SEPT. 23: Freeways Must Be Tackled on Big-Games Day

It’s Sept. 23 and the Harbor Freeway is a sea of brake lights. Traffic inches toward the Coliseum where USC plays Ohio State in an intersectional football game.

After surviving the traffic, fans head into the Coliseum parking lots, which quickly fill up. Enterprising homeowners sell parking spaces on their front lawns for $20.

Tailgate parties fill Exposition Park before the 12:30 p.m. kickoff as Trojan fans clad in cardinal and gold await the first regular-season meeting between the teams since 1963. The Goodyear Blimp hovers overhead.

After the Trojan-Buckeye game, the Coliseum empties out as fans stream into the parking lots.

“What’s the hurry?” a wild-eyed Trojan fan asks. “Lets stick around and celebrate!”

Replies his companion, “I want to get over to the Rose Bowl to catch the UCLA-Michigan game.”

Traffic on the Pasadena Freeway is gridlocked as fans head into the Arroyo Seco for the Bruin-Wolverine game.

Although it is possible for college football fans to attend both games, getting from the Coliseum to the Rose Bowl in time for the 5 p.m. kickoff may be difficult.

“You’d need a helicopter to get from the Coliseum to the Rose Bowl,” said Keith Jackson, an ABC broadcaster who will work the UCLA-Michigan game. “The games are pretty close together and getting from the Coliseum to the Rose Bowl is a pretty good haul.”

Couch potatoes will have it easy.

ABC will televise both games. The A-Team--Jackson and Bob Griese--will work the UCLA-Michigan game and the B-team--Gary Bender and Dick Vermeil--will work the USC-Ohio State game.

It should be a dream weekend for college football fans.

The four teams, among the Rose Bowl contenders, could be ranked in the top 10 polls. USC and Ohio State have met 19 times, including seven Rose Bowls, and UCLA and Michigan have met seven times, including the 1983 Rose Bowl.

“It’s a college football fan’s delight,” USC Coach Larry Smith said. “You have two games less than 10 miles apart that feature two of the top teams in the Pac-10 playing two of the top teams in the Big 10.”

UCLA Coach Terry Donahue agreed.

“If you’re a real football buff you’ll get a chance to see four good teams and two big rivalry games,” Donahue said. “If you’re a real fan and you can fight the traffic I guess you can get to both.”

But some fans, frustrated because logistics prevent them from attending both games, think it’s poor scheduling by USC and UCLA.

“I think it’s very unfortunate circumstances that they would schedule both games on the same day,” said Lay Leishman, chairman emeritus of the Rose Bowl committee. “I think (USC and UCLA officials) think there is no crossover between fans, but I’ve been going to both of their games for as long as I can remember and I see a lot of the same people at both games.”

Mike McGee, USC athletic director, doesn’t think the scheduling conflict will hurt attendance. USC expects to draw a crowd in excess of 70,000 and UCLA could draw more than 80,000.

“There’s really not that much of a common crowd (between USC and UCLA),” McGee said. “I think it would be just a small fraction of the crowd that would attempt to go to both games. I think people don’t decide to go to both USC and UCLA games in this town. Both games are on national television. I think there will be those that attempt to see both games, but one on thetube.”

USC and UCLA plan to run a media shuttle between the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl for reporters who want to attend both games.

The weekend should also be a boon for area ticket brokers, who are asking $75-$250 for USC-Ohio State tickets, and $50-$200 for UCLA-Michigan.

“We’ve had good presales on USC-Ohio State,” Ken Solky of Murray’s tickets. “UCLA-Michigan is not quite as big as the USC-Ohio State presale. USC-Ohio State is a bigger rivalry than UCLA-Michigan because you’ve had more USC-Ohio State Rose Bowls than UCLA-Michigan.”

Solky said that he hasn’t had many customers who have purchased tickets to both games.

“College football fans tend to stick with their own team,” Solky said. “I don’t think the SC fans really care about UCLA until they play each other.”

Solky thinks demand for USC-Ohio State tickets is nearly as high as demand for last year’s USC-Notre Dame game, where 50-yard line tickets were going for $300.

“They were pounding down the door for (the USC-Notre Dame game),” Solky said. “That’s the big game every year. In fact it’s a big game this year in South Bend. Not only a lot of people going back but a lot of people there who want tickets.”