Trojans Might Be Anaheim’s Next Conquest

Football is king in Anaheim and always has been, a proud tradition that dates back to the invention of the forward pass on the corner of Katella and Ball and, of course, Vince Lombardi’s immortal words: “Winning isn’t everything, but playing in a safe, sanitary and comfortable environment within easy access of the 5, 57 and 22 freeways is.”

Anaheim, Azusa and Cucamonga? The city fathers never much cared for that old gag. When Anaheim looks at itself in the mirror, it sees South Bend, Green Bay and Tuscaloosa--only with better baked-potato bars.

Anaheim can’t get enough football. It needs more games, it needs more teams. Not satisfied with Edison-Fountain Valley, it went after the Rams. Not satisfied with the Rams, it went after the Freedom Bowl. Not satisfied with the Freedom Bowl--and this is certainly understandable--it went after the Pigskin Classic. Now, it wants the Raiders and USC. Preferably both, but it would settle for one or the other in the fall of ‘92, when both teams will seek temporary relocation while $145 million worth of luxury boxes are appended to the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Three football tenants in one Anaheim Stadium--the image is intriguing. NFL fans would finally have a choice: Do you like your football with or without quarterbacking? With or without defense? With or without Greg Bell?

Just pick a Sunday, odd or even.

Meanwhile, USC grads would relish in the convenience. Since all of them already live in Newport Beach, it would be an easy drive. No more lugging the jugs of white Zinfandel in the trunk of the BMW, either. Anaheim Stadium already sells it in non-recyclable plastic cups.

So, obviously, Trojans are thrilled by the prospect.

“Hey, it sounds great,” says Jim Covington, president of the Orange County Trojan Club, a 300-member USC athletic booster group. “I think we’d do as well in Anaheim Stadium as we do in the Coliseum. We play Notre Dame at home in ‘92--we’d obviously sell that one out. We’d turn ‘em out for the others, too.”

Paul Salata, the ubiquitous old Trojan who helps run the Newport Harbor USC Alumni Club, calls the idea “a natural. . . . With the huge following here, the suites, the way the stadium is set up--just the novelty of it--it’d be like when the Rams first came here. There’d be a lot of excitement. I think it would be fabulous.”

Now, to the tough stuff:

Is it realistic?

The Raiders would seem longshots, simply because of scheduling congestion. From September through early October, Anaheim Stadium is filled every Sunday with either the Rams or the Angels. How would the Raiders squeeze in? It’s doubtful Al Davis would be eager to begin Commitment to Excellence ’92 with a month on the road.

With USC, we might be able to talk. The Trojans play on Saturdays and their 1992 schedule is 90% set. It would take some cooperation by the NFL and American League schedule-makers, but USC could be piggybacked with the Rams on weekends when the Angels were away.

Two potential hitches remain, however. The Angels would have to agree to share their home with another tenant--no sure thing; they barely agreed on the Rams. And, as some have noted, the Angels could make the playoffs and the World Series in ‘92, which would really gum up the works.

Then again, it could rain for 40 days and 40 nights, the Santa Ana River could overflow and the Anaheim Stadium end zones could wind up under eight feet of water.

Personally, I’d put my money on the flood.

The Raiders are said to be leaning toward Dodger Stadium, although Dodger Stadium has never been a home to football, unless you count Kirk Gibson. USC is also considering Chavez Ravine and the Rose Bowl, although the Rose Bowl comes equipped with bureaucratic entanglements. UCLA already plays its home games at the Rose Bowl and a city ordinance prohibits the scheduling of more than 12 events per year at the bowl. In addition, in 1992 both USC and UCLA have home games scheduled for Oct. 10 and Oct. 24.

One USC game plan for the Rose Bowl has the city of Pasadena rescinding its 12-event restriction for one year and the Trojans and the Bruins each agreeing to play once on Friday night, thus solving the two October conflicts.

Salata, who sits on the USC athletic director’s advisory board, says he can think of a better game plan.

“The Rose Bowl is not a very good place to get to, except for Jan. 1,” Salata says. “They have to close down the golf course (which is used for a parking lot) and you have to be willing to spend the whole day there. It’s a tough place to get in and out of when you have a crowd of over 40,000. It’s hot and smoggy. The restrooms are hard to get to, the seats are bad . . .

“The Rose Bowl’s a historical monument, but it’s a terrible place to play. It’s comfortable on Jan. 1--then it’s our home field--but six times a year would be awful.”

Spoken like a Trojan who lives in the shadow of the Balboa Bay Club.

USC at Anaheim could be a fun arrangement for one year--Todd Marinovich’s senior year, assuming he dodges the draft--but no one is yet convinced that you actually can get there from here. USC Athletic Director Mike McGee has held discussions with Anaheim Stadium officials, but they’re only prelims. Hurdles remain, and there’s a good chance the obstacle course will never make its way out of Los Angeles County.

Still, you can’t blame a town for trying. Anaheim, that venerable cradle of football, simply wants another mouth to feed.