Police must put on game faces too

Beyond the game matchups, Times staff writer Mike Hiserman looks at today’s security and transportation issues, plus a famous player from the rivalry’s past:

Busting stereotypes

As rivalries go, UCLA-vs.-USC’s reputation nationally fits the Southern California stereotype: laid back.

Not so, say Rose Bowl stadium officials and Pasadena Police Lt. George Wiley, a motorcycle cop with 39 years’ experience who oversees event planning at the venue.

A few years ago, when USC defeated UCLA to go to the Orange Bowl, Wiley told The Times’ Sam Farmer that he was drilled in the chest by a fan -- one among many -- throwing frozen oranges onto the field. The fruit that hit him was as hard as a rock, and it nearly stopped his heart. He spent four days in a hospital.

Police always have a makeshift jail set up on game days at a nearby power and utility station, and Wiley says business is extra brisk when the Bruins and Trojans play.

During the game, he’s constantly on his cellphone, one minute making arrangements for Traveler and the next fretting about somebody painting something red over blue or vice versa.

A relatively new concern: The “Beer Belly” and “Wine Rack” -- his and hers secret compartments for sneaking booze into the stadium.

Crowd control

Pasadena police have announced a “zero tolerance” for drunk and disorderly conduct, both inside the stadium and on its grounds.

Trouble should be reported to security personnel or call into (626) 793-0906.

Rose Bowl parking lots will open at dawn, but because of limited space fans are being urged to take public transportation or shuttles.

Snapshot

Mike Garrett is USC’s athletic director and, as a running back, was the school’s first Heisman Trophy winner.

But he grew up in an East Los Angeles neighborhood where nearly everyone was a UCLA fan -- himself included.

In a foreword for the book “UCLA vs. USC” by former Times sportswriter Lonnie White, Garrett wrote that he “always pictured myself playing in a single wing for the Bruins. That’s all I knew.” And, “At that time, athletes of color were more inclined to go to UCLA.”

But then, Garrett said, UCLA balked during the recruiting process, saying they wanted him to go to a junior college first.

” . . . In the eleventh hour, USC told me Coach John McKay wanted me,” Garrett wrote. “That’s all it took.”

About how his feelings about the rivalry so quickly changed, Garrett added, “No one is more committed than a convert.”

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mike.hiserman@latimes.com