC-Cal game on Saturday, 10/3/09. Check next week for pictures of our VICTORY!
FIGHT ON, Trojans!
The plane ride from L.A. to Seattle was awesome. My sister Pat, brother-in-law Dudley, and I flew up with the Seattle Storm WNBA team and the Oaks Christian Varsity High School Football Team. The latter played in the featured high school game of the week on ESPNU Friday night. They defeated the best high school team in the state of Washington, Sammamish Skyline High School, 28 to 25!
We had beautiful sunny weather in Seattle for Thursday 9/17 through Sunday 9/20...except, of course, on game day Saturday!
Touring the Space Needle, Pike’s Place Market, and the utterly breath-taking downtown Public Library was enjoyable!
We saw some Trojans here and there, especially at our Residence Inn. But not as many as we saw in Columbus last week.
The Friday night Pep Rally at the downtown Westin had very good food. The small short ribs were delicious! The Pep Band was superb as expected! This game, Dr. Bartner brought up all of his Juniors.
Then Friday night, the rain came. Luckily it was light, but was it an excuse for my beloved Trojans to play so poorly? The fumbles and interception killed us!
We must FIGHT ON! Against the Cougars!
My sister Pat, brother-in-law Dudley and I arrived at the Residence Inn in downtown Columbus on Thursday, 9/10/2009. The hotel used to be a bank and the breakfast serving area is in the bank vault! The Trojan Marching Band, consisting of 50 Senior Band members, the Song Girls and band staff stayed at the same hotel.
Today is Friday. we took a memorable trip to the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. En route we saw cornfield after cornfield. I thought this was Ohio, not Nebraska! (Oh yes, we were in Nebraska two years ago when our Trojans beat the Cornhuskers!) The birth of the NFL occurred in Canton. In 1920 the American Professional Football Association was created in Canton. Their first president was Jim Thorpe. Then the Association was renamed the NFL in 1922. Many Trojan greats are enshrined in the Hall. Marcus Allen, Red Badgro, Frank Gifford Ronnie Lott, Bruce Matthews, Ron Mix, Anthony Munoz, O.J. Simpson, Lynn Swann, Willie Wood, Ron Yary, and Coaches Al Davis, Joe Gibbs and Mel Hein proudly represent our USC football tradition!
In the evening there was a rousing Pep Rally at the Renaissance Hotel across the street from our hotel. The Renaissance was the USC Alumni Headquarters. The entire lobby downstairs and ballroom upstairs were filled with cardinal and gold clad Trojans. The food at the rally was magnificent! Dr. Bartner, the band, and the Song Girls raised our spirits to a fever pitch! Charles White dropped by to say a few encouraging words! The Alumni Association gave every attendee a black backpack and a USC luggage tag. As we all left, we knew we could beat the Buckeyes tomorrow!
Now it is Game Day with ESPN. The game has been hyped almost to a BCS Championship level. Why not? We deserve it! Lee Corso picked USC to win. Smart man! Fight On, Lee!
Before the Game there were Ohio State Buckeye tents everywhere outside Ohio Stadium and only one half of the tailgaters have tickets to the game. That’s a hundred thousand fans who stayed outside the stadium throughout the actual game. We were told that the tailgate parties began as early as 8:00 am for this 8 pm game. To pass the time before the game, the Buckeyes like to throw bean bags at OSU targets. I even saw a few Trojans join in the fun!
The Game. All Trojan fans sat in the end zone located in the horseshoe. Everyone sat on bleachers, and the legspace in front of each seat is so wide that no one has to ever get up to let anyone out! What a climb to get to our seats! We had a great view of the entire field, lengthwise!
LOUD! LOUD! LOUD! LOUD! A stadium record of 106,033 yelled and chanted "OH-I-O," especially when the Buckeyes were up by five points. All that bravado for naught! I knew that we only needed a touchdown to win, and we did it!!!
Fight On Trojans to another victory!
As an epilogue to the day’s events, the hundred thousand Buckeye fans outside the stadium plus the hundred thousand fans inside the stadium created a humongous traffic jam! Though the game ended at about 11:45 pm, almost all Trojans returned in buses or by foot to their hotels about three and a half miles away between 2 and 4 am Sunday!
