Ken, I hear my antics are tame in comparison to the
things you did. Tell me some things you did that would
be impossible to pull off today.
I don't think there's a whole lot that I did back then because for the most part I always respected that the game came first. I will say that we were much more interactive with our yells, i.e. coming up with things that fit the games, a tactic I learned from attending games as a kid in the late 70s and early 80s.
For instance, in '91 when we were playing Oregon the week after the Stanfurd band had been
suspended for an insulting show at Oregon, I had the
whole student section yell at the Oregon fans:
"Hey Oregon!
We!
Hate!
Stanfurds!
Band!
Too!!"
They loved that.
But then when we were blowing them out and they were
all leaving early I had the students yell:
"Hey Oregon!
Start!
The!
Buses!"
We used that for other teams too.
The only thing I ever did that I caught flack for was
a yell directed towards an official. It happened in
'92, but its genesis took place during the 1990 Big
Game. I think most people who were at that Big Game
would tell you, even though CAL lost, 1990 one of the
most tense, exciting and well played games that anyone
had seen for a long time. CAL looked like we had
wrapped up the win when the team stopped Stanfurd from
scoring a two point conversion with seconds left
except... Stanfurd recovered the onside kick and
on their only play from scrimmage, their QB threw
an incomplete pass the result of which would have required
a 50+ yard field goal attempt by their kicker (who by
the way was so good he very well may have made it) ...
However, the referee, and I'll never forget his name
(not that I hold a grudge at all) Pat Flood made one
of the worst calls I ever saw by flagging a CAL
defender for roughing the passer... it was a simply
terrible call and moved the ball 15 yards up the
field, to where the Stanfurd kicker only needed to make
a 35 yarder, which he did into a darkened south
end zone, as time expired and Stanfurd won.
Bruce Snyder was so upset with that, which he
should have been (one of the reasons we loved Snyder),
that he told the PAC 10 he would not let his team take
the field if Pat Flood ever officiated another game.
Well, all through '91Pat Flood was absent from any CAL games, but when
Snyder left after that season, Pat was back in '92, in
his full incompetent grandeur. We were playing
Arizona and there was a series of very bad calls. I
had the whole student section yell (after explaining
who the referee was):
"Hey Pat Flood!
You!
REALLY!!
SUCK!!!"
It was loud and crisp, and picked up by the
television, broadcast. Needless to say the PAC 10
didn't share my sense of spirit and appreciation of
history, let alone my critical assessment of Mr. Flood's
officiating ability. The following Monday they met
with me and university officials and admonished me
that I should represent the school better... I told
them I would as soon as they hired officials who
represented the conference better... so there you go.
Did the students during your yell leading years
hate the Trojans as much as we do today?
Absolutely. Probably more so because CAL has had
great success against the Trojans the past decade,
which was not the case in '91. I will tell you, that my absolute favorite
yell we ever did, was late in the game in '91. I had the
whole student section yell:
"
HEY U...S...C!
What!
School!
Was!
Your!
FIRST!!!
Choice!!"
They flipped us off en masse, while the alumni across the stadium roared their approval, and once again, the ABC broadcast picked it up - it was AWESOME.
By the way - to this day this is one of my favorite things to do... whenever you meet an SC person just sincerely ask them "Hey what school was your first choice?" Trust me, many times they will start to answer before catching themselves.
I hear you guys even started the rewriting of 'Conquest' during the 90-91 season, a tradition I don't believe too many Cal
fans know about. How did that get started?
That started in my apartment in '91. I lived at the time with Mike Pawlawski and a few others... Mike and his girlfriend (now his wife) Tracy and I were sitting around and we started at it and just came up with the words. Really, more Mike and Tracy than me.
"That's the Only Song You Know,
It's Boring and its Slow,
We Really Wish You'd Go."
At that year's USC bonfire rally, which was packed, I had the students all practicing it. Then before the game, back then the student section would be packed 1/2 hour before the game, we started on it again. It was AWESOME.
I regret a little that it degenerated into some less savory versus, that while funny, really weren't appropriate, but what are you going to do?
My only regret with our version is that during the
game I was thinking of new versus to add, but didn't
feel the crowd was ready for that. For instance
as the score was 52 -14 and the band kept playing that insipid song after every two yard loss I had this one:
Hey, SC here's news for you
The scoreboard's in clear view
It's CAL with FIFTY TWO!!!
or
Hey SC here's something new
Tommy Trojan's through
Your horse will soon be glue....
That kind of thing.
Again, it was great because this stuff kept getting picked up by the ABC telecast. I had talked to the camera people and producers before the game to make sure they could tell what was going on and capture it.
That's awesome. Did you know that me and a few
other highly spirited students have been adding to it
over the past three years?
I did not know that, quite the contrary, I was
disappointed last year that it didn't seem to be
sung. It's a great thing that should be passed on from year
to year and continued - particularly when we are
winning (it does lose its edge a bit when we are
losing.)
It's a great procrastination tool. I've actually
been at it again this week trying to add a new line with "LSU" and
"Sugar Bowl" in it, but I can't seem to get the meter
right. Think you could help me out?
Keep it simple:
Just quickly thinking using the "U" in LSU you could
do something (slightly sophomoric, OK completely
sophomoric), like this:
Hey, SC that stench is YOU
Last years champ was LSU
You're more like Number 2
Oh man, that's great.
All right, last question: From one mic man to another. Final score for
Saturday's game?
I'm calling 34-14 California.
I am with you... I think it's going to be 42 - 21,
with USC only making it that close with a meaningless
late touchdown.
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