The Players’ Game?

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I’m not quite sure why Lane Kiffin keeps saying the Notre Dame game is the “fans’ game,” while UCLA is the “players’ game.” I don’t know any USC fans that will feel any less upset if the Trojans do not beat the Bruins this week.

28 thoughts on “The Players’ Game?”

  1. Shall I explain it, then? Because I think Lane’s been pretty clear in providing additional context every time he’s mentioned the concept.

    USC and UCLA both do most of their recruiting locally, so many of the players on both teams grew up together, played against each other, and know each other. Apart from a few notable athletes each year, USC and Notre Dame don’t really compete for recruits so aside from a couple of examples on each team, there’s not as much of a personal relationship aspect to that game as there is to the UCLA game.

    Hence, on a very personal level, the players connect to the Notre Dame rivalry the same way that any USC student or alum does — history, tradition, etc. — but they connect to the UCLA rivalry on the basis of personal relationships.

    The point that Lane makes — quite clearly, I might add — has very little to do with the Notre Dame rivalry, per se. It has to do with the UCLA rivalry and the fact that his player naturally feel something additional beyond what they feel in the Notre Dame game.

  2. You’re an idiot. Obviously you don’t take that statement literally, right? Or you’re just trying to get more traffic on here. Whatever.
    USC and UCLA rosters are filled with kids mostly from Los Angeles. Kids playing against childhood friends.
    USC and Notre Dame’s intersectional rivalry is the most storied in college football. Fans get extremely passionate about it.
    Hence USC vs Notre Dame=fans game; USC vs UCLA=players’ game.
    Only an idiot like Wolf would waste time asking this question.

  5. Ex-Cop, that is all well and good, but do you have any info for us about the Seahawks’ 3rd down conversion rate this past weekend? Let’s not get off-topic.

  6. @ Knobs…”It’s much more PRESTIGIOUS to beat Notre Dame than Fucla. Period.”
    and THIS YEAR….SUCk will beat neither!
    I’d be more than glad to place a “small wager’ on the outcome of Saturdays game…but as you’ve already demonstrated with NotreDame Larry…you are a coward.

  7. @ThaiMaxx, typically beating the Longhorns would be admirable, as long as it’s not one of the WORST seasons in UT football history! So, you coming here to bash USC fans online, behind your computer screen, isn’t cowardly? Pansy.

  8. The mother of ThaiMex must be so so proud of her sweet little boy–or perhaps she has never read some of his off-the-cuff poetry on this blog

    Ex-Cop, I would not have come up with that analysis, and it is a good proposition. But I am not sure I would totally agree. Pat Haden always said ucla was the No. 1 SC rival because of the Rose Bowl implications (at least back in the day). So SC-ucla is also a “fan-game,” at least for the fans in Southern California.

  9. And you my friend are a dumb Hispanic you know what. I have a better idea, meet me tomorrow at 1130 am at the 901. That is if you don’t have to clean the bathroom at Jack In The Box. Talk about a coward.

  10. Lawyer John, I probably would not have characterized the two rivalries in quite that way myself but at least Lane was a bit more clear about what he was trying to say than the way that Scott portrayed it. The point was not that UCLA isn’t at least as important to the fans as Notre Dame is, but rather that UCLA has more importance to the PLAYERS. In other words, Scott’s basic premise was flawed. Lane wasn’t commenting on the fans; he was commenting exclusively on the players. Could have been expressed more artfully but practically anyone who listened to the various interviews over the past couple of weeks where he expressed the idea would have understood the context.

  11. Yup…Mom occasionally looks over my shoulder and comments…usually say’s things like, “he sounds sooo Gay”, or “what a moron”. Her last GEM went something like..”Lawyer John is no more a lawyer, than Farmer john a Farmer”!
    Mom also thinks the recent post about the THREESOME involving Nubs, “SC OWNS”, and Slow Thinker was Spot On!
    “Ending the Season with a THREE GAME LOSING STREAK, makes for a long off season”. You still have Basketball season to look forward to!
    The Curse of the Gay Bronze horse is UPON YOU!
    Fite on Troxan!
    Next Year is Gonna be GREAT (sanctions and all!)

  12. oh, dear! the trOJies around here are so thin-skinned and wild-eyed!!! this must be how it is when your football and basketball programs are gutted by “the Man”, you come to realize the Garrett Era was nothing but smoke and mirrors obscuring a whole lotta cheatin’ goin’ on and for the capper, you lose to the Rudys on a wide open dropped pass!!

    the trOJies are standing at the edge of the abyss, with NeuHassle, Chow-Chow and the Cadre waiting to push them over the edge on Saturday!!! it’s gonna get so ugly in here after the game on Sat, i don’t know if i can BEAR to watch it…HAWR-HAWR!!!!!!

    Geez Louise, ThaiMex, what is it about you that makes the trOJIes go bonkers?? you just try to make a friendly wager and they fall into emotional pieces!!!

  13. As Social Director of “THE CLASSY CADRE”, my official duties are easily executed, primarily because The Fraternity is made up of exceptional men. We’re sort of like The Magnificent Seven!
    On the “other hand”, these whiney, no daddy knowin, Menudo eatin, Bus Takin, Devil worshippin, BRUIN WANNABE”S, are…just a little screwy. Some, borderline autistic, are worse than others. Yes, I do deserve some of the criticism tossed my way, because, i know it’s not nice to poke fun of retards (I’m very sorry, Nobs!)…
    From this point on…I will try to temper my comments, when addressing all the Forrest Gump types on this site.
    You guy’s are killin Me!
    7&6…one game over 500? (I thought you said SUCk was a football school?)
    The Curse of The Gay Bronze Horse is UPON YOU (francis?)
    Phite un Trogan!