As soon as I arrived at the Heritage Hall desk, Alex Stepheson walked over and gave me a big hug. As he was selecting a snack, I teased him about not taking the bag of cranberries that I had offered him a few weeks before. Alex smiled and told me that his mother had read the previous trojancandy.com article I had written about him and that she mentioned the cranberries to him. Whereupon Alex took the bag of cranberries, opened it, and posed for this picture! In all the excitement, I am not sure if he ate any! What a teaser!
I caught Taylor Mays on his way downstairs. He said that he didn’t want a snack. I warned him that someone had attacked my webpage and told him not to click on any blank boxes with an “x” in them. Then I told Taylor to go to my blog and check out my 8/21/2009 article entitled, “He’s NOT my Prince Charming.” The article is about Taylor! With his big, trademark smile, Taylor said that he would check out the blog! You can too! (Its name is “Trojan Justice: The (UC)LA Times Watchdog” or click on the “My Blog” link at the top of this page.)
Old friends Shane Horton and Joe Houston came to visit today. A little more about Joe later.
Six new football friends came to the desk for the first time today. Center Kristofer O’Dowd took just one Caramel Apple lollipop. No Nerds! No Air Heads! No Sour Punch Twists! Kristofer, who is from Tucson, Arizona, is majoring in Gender Studies. He said that his hobby is “just spare time.” As he left, Kristofer told me that he will not play against San Jose State, but he will play in the Ohio State game. Fight On, Kristofer!
Junior linebacker Malcolm Smith, who is from Taft High School in the San Fernando Valley, came next. He took a Reese’s peanut butter cup, an Air Head and a red and purple Nerds. Malcolm is majoring in Economics, and his hobby is collecting Nike shoes! I have to ask Malcolm how many pairs of Nikes he has the next time he comes to the desk. Fight On, Malcolm!
Defensive tackles Jurrell Casey and Derek Simmons came to the Heritage desk together and left together. Hence, they are in a picture together! Additionally, they both like to play video games in their spare time. But that is where the similarities end. Jurrell, who played at Long Beach Poly High School, is a Sophomore majoring in Public Relations. He took a Skittles. Derek, who played at Arjimo High School in Suisun, CA, is a Junior majoring in Public Policy, Management and Planning. He took a Sour Punch Twist. Fight On, Jurrell! Fight On, Derek!
A quiet, mild mannered, so polite Chris Pousson came to the desk next. Chris is a Sophomore who quietly plays as the Longsnapper! For hobbies, he likes to play video games and other sports such as basketball and baseball. Chris took an Air Head. Fight On, Chris!
I almost forgot...I asked Chris if team members like to pick on our dear friend Joe Houston. Chris told me that Joe gives as good as he gets! With that, Joe just happened to come up to the desk again for a treat.
The last new football friend was Jordan Cameron. Actually, Jordan came up to the Heritage desk last week, in the stampede for treats right before the team meeting. This time, we had a chance to talk. Jordan is a Junior majoring in Sociology. He likes Sour Punches, M&M cookies, and hanging out with his family. Talking about family, Jordan’s sister is former USC Women of Troy basketball player Brynn Cameron! Jordan told me that Brynn just got hired as an intern for ABC. She will be an interviewer on the sidelines. Fight On, Brynn! Fight On, Jordan!
Assistant Men’s and Women’s Water Polo Coach Casey Moon came to the desk with fellow coach Pavol Valovic. Casey played at UCSC and earned his B.S. in Biology and Legal Studies in 2004. He is a neighbor of mine since he lives in Long Beach. Fight On, Coach Casey!
Good friend Hailey Dunham stopped by to chat and took a bag of Cheese Nips. While she was at the desk, Jack Reidy, who works at the USC Medical Campus in the Department of Public Safety, walked into Heritage. Jack is a Parks and Recreation Commissioner in the City of Cerritos, just like my husband.
Last, but not least, two USC Women of Troy golfers came to the desk for the first time. Sophomore Jennifer Song, from Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a Business major, soon to be Psychology major. For a hobby Jennifer likes to walk up and down the aisles of grocery stores, especially Whole Foods and to watch the Food Network! She took an Air Head and a Sour Punch Twist. Could she be a football player in disguise?
Fellow golfer and roommate Inah Park came up to the desk with Jennifer. Inah from Las Vegas is also a Sophomore, but she is undecided in her major. Inah told me that in addition to shopping at grocery stores, Jennifer and she like to shop for clothes and go to movies, especially scary or funny ones. They see their movies at the Grove. I told Inah that a movie theater is being built in Downtown L.A. near the Staples Center. Fight On, Jennifer! Fight On, Inah!
