DFW Trojan put this up in the FanShots but I wanted this to get some main page exposure.
This is a great write-up! Once again we see why we are so lucky to have Pete Carroll coaching at USC.
Here is an excerpt...
I wanted to attend the University of Southern California. Color television was just becoming popular, and the colors that emanated from national broadcasts of Trojan football games from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum; against UCLA and Notre Dame; of glorious, warm autumn Saturdays or bright Southland evenings; of beautiful cheerleaders and tanned alumni dressed in beach attire; of the band and the feeling; well, let me tell you, it had a real effect on me.
In 1969, a high school buddy and I drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We bought tickets and were sitting high up in the Coliseum stands for a night game in which UCLA led with only a couple of minutes to play. Both teams were unbeaten. The Rose Bowl, and perhaps the national championship, hung in the balance. The giant throng, half rooting for the Bruins, half for the Trojans, pleaded and begged for victory. The tension was so thick you could cut the November night air, which was already electric with gridiron excitement and hot Santa Ana winds, with a proverbial knife.
Trojan quarterback Jimmy Jones had been bottled up by an unforgiving UCLA defense all evening. He, his team and the USC fans were frustrated. Now he faced one last chance. He dropped back to pass, was chased down, and tossed up a desperation heave that fell incomplete, but before the Bruins could celebrate, a flag fell calling for pass interference against UCLA. Given a reprieve, Jones went deep into the corner of the end zone. In those days, the lights at the Coliseum were not as bright as they are today, and the pass descended into the shadows. There, in those shadows, the ball found the waiting arms of Sam Dickerson for a touchdown and a 14-12 Southern California victory. It sent Troy to the Rose Bowl, where they completed an unbeaten season by defeating Michigan.
A vivid description...
This will be a great book when its released!