USC/UCLA Rivalry Week: Student Perspective

USC and UCLA are midway through Hate Week, and series of fun, rivalry themed events have occurred. Don’t ask what they were at UCLA because I don’t venture down the 405 Freeway unless I absolutely have to, but at USC, I can tell you that it’s been going DOWN.

The Trojan Knights have been camped out in front of Tommy Trojan for more than a week, guarding USC’s fabled mascot from the treacherous Bruins. Last year, the Trojans went extra HAM on the Bruins, giving their Bruin statue a fresh coat of cardinal and gold paint.

And it was AWESOME.

To avoid a similar retaliation this year, extra reinforcements have been brought in so that a set of eyes—beyond the Tommy Cam that sits in a window of the Student Union—can be on Tommy Trojan at all times.

On Monday night, USC held its annual Conquest pep rally, which featured a gigantic ferris wheel, a series of vendors, and a giant effigy of a Bruin that was promptly set on fire.

Because that’s what happens when you Bruin your life—you get burned.

The night culminated in a concert by Cobra Starship, which got the fans all kinds of hyped for this weekend.

It’s no secret that USC has been on the fortunate end of the rivalry for like, EVER, so you might think that Trojan Nation just doesn’t care about it all that much.

Au contraire, ladies and gents. Trojan Nation cares, and they are ready to go hard against UCLA this weekend.

“UCLA’s never-ending desire to try and win at something…just admit it…USC is better than you,” said Taryn McNamee, a junior Business major at USC.

And she’s not the only one that feels this way. Many students feel like the rivalry game is the icing on the cardinal and gold cake that is USC’s dominance in Los Angeles. President Obama has been to USC three times over the past year. The LA Times Book fair was held at USC for the first time this past spring, something that used to be at UCLA every year. Later, USC hosted Nickelodeon’s Kid’s Choice Awards at the Galen Center, something that also used to be at UCLA. And for the past two years, USC has outranked UCLA academically according to Newsweek, completely changing the power balance in this city.

Now UCLA has…Diddy Riese?

Yeah, that’s about it.

“There is no rivalry. We dominate at football, and in basketball we have yet to play each other in a meaningful game,” said Ifeanyi Ume, also a junior Business major at ‘SC.

Some students even think that USC just plain outswags UCLA.

“In high school when I took my campus tours of USC & UCLA, I was impressed by how professional the tour guides looked in their three piece suits and stilettos. The UCLA tour guides looked like they worked at Blockbuster in their blue shirts and khakis,” said Josanta Gray, a senior Broadcast Journalism major.

So when it comes down to it, according to Trojan fans, USC bests UCLA in every meaningful category. The Trojans are known to be an arrogant bunch, but when you look at things from their perspective, it kind of makes sense that they would feel this way. UCLA just can’t hang with the big dogs, on the court, on the field, in the classroom, or in life.

And when USC traps and tranquilizes the Bruins this weekend, Trojan Nation will get to relish in their superiority for at least another year.