FOOTBALL

USC Game Day Experience Can Do Better

Some real own goals from last night’s game:

The band waited until after the game ended to move over to the student section. By the time they did get there, most of the USC players were gone and safety Calen Bullock was the only one to climb the ladder. It’s amazing Caleb Williams — in the final home game of the season — didn’t climb the ladder to give the fans a chance to show their appreciation to the likely Heisman winner. It would have made a great video. I put that on band director Jake Vogel.

All that came on the heels of the band’s halftime performance, which was notably briefer than usual. Considering how the band has been marginalized by the DJ and added in-stadium commercials, it was disappointing for fans who sat near me.

  • There were also fans who complained it took forever to get into the Coliseum. Some said it took 45 minutes or longer. A big problem is USC doesn’t anticipate that many fans are entering from the Exposition Park side of the Coliseum, which creates a logjam on one side of the stadium.

A crowd of 65,000-70,000 should not overwhelm the Coliseum though. USC needs to do better. Make the game-day experience match the Trojans’ on-field performance.

54 thoughts on “USC Game Day Experience Can Do Better”

  3. Most of us will remember this game as USC delivering a huge win on the national stage, and Caleb Williams grabbing the Heisman lead.

    Check out the Heisman odds – huge switch after this weekend:

    https://247sports.com/LongFormArticle/Heisman-Trophy-odds-Caleb-Williams-overtakes-CJ-Stroud-as-favorite-virtual-lock-198834504/#198834504_1

    Others (well, maybe just one) will remember the halftime performance was short and the traffic was bad.

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    1. got to take USC on that line. Utah was getting blown out by SC in the first quarter until the refs decided to throw the game. i dont think it will happen again.

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  6. So they still haven’t got their Shyt together about getting fans into the coliseum, promptly. When Helton was canned, we all thought that the stench of Haden, was gone with him. Not so fast it’s still there with a 45 minute wait time, to enter. Wtf is that? That’s an entire quarter at least. No wonder fans stay home and they can’t sell the joint out. Duh! Not hard to figure out. Wow!

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  7. Well it has been 10 years that they have had to deal with 70000 fans. We were stuck in traffic on MLK Blvd for 45 minutes from 2:45 to 3:30 to get into the Banc of California parking lot only to find out they were only accepting VIP parking passes (the Pink colored ones, and we had green passes). No signs, no notifications, no email or texts, no attendant parking folks to walk up and down the stuck traffic to let us know why we were stuck. I actually had to get out and walk to the front only to ask an attendant and get my answer. So we parked for $25 just east of the 110. Then it took us 20 minutes to scan our tickets at gate 4. We made it just in time for kick off.

    The excitement in the Coliseum is back. It felt like the Carroll years again. No need to manufacture excitement with the DJ, the product on the field provides the electricity. Dump the DJ and give him a scanner so that people can park and get in to the stadium more efficiently

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    1. We had a similar experience. Theft of service is a crime. We basically paid for parking with C & G and it was denied us. Horrible. We complained to Assistant AD Brent Watson. You can do the same if you wish.

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    1. No Ed, I ain’t Karen. But I know that in the Carroll years, we were packing in the Coliseum with 80000+ every game day without these snags.

      Here Wolfie has a legitimate gripe. Not the O-line, not the linebackers or the DBs. Not the coaching, but the logistics of getting a lot of people into the Coliseum again.

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      4. I am getting a certification in “Ed Speak” at the local community college. The course is oversubscribed, I was lucky to have nabbed a spot.

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  9. The DJ stuff is for the students. Marginalize the band? That’s going to wear out bad. A simple solution for the VIP parking is to have a private train provided by MTA to bring folks into Exposition Park and then secured shuttles to the museum so the fake fans can get the royal treatment they crave.

    Just take the train people. Seriously.

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  10. This IS WHY I don’t like going to Sporting events in person. It’s just too much. I rather be at home and enjoy watching the games on 📺. Anyways GO TROJANS. FIGHT ON!!!!✌

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  11. Great experience for me in our seats behind Trojan bench.
    DJ is fine and actually livens up the place.
    We got in the stadium just fine at 4pm no issues.

    The experience was similar to PC days as well.

    Dormers fans were very subdued entire game and appeared resigned to the fact that SC was more athletic and too much to handle offensively.

    Still shocked Wolf picked the Domers but he probably rooted for England over USA.

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      1. He is who he is. Take him or leave him. If only the Register’s readers were as dedicated as this group of readers.

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  12. Pictures floating around Instagram that purportedly show Williams had F@CK ND painted on his fingernails. Any confirmation?

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  13. Rusoviet – this is kinda late, but your “William Bendix” doppelganger joke about Clay was hilarious! He (Clay) was living the life of Riley until the real Riley showed up!

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    1. You ever read the Times columnist Brady McCullough, a matter of weeks before Helton got axed, ripping him a new one on how he behaved when he compared him to that fictional Ted Lasso character and Helton took it as a compliment not realizing the blunt assessment of how incompetent Helton was.

