Southern Cal athletes are thugs.
I came to this conclusion after watching the UCLA-Southern Cal
rivalry on a much smaller scale ““ Sunday’s
women’s soccer UCLA-Southern Cal playoff match.
The University of Scholastic Conceitedness’ athletes
played a style of soccer some would call very physical. I would
call it “if you can’t beat them, take them out of the
game.”
Six different Bruins lay on the field in pain and had to be at
least momentarily taken out of the game as a result of Southern
Cal’s overaggressive play.
Freshman midfielder Jill Oakes was out of the game for good, and
she’ll most likely have to undergo season-ending surgery.
Still, the Bruins dominated Southern Cal. (If you haven’t
gotten it yet, I’m calling them Southern Cal because Southern
Cal hates being called Southern Cal. Ask Southern Cal why.)
UCLA outshot Southern Cal 22-2, but the Women of Troy still
managed to force the game into double overtime, where the Bruins
finally scored just six minutes away from sports’ most
dreaded way to settle a tie: penalty kicks (yes, even worse than
rock, paper, scissors).
How unsportsmanlike of Southern Cal: try to win the cheap way,
since you can’t beat the Bruins for real.
“USC plays very direct,” UCLA head coach Jillian
Ellis said. “They look to outmuscle you off of the ball.
It’s frustrating when you play a team like that.”
Again, outmuscling is an understatement. Thuggery is the right
word.
Southern Cal fans are arrogant and stupid. They booed and
hollered loudly when one of their players appeared hurt on the
field, even though four Bruins were already hurt, and it was
Southern Cal that was playing the role of enforcers.
The fans also noticed their team couldn’t win. They
cheered when UCLA shots hit the goalpost. They cheered when a Bruin
made a good play just to get a shot off, but missed. They cheered
when a Southern Cal player slid and forced the ball to go
out-of-bounds, causing a corner kick when the scoring opportunity
for the Bruins wasn’t even that great anyway.
“It’s always a big question mark whenever UCLA plays
USC,” first-year Southern Cal student and soccer fan Ronald
Nunn said.
There is not a question mark when it comes to the final result,
but there is one when it comes to how many UCLA players get
injured.
Final thoughts about Beat ‘SC Week:
“¢bull; I have figured out why the rivalry means so much to
Southern Cal, courtesy of Daily Bruin reporter Adam Titcher.
Beating UCLA gives Southern Cal fans an excuse to come to
Westwood for a day, as they have after UCLA-Southern Cal games in
the past.
“¢bull; What’s the purpose of a bonfire? How does setting
a pile of wood on fire raise school spirit? It doesn’t make
any sense.
Just the fact that it’s Southern Cal should be reason
enough to hope the Bruins score 100 points on them ““ by the
second quarter. Maybe that shouldn’t happen. If it did, the
Trojans would probably injure all of our players. All of them.
“¢bull; Stat of the week: Southern Cal was the only Pac-10
football team not to finish the year in the AP Top 10 in the 1990s.
Even Cal, Arizona, and Arizona State did it. Southern Cal is
pathetic.