{{Dimitri, I posted this over on the original BN re UCLA'S WWII FB schedules. I would only add that Joe's picture of Kelly with hat in hand is a good [tortured] metaphor -- even down to the fact that the hat has no top. Nothing except running the table will do it for Kelly. }}
During WWII, UCLA played whomever it could. By the middle of the war, UCLA was playing whatever colleges were available and supplemented the meager schedule with various military installation football teams. The two mid-war seasons were remarkable as UCLA played USC "home and home" (i.e. The Mausoleum and The Mausoleum) and Cal home and home. The service teams were no slouch; they had some serious football talent (pro and college) who were training for their service duties. (In 1954, my dad used to take me to the Bolling AFB football games in DC when he worked at the Pentagon. Service football was hard core and not the type of affair one would expect from the movie M*A*S*H.)
1944 Schedule
California
at San Diego Navy
Saint Mary’s
Saint Mary’s Pre-Flight
Alameda Coast Guard
March Field
California
Pacific (CA)
USC
1945 Schedule
USC
San Diego Navy
Pacific (CA)
California
Saint Mary’s Pre-Flight
Oregon
Saint Mary’s
California
USC
But one of the most bizarre UCLA-USC football games I ever attended was the 1975 one held on a blustery, cold Friday night in Los Angeles. (If I remember, the scheduled Saturday game had to be jigged around owing to a more attractive Big 10 Saturday game.) It was John McKay’s last game as the USC coach and it seemed like no one wanted to win. Per the wiki account:
| After a pair of wins over the Oregon schools, the Bruins
| went into their season-ending game against rival USC needing
| a win to go to the Rose Bowl; a loss or tie would send
| California to Pasadena. Despite fumbling 11 times and losing
| 8, UCLA beat the Trojans 25–22. UCLA ended up tied with
| California for the PAC-8 championship, but advanced to the
| Rose Bowl on the strength of their 28–14 win over the Golden
| Bears. The Bruins went into the Rose Bowl ranked #11.
| Ironically, the 1975 USC-UCLA game was legendary coach John
| McKay and Vermeil’s final game at the Coliseum.
|
| It was the only bowl appearance for Vermeil in his two
| seasons at UCLA; a month later he left for the Philadelphia
| Eagles of the National Football League.
I am pessimistic about UCLA’s season and especially this game. This will be yet more on the treadmill to oblivion for UCLA athletics as the new guy gamely tries to mop up after that stinking heap left UCLA indebted and in the bleeding state it is in. The ’Rona will only serve as "yet another excuse" for Kelly to suck another million out of the school and feather his retirement nest before he leaves and becomes a doleful sports color guy/commentator somewhere.
Prayers for the new guy; but not holding my breath.
If Chip's team under performs for another year, Chip will not be fired. The tightwads in charge are penny-pinchers to say the least. They won't be persuaded by "big picture" arguments. That being said, the fan base will become more vocal about his ouster.
{{Dimitri, I posted this over on the original BN re UCLA'S WWII FB schedules. I would only add that Joe's picture of Kelly with hat in hand is a good [tortured] metaphor -- even down to the fact that the hat has no top. Nothing except running the table will do it for Kelly. }}
During WWII, UCLA played whomever it could. By the middle of the war, UCLA was playing whatever colleges were available and supplemented the meager schedule with various military installation football teams. The two mid-war seasons were remarkable as UCLA played USC "home and home" (i.e. The Mausoleum and The Mausoleum) and Cal home and home. The service teams were no slouch; they had some serious football talent (pro and college) who were training for their service duties. (In 1954, my dad used to take me to the Bolling AFB football games in DC when he worked at the Pentagon. Service football was hard core and not the type of affair one would expect from the movie M*A*S*H.)
1944 Schedule
California
at San Diego Navy
Saint Mary’s
Saint Mary’s Pre-Flight
Alameda Coast Guard
March Field
California
Pacific (CA)
USC
1945 Schedule
USC
San Diego Navy
Pacific (CA)
California
Saint Mary’s Pre-Flight
Oregon
Saint Mary’s
California
USC
But one of the most bizarre UCLA-USC football games I ever attended was the 1975 one held on a blustery, cold Friday night in Los Angeles. (If I remember, the scheduled Saturday game had to be jigged around owing to a more attractive Big 10 Saturday game.) It was John McKay’s last game as the USC coach and it seemed like no one wanted to win. Per the wiki account:
| After a pair of wins over the Oregon schools, the Bruins
| went into their season-ending game against rival USC needing
| a win to go to the Rose Bowl; a loss or tie would send
| California to Pasadena. Despite fumbling 11 times and losing
| 8, UCLA beat the Trojans 25–22. UCLA ended up tied with
| California for the PAC-8 championship, but advanced to the
| Rose Bowl on the strength of their 28–14 win over the Golden
| Bears. The Bruins went into the Rose Bowl ranked #11.
| Ironically, the 1975 USC-UCLA game was legendary coach John
| McKay and Vermeil’s final game at the Coliseum.
|
| It was the only bowl appearance for Vermeil in his two
| seasons at UCLA; a month later he left for the Philadelphia
| Eagles of the National Football League.
I am pessimistic about UCLA’s season and especially this game. This will be yet more on the treadmill to oblivion for UCLA athletics as the new guy gamely tries to mop up after that stinking heap left UCLA indebted and in the bleeding state it is in. The ’Rona will only serve as "yet another excuse" for Kelly to suck another million out of the school and feather his retirement nest before he leaves and becomes a doleful sports color guy/commentator somewhere.
Prayers for the new guy; but not holding my breath.
If Chip's team under performs for another year, Chip will not be fired. The tightwads in charge are penny-pinchers to say the least. They won't be persuaded by "big picture" arguments. That being said, the fan base will become more vocal about his ouster.