Going into Westwood Saturday night, it was hard to tell UCLA and
USC had just played their annual rivalry game.
People traversed the streets of the Village just as they might
every Saturday, with one or two peppy cardinal-and-gold devotees
mixed in with the somber blue-and-gold fans.
Last week, a Los Angeles Police Department officer said dozens
of officers would be sent to the Westwood area in anticipation of
post-game celebrations.
But UCLA students were all but gone in the ghost town that was
Westwood Village. Whereas many students usually are out and about
on a Saturday night, this game left students without the spark past
games have provided.
Sgt. Gary Levy, from the West Los Angeles Division of the LAPD,
said police were present in Westwood to make sure fans knew
unlawful behavior would not be tolerated. Levy said UCLA students
may have been quieter than usual, following the 66-19 loss to
age-old enemies. He had an easy explanation for the dearth of
enthusiasm.
“Basically, you guys got your (butts) handed to
you,” he said.
At about 10:30 p.m., when Levy and several colleagues stopped at
the Starbucks on Weyburn Avenue, he said LAPD and university police
would continue to patrol the area to protect property and ensure
safety. He said LAPD patrolled the Village, fraternity row and
apartments, while UCPD handled the campus. At that point in the
night, no major incidents had been reported to the police, Levy
said.
Levy said he did not want to see a replay of the events in 1995,
when UCLA won the national basketball title, and students and fans
caused chaos in the streets of Westwood, starting fires and
damaging property.
As Levy and other officers tended to their coffees on one side
of Broxton Avenue, several students and fans congregated on the
opposite side, inside and around the eateries.
David Cohen, a second-year English student, said he did not
approve of USC students coming to Westwood after the rivalry game,
adding that tempers flared between some fans. He said he had been
“cussed out” three times by USC fans in Westwood and,
though he did not engage in any violence, a fight broke out at
In-N-Out Burger on Gayley Avenue between opposing fans at one point
in the night.
Levy said safety becomes a concern when UCLA and USC fans get
“liquored up,” and officers would be in the area to
maintain safety.
USC sweatshirts and jerseys could be spotted all over Westwood,
and many of the people wearing them had a silent swagger, some
yelling taunts at passing UCLA fans. Inside Diddy Riese were
several USC students and fans. Many agreed that as long as people
do not push others too far, relations between fans are fine, and
the rivalry between the two schools was friendly.
Tripp Charvat, a USC alumnus from the class of 2003, said though
tensions were high and though he might not have come if USC had
lost to UCLA, the primary reason he and other Trojans went to the
Village was for entertainment and food.
But after such a defeat, Cohen had only two words to describe
USC’s invasion of Westwood: “screwed-up.”