So every year I hop in the car with a good bruin friend of mine and go watch a ucla game on a day that USC is not playing.  This year it happened to be the Fresno game.  I usually just wear my USC hat since I sit in the ucla donor section, and I don't really want to cause too much of a disturbance to people out there just trying to enjoy their day in what usually is a Trojan free environment.  Usually I hear a few wisecracks about "being in the wrong stadium" and stuff like that, but today was a little different.  Today I had to take my medicine from the crosstown rival since USC just melted down in Corvallis.  Just because my team loses, doesn't mean my USC gear stays at home.  I dress just like I always do, USC hat, and shirt, and headed to the Rose Bowl ready to hear the best the bruins had to throw at me.

I tail gated near tunnel 7 and had the pleasure of talking to a former bruin basketball player from 1978.  He was a really nice guy and we had a nice conversation on how the Pac-10 was doing, and how our respective teams were doing this far into the season.  To my suprise the only call outs I heard were "Oregon State" and "Beavers."  For the most part people just kept their mouths shut , probably because ucla wasn't doing very well this season.  Fresno State fans actually gave me more crap than the bruin fans which was a shock.  When I got into the stadium there were only about a half a dozen more reminders of Thursday nights game.  I responded to them by asking them how they enjoyed the BYU game, or asking them if they take their bruin gear off if their team loses.  Most of the people who mouthed off weren't looking to have a discussion on the state of USC football vs. the state of ucla football though. 

The worst I received was a bruin fan in front of me calling me a derogatory name.  Some guy after ucla lost called me out on the Beavers, and I simply pointed to the scoreboard.  Then he started in on how point spreads were more important than wins and losses.  That made me chuckle a bit.  The best comment of the day was directed at my brother and a buddy of mine.  My brother and a friend of mine were also sporting their USC gear.  The bruin fans sitting directly behind them stated, after recounting the whole Oregon State game, that they didn't care if they won or lost the Fresno game.  All they cared about was that USC lost on Thursday.  This made me crack a smile.  It seems like those particular bruins were more concerned about our football team than theirs.

The game was a fun one to watch.  The bruins could have easily won if they hadn't turned the ball over late in the 4th.  Coach Rick Neuheisel addressed the remaining fans after the game over the P.A.  He asked them to stay with the team.  He said they were getting better every week, and that they were going to get a win for them soon.  Funny how he said "a" win, instead of "some wins."  I'm not sure if that appeal to the fans was a good or bad sign.  On one hand it shows that he has the guts to address the fact that they are fielding an inferior product that is unacceptable to bruin fans.  On the other hand it could be viewed as a desperate attempt to beg people to buy tickets.  After advertising in the Fresno Bee to try to bring more of your opponent's fans to a game, it would seem that ticket begging isn't too far off the mark.