  14. I get what Cop is saying, I just don’t agree. The ND game is one that isn’t just history but one that has a bigger national audience and is one that you will be remembered by and probably one that you distinguish yourself individually in so that you can possibly improve your opportunities for professional play.

    The other reason I can’t agree about the whole UCLA thing being uniquely important to the kids is because the PAC 10 is so loaded with California kids, especially those from So Cal. (I’m not saying LA because both schools tend to bring kids from throughout the Southland.) A kid playing in the PAC 10 weekly is seeing kids he knows from California HS football.

    I would go further to say that looking at ND, their roster also has tons of California kids, and some of the highest profile ones at that. That is part of what makes the game functionally pay off for ND- lacking a great recruiting ground of their own they use games vs USC and UCLA (as well as Stanford and Cal) to increase their profile and get CA kids. The level of both programs makes the ND game the national measure of quality of the programs and their talent. UCLA just doesn’t come close to that significance.

    So while I definitely think the fact that the two schools share a city and a very distinct and distinguished rivalry, it is ridiculously self serving for Lane to call UCLA the “players'” rivalry vis a vis the ND game. ND is BY FAR more important in every way and everyone including the players know it.

  15. Gosh, reading the Kiffin apologists is really too funny. Kiffin, when he was OC, said pretty much the same crap after a non-existent offensive performance in a loss to UCLA. His current comments should make the decision to let him go a “no brainer”. At $4M/year, it’s hard not to be tough on the “kid”.

    Obviously, I’m not a Kiffin fan. However, I did expect the team to be significantly better. The low performance of the defense and current unknown location of the offense is real disappointing (has SC thought of putting them on the back of milk cartons?). Perhaps the special team coach should be hired as head coach…at least he appears to be doing something right.

  16. LMAO ThaiMex owns NUBS LMAO

    KNOBBED, you are owned and pawned!! just like the Bruins will own the trOJies on Saturday.

    @USC owns the shit Bowl, when UCLA beat the Longhorns, their defense was #1 against the run (40 years a game) and we put up 266 yards on the ground against them, and they were ranked #7…you can pretty much say we ruined their season. BESIDES!!! all you loser USC fans said Texas would beat us 63-0 so obviously you thought they were great? What is USC’s record when playing a ranked team???

  17. Bahahahahahaha!!! RuinedSlob, you crack me up!! It’s easy to be highly ranked in particular statistical categories just a few games into the season!! But nice try. So the Rose Bowl is now the “Shit Bowl”??? Well, if that’s what you want to call your stadium, fine! But we still OWN IT! And..
    Yes, it’s pathetic that USC lost the 4th quarter to #1 Oregon. It’s also pathetic that USC barely lost on a last-second field goal to #4 Stanford.
    Hahahahahaha, go on, UCLA fan!!! Keep trying!!!
    FIGHT ON!

  18. Forgot to mention that USC did, however, win on the road at #18 Arizona. And..
    Please promise you’ll come back to this blog daily (like you currently do) after USC wins saturday.
    Fight on!

    P.S. I won’t be back after football season (until next year) because this blog sucks and has losers like you, but see you next year! I’ll leave you a special note some time on Sunday after the Trojan victory.

  19. @MoronMunoz, my oh my! so now you’re claiming “moral victories” because you hung for 3 quarters before getting destroyed by Oregon, and you lost in the final second to Stanford…you forgot to mention that you got walloped by Oregon State who got killed by Washington State. LMAO but hey Andrew, whatever tickles your fancy. None of that matters anyway, because the questions will be answered on the football field on Saturday night in the “who sucks more bowl” and I have a feeling that USC will suck more when the clock reads 00:00 – win or lose, I will be here on Sunday, because I’m not a pussy like you trOJies disappearing after asshoopings.

  25. BrotherBruinRob….
    Can I come and watch and take a few action photo’s of knubber in tears…On second thought…Rob…both of us know better than to pick on Short, Fat “Cherub Like”, Red Haired, socially challenged unemployable menudo eatin sloths from Stanton (Knobbs is right on this one, STANTON is in the O.C.!).
    The smell in Stanton (knobs homie home town)is only slightly less offensive than the disgusting seasonal odor coming out Fig Tech every year about this same time…must be the Basketball season!
    The Curse of The Gay Bronze Horse is UPON YOU!
    Fite on Trogan
    7&6 B.T.S. (before the sanctions!)

  26. BrotherThai, I don’t know how you do it to get all the sweeeeeet scooooop on these cyber bully trOJies, but that is exactly how I pictured KBOBBED to look like.

    And that big mouth Monopoly, QueenMoron, freeStinker, USCownsTheShitBowl (all four are the same loser) looks like a complete geek, and the funniest thing is he wears shades with a Bruin color frame, yup…he brags about the great jobs USC grads get with that degree, and it turns out he works as a Recreation Leader for the city of Bellflower making $15.00 hr. LMAO

  27. Little b00Bie got his thong in a knot. Yeah, I’ll stop by….better have you gang bangers with you are you will get your a$$ kicked, you know, like you did in high school. As for ThaiB, aka gangsta bangsta, you’re an IE joke. Put on you cute powder blue and bounce around. Who cares if you win Sat? We have a crappy team and we know it. For you pukes, it’s the ultimate. Beating Fucla is no big deal to us. And b00Bie, I’ll bet you WORK for that Rec Leader in Bellflower. But isn’t that a long drive from fing Alta F-Stick? hahahahahahahaha ROFLMAO

  28. @KNOBBED, it’s a longer “bus ride” for to go from Stanton to the Long Beach harbor, don’t you just hate sweeping them ships after they get unloaded? shitty job but somebody’s gotta do it.

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