Being out of the country certainly has its demerits. You have to learn a whole new system for everything. From getting to work to buying groceries to getting a drink at a bar. Even though I'm in a place where nobody gives a damn about college football, I've been able to follow things pretty closely. But with nobody else here the least bit interested in the game, sometimes things are going to slip through the cracks. I knew that the top 25 schedule seemed a bit light this Saturday, but somehow totally forgot that USC had a game last night. Maybe they forgot, too. At least until the second half, but by then it was too late. What the hell happened in Corvalis last night? This was a team that lost to Stanford and lost 45-14 to Penn State. They had no business hanging with USC, let alone beating them, right?
I had planned to write a post today talking about how the season had been unbearably predictable and rant for a while about the crappy non-conference scheduling taking all the fun out of the game. Those problems are all still relevant and will continue to haunt the game until the NCAA decides that health is more important than wealth. I'm not holding my breath on that one, and may pop off again soon, but in the aftermath of the biggest upset of the season, it seems an odd time to complain about ennui.
SEC fans must be ecstatic. Their two least favorite teams have already screwed the pooch, and thanks to their survival of their usual slate of non-conference cupcakes (Arizona State & Clemson not withstanding), they have half their teams ranked - even Vanderbilt. The odds of an SEC team making the title game are extremely high. Who knows, maybe they'll face someone from the Mountain West.
Maybe this season will turn out more interesting after all. Perhaps even this week. Can TCU beat Oklahoma? Can Michigan upend Wisconsin? And just how good are those Nittany Lions? Someone's due for a fall. Here's hoping I can see it through the blurry broadcast at El Alamo. See you there.
I still had no idea where anything was in Los Angeles, but 
My trip to USC was a bit different than all the others because I had no contacts set up before my arrival. Usually, a blogger or friend of a friend, or a random person I met on the internet acts as a partial host, giving me the tips on what to see and expect. But no matter, at this point, I’ve become quite accustomed to crashing people’s tailgates and sampling their food in addition to their thoughts, feelings and concerns about the wonderful game of college football. 
When I saw an entire lamb turning on a spit, I knew I had to chat with the people doing the turning. In my conversation with a man named Jack, I asked one of my usual questions: “If you could change one thing about the game, what would you like to see be done differently?” After sixteen games at various levels all across the country, Jack was the first person to express his disapproval of the college overtime format. I happen to wholeheartedly agree with him, and have been consistently surprised that nobody else shared this opinion with me earlier. We bonded immediately. I also learned that they squeezed 32 lemons for the lamb’s marinade. I said, “that sounds like a lot of work,” to which the main squeezer replied, “You don’t want to know.” 
The campus was packed with people of all ages, genders, and races, with plenty of UCLA fans to boot. The crowd was in full revelry mode, but in a more laid back fashion than most of the places I’ve visited. That may have been in part due to the home team’s status as heavy favorites, but I have to think that it’s a SoCal thing as well. The diverse fan base meant diverse food as well, and I was lucky enough to sample various meats, many of which were served in tortillas. One Trojan fan chastised my choice of corn tortillas over flour. In Chicago, only the gringos go for flour, but perhaps in LA, things are different. Anyone have an inclination on that? I was also pleased to find Patron and Modelo Especial, a major step up from the Jack Daniels and Coors Light I’ve encountered across the rest of the country. Unfortunately, I never made it back to taste that lamb. I can only assume it was succulent and delicious. 
The Coliseum always looks huge on TV, but in person it has an intimate feel. Their mascot, a white horse named Traveler, sprints down the sidelines chasing a scrawny guy with a flag in his hat who surely runs for the cross country team. The band is quite good, though the sunglasses look comes off as rather cheesy to me. Between the third and fourth quarters, they light the Olympic Torch at the end of the stadium. It’s a pretty sweet tradition that no one else in the country can claim. UCLA played sloppy and erratic. There’s clearly some talent on the team, but they’re so horribly coached that they never stood a chance in this game. The home crowd never really made much noise or seemed overly engaged in the game. I’m sure the Bruins deserve part of the blame. 
The game ended on a four yard run by Hershel Dennis. The last play of my season. No profound thoughts came to me at that point. I’d had my share of wistfulness near the end of the Iron Bowl. But this time I was pretty much just satisfied with the journey. Relieved to be done, and more than anything, glad that I’ve done this. Had UCLA made it more of a game, perhaps there would have been some sort of climactic end for me, but the game just ended and that was that. 
I returned to revel with some of the fans I’d met before the game. They were all pleased and eagerly looking forward to the Rose Bowl matchup against Ohio State. Apparently I missed a pretty significant brawl between friends at the next tailgate over. Nobody knew what sparked the incident, but all who witnessed agreed that it was surprisingly violent. Fight On, indeed.
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