Columnist Ron Kantowski: Trojans equal tradition

Thursday, Dec. 27, 2001 | 9:28 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's column appears Thursday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

As I sat in the stands -- still the best place to watch a college football game, regardless of how much leg room these new press boxes have or the quality of the wine and cheese in the skyboxes -- at the Las Vegas Bowl on Christmas Day, it occurred to me that this must have been what former UNLV athletic director Jim Weaver had in mind when he suggested that Rebels fans fly UNLV flags from their car antennae on football game days.

If you don't recall the UNLV flag campaign, there's a reason for it. When the well-intended Weaver arrived on campus, he spoke at length of beginning "new traditions" (although those words should never be used together) at UNLV. What he apparently didn't know is you can't buy tradition in the manner of some over-the-counter cold remedy. It is acquired over time, and almost always is bred by success -- not by how many promotional items you peddle at the souvenir stand.

Tradition. I was reminded of that as I looked down on the field as the Southern Cal players warmed up in those functional red-and-gold uniforms, the ones that save for a helmet decal that was added after the O.J. Simpson days, seemingly never change. When you're USC or Penn State or Alabama you don't need fancy uniforms or your name on the back of your shirt. That's for wannabes such as Oregon or BYU or Northwestern. Or for never-weres of Indiana's ilk, who change their uniforms as often as they change coaches.

Tradition. I was doubly reminded of that when, to paraphrase Don "American Pie" McLean, the USC marching band took the field and refused to yield. Not that you would have wanted it to. Having played on hit records (Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk") and at presidential inaugurations, the Trojan band's tradition runs nearly as deep as the football team's. When it launched into "Fight On, USC" I got a shiver up my spine that would have dropped a polar bear.

Ken Korach felt it, too. The veteran Oakland A's/UNLV basketball play-by-play announcer could have watched the game from the comfort of the press box as well, but he likewise was sitting in the middle of the USC cheering section with his knees touching his elbows.

"I must have seen every SC game growing up" Korach enthused, sounding like the kid from "Christmas Story" who awoke to find that BB gun under the tree.

USC's presence also explains why I didn't have to sit alone. When I asked my wife's son, a casual college football fan, if he wanted to go to the Las Vegas Bowl, he was at first indifferent.

"Who's playing?" he wanted to know.

"USC and Utah," I told him.

"USC?! I'll buy the hot dogs."

It was the first time he had seen a major college football program up close and personal, and afterward, also noting the accessory trappings that USC brings to the table, he said he regretted not furthering his education at a school such as Southern Cal.

Of course, I'm glad he didn't. His mom and I would still be paying for it.

Utah, as you know by now, was the better team, using its big backs and offensive line to beat the Trojans at their own game. Afterward, Utes coach Ron McBride proclaimed it a milestone victory, for both his program and the Mountain West Conference.

Had it been Washington State, I don't think he would have felt the same way.