Perpetual pessimist Ron Allice is at it again.
The outspoken USC track and field coach unveiled a woe-is-me
routine that had the UCLA staff rolling their eyes Tuesday at a
media luncheon prior to Saturday’s crosstown dual meet.
“I apologize for not having done a good enough job
recruiting to make this meet closer,” said Allice, fully
aware that several of the Trojans’ top men’s and
women’s athletes were seated within earshot.
“I just want to make sure that our recruits aren’t
watching. Otherwise we might not have any left.”
Allice, who conceded before last year’s meet that the USC
women’s team could not possibly win, this time seemed ready
to discount his men’s squad as well. Citing injuries and a
lack of depth, he seemed incredulous when reporters asked him
whether the Trojan men would be competitive.
“When you don’t have the weapons, what do you
say?” he asked.
Gamesmanship or not, Allice is correct that both the Trojan men
and women are clearly the underdogs in Saturday’s meet at
Drake Stadium. UCLA, winners of 11 consecutive women’s
crosstown dual meets and the past two on the men’s side,
looks stronger on paper in a majority of the events.
But Allice’s concessions evoked little sympathy from the
UCLA coaches.
“(Allice) gave me a hearty USC-UCLA handshake earlier this
month, and told me the crosstown meet was going to be a war,”
Bruin sprints coach Tony Veney said. “If anyone believes that
line he fed you about not having the talent, I have something in
the back of my car to sell you.”
UCLA men’s coach Art Venegas and women’s coach
Jeanette Bolden were equally unimpressed with Allice’s tale
of woe.
Venegas said he believed Allice was merely putting up a
competitive front, and alluded to USC’s one-point upset of
the Bruins in 2001 as proof that UCLA cannot take anything for
granted.
“Seven things had to go wrong for us to lose that
year,” he said. “They all did.”
As Allice addressed reporters, Trojan standout sprinters senior
Miya Edmonson, junior Wes Felix and freshman Alexis Weatherspoon
sat silently in the back of the room, seemingly unsure of how to
react.
Afterward Edmonson, who vehemently denied the Trojans had given
up hope of a victory, said she would use Allice’s doubts as
motivation. But Felix seemed unsure.
“It’s a little bit of motivation,” he said,
“but (Allice) is not making it up. That’s a little
disheartening.
“Art Venegas said that seven things went wrong for them a
few years back. For them to lose this year, 15 things might have to
go wrong,” he added.
Allice, now in his 10th season as director of track and field at
USC, has beaten UCLA just once ““ the razor-thin 2001 win. He
reiterated again Saturday that the dual meet is not a level playing
field because USC does not offer partial athletic scholarships.
Thus, while UCLA can offer partial scholarships to the majority
of its men’s and women’s roster, only 12 Trojans are
receiving a full ride.
Even with that disadvantage, the Trojans have competed well
recently on the men’s side, losing in the second-to-last
event a year ago.
“I don’t want to pop our balloon,” Allice
said, “but this year will be a little different.”