      Haden was the one who gave this poor fool the job as he was scampering out the door then the compounding by the Swann who foolishly gave him that horrific extension and that handcuffed the administration because of the huge outlay if Helton was sacked.

      Couple that with the university sailing w.o. a true leader rather a money grabbing clown Nikias who wanted no responsibility save fancy dinners and balls to attend – any uncovered scandals weren’t his purview oh no not him and finally Rick Caruso forced Nikias out as the first step in righting the ship.

      These past 7 years have been a real nightmare but look what a quality president and a quality AD have wrought in removing such as Helton and Swann and getting a head coach of the quality that Lincoln Riley is.

      Good night Helton was the worst head coach this school has ever had and I include Hackett and Tollner in that list – Helton was the worst but thankfully the wreckage he left behind is gone.

      Beat the Utes – revenge on UT this Friday 2nd December from Allegiant Stadium – Las Vegas, NV – on Fox 5 pm PST

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      1. Lane Kiffin is the one who gave Helton a job. His Dad was/ is best friends with Helton’s Dad. Haden and Swan kept Helton in place b/c they could control him. They kept him so the could run football as their personal fiefdom.

        Helton only even got a shot b/c Haden’s drinking buddy Sark went too hard on the sauce. Sam Darnold then proceeded to win a Rose Bowl and mask Helton’s incompetence.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. After Helton, I can only imagine how long it would take Riley (or any other coach) to turn this team around without the benefit of the transfer portal.

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  14. Getting into the coliseum has been worse, but the drones at the gate are not trained to handle anything that requires thinking. There are people at each tunnel, their job is to assist people in finding their seats. They all have phones out they don’t even look up if they aren’t asked. When asked the gesture in the general direction of the seats.
    It has been worse. I wrote about the time our bag was the “ wrong size” and when we came back with the same bag the same guy came over and took our sunscreen. Then gave the sunscreen to someone entering behind us. It was a midday game and when the lady seated in front of us started applying our sunscreen we asked how she got it past the gate, she told us that one of the gate guards gave it to her. It had my daughter’s name on the bottom.
    That hasn’t happened this year.
    We got there early and wanted to meet Traveler from one side of the coliseum to the other is a trial because of the construction blockades. Then it was literally a walk in the park entering the game.

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  15. USC has the most iconic sports brand with great elements – traveller, the trojan marching band, the cheerleaders. A smart event company would leverage those, not focus on meaningless generic music and gimmicks.

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  17. After Helton? It’s been earned. To confirm, yes Caleb likes to write derogatory messages on his nails in regards to the opponent. He started this practice against Texas last year. His body, his choice. He also writes messages to bring awareness to mental illness. Maybe he’s suffering from something like Antonio Brown?

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      1. It has been a damn fine season, Caleb is a great kid, has he even turned 20? Tremendous future ahead of him, we have him for one more year.

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  18. Could it be that we may expect high grades from Scott for this game?
    Did you catch his comment…”Make the game-day experience match the Trojans’ on-field performance.” Sounds to me like he believes the on-field performance was really good. Can’t wait.

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    1. Riley is a savant, but the speed of this turnaround is based on Caleb Williams elusiveness and ability to pull a rabbit out of a hat. there is still alot of work to do on much of the rest of the team.

      got to say i am impressed with the coaching of both Henson and Nua, the lines are about as good as they can be with the talent they have. USC really needs some triple-A talent on the lines, the 2023 recruiting cycle is not really doing that at this point.

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      3. I think that just maybe, Bohn might be a much better AD than we have discussed. He got the best possible guy to coach who would ever consider moving. Turns out that all those other guys in the discussion, including Venables, Cristobal, Fisher, Aranda, Ruhl, weren’t the saviors. Bohn got the right guy, and figured out how to get Carol to say “yes” to a $100 million plus package.
        #AllsWellThatEndsWell?

        Liked by 1 person

      4. I just hope that neither Carol or Bohn do anything to interfere with the outside parameters of NIL deals that would strengthen the possibility of attracting star athletes. If wealthy alums want to get involved, let them get involved. Don’t attempt to mini-manage it. We need to take full advantage of the portal before the NCAA finds a way of screwing us.
        [And —although I hate to even bring it up — we need to take full advantage of Lincoln Riley’s brilliance while we have him]!

        Liked by 1 person

  20. This is a pleasant surprise year one I must admit. I do not think anyone anticipated this level of change. Even if we lose the Pac12 title game (doubtful) it was a successful year for sure.

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    1. “Don’t even mention THAT word while I’m in the building.”
      —Woody Allen as Alvy Singer in Hannah and her Sisters

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  21. This is literally the only way Scott can compliment USC … by doing it in a back-handed way while leveling criticism at the same time.

    “Make the game-day experience match the Trojans’ on-field performance.”

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  22. Scooter,

    I am such a pessimistic, I think this dream will blow u and Helton willl be our coach again. I am thinking that this is moving too fast for it to be real. I hope it doesnt’ blow up in our face. If we get in the playoffs,

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