[Rivalry Preview]: Rivalry not worth splitting Hairs

When UCLA emerges from the tunnel before 90,000-plus fans this
Saturday at the Coliseum, the Bruins expect Trojan fans to hurl
everything from colorful insults to large, oblong-shaped
objects.

And among USC’s favorite targets will be Drew Olson,
Maurice Drew, Marcedes Lewis, and … J.J. Hair?

“They know who I am,” Hair said.

The Bruin junior tight end has only a small affiliation with
USC, but not miniscule enough for Trojan fans to overlook.
Hair’s brother, Nate, played for the USC men’s
basketball team from 1999 to 2001.

“The last time I was at the Coliseum, fans remembered the
last name, so I got a lot of heckling out of that,” J.J.
said. “They were just saying that I’m a traitor because
I didn’t follow my brother.”

J.J. contemplated the thought of joining his brother as a
Trojan, but it was never really a serious possibility.

Both brothers grew up in Mission Viejo and attended Capistrano
Valley High School, where Nate excelled on the basketball court
while J.J. played both basketball and football.

While Nate accepted a basketball scholarship to USC, offers
weren’t coming as quickly to J.J.

With his brother having departed to the Trojans, the 6-foot-5,
250-pound UCLA tight end continued to play both sports in high
school, guiding the school’s basketball team to the CIF
playoffs and making a name for himself as one of the West
Coast’s best tight ends.

By the end of his junior year, however, J.J. had been offered a
football scholarship to play at UCLA, permanently exchanging his
basketball uniform for shoulder pads and a helmet.

“Nate got most of the jumping ability and the
suaveness,” J.J. said.

“I got more of the horizontal game. So I went football. He
went basketball.”

Nate, who is four years older than J.J., arrived at USC in 1999
and averaged nearly 17 minutes his freshman year.

In Nate’s sophomore year, however, he clashed with
then-USC coach Henry Bibby and saw his minutes diminish, along with
his passion to play basketball. Nate quit the team, but went on to
get his degree at USC.

But to J.J., he had seen all he needed to from the Trojans to
know he wouldn’t have been a good fit for the “USC
family.”

And even though J.J.’s production has been sparse in his
three years in Westwood, hauling in only three catches for 20
yards, he still considers his decision to attend UCLA among the
best he’s ever made.

“The idea of being there together with him (at USC was
intriguing at first),” J.J. said. “But as time went on
we kind of watched how USC really was, and I was just like, no.
I’m so glad, because I made the better choice. It’s
evil over there.

“Well, not that bad. But there’s no welcomeness. I
felt a lot of politics there.”

Ever since his brother left USC, the seemingly natural rivalry
has failed to materialize between the siblings, and in fact, has
brought their family together instead of dividing it.

At this Saturday’s game, J.J. said that his brother will
be wearing his No. 81 UCLA jersey at the Coliseum.

Both of their parents own far more blue-and-gold merchandise
than anything with a Trojan emblem on it.

And even though the brothers’ grandfather attended USC,
J.J. admits there’s not an ounce of cardinal and gold left in
his family.

“My brother is my total back-up,” J.J. said.
“In fact, I got the whole family on the UCLA side right now,
there’s no question. My brother actually wants to go law
school at UCLA now. That’s some food for thought
there.”

So is the fact that when J.J. steps onto the field this
Saturday, he’ll be playing against a team he once rooted for
““ though his fandom was always limited.

“I’d say I was too young to realize what I was doing
when (I was cheering) for them,” Hair said. “Now,
it’s better dead than red.”

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