A Disgrace

What are "girls" going at football games anyway?

This is the worst I have ever seen it. It was just like the line for UCLA last year, except it was longer, more packed, and everyone knew and was pissed off that everyone was going to be cutting them. The following groups need to pay for the following reasons:

1. Athletics - congratulations on completely dropping the ball in estimating the number of students. Last year was the first time students were electronically counted, and so some nitwit decides to take an average of the attendance (7,500) and set an arbitrary number of seats (8,000). LOTS and LOTS of students were turned away at the gate. Garrett and PC are truly despicable for the manner in which they are so willing to sacrifice the students for a quick buck. Garrett is an idiot who has lucked out with one and a half lucky hires (Floyd has yet to prove himself in my mind). Student seating should be AT LEAST put back at 12,000; it should probably be increased and they should encourage more students to go to the game. Garrett should be fired. You would think he would be grateful for how much he has lucked out with PC's success, but instead he continues to be aggressively stupid in just about everything he does.

2. Student Affairs - they have very little control over the Coliseum and game day affairs, but the student entrance is their responsibility, and they blew it big time. Honestly, every time I go there, it is like this is the first time we have ever had a home game at the Coliseum. Figure out a way to keep people safe and in line, and not let everyone else cut. This is nothing new. Like I said before, the exact same thing happened at UCLA, which was the last home game. You must do something about this. Most people would learn from this, but I can only expect so much from you, being the 3rd year in a row I have seen this.

3. DPS and gate security - I am ashamed to be even associated with you in any way. Your conduct at the student entrance was a model of a complete lack of concern for human life and safety in general and you are a disgrace to this university. Let's say there were around 30 DPS and security officers at the game. Two of them were "brave" enough to stand at the entrance to the line and watch hundreds of drunk students cut those who waitied in line patiently for hours. Waiting in line and not cutting meant you would most likely not get in. I asked DPS before they opened the gates if they were going to stop people from cutting this time, or just sit and watch like at UCLA. They said they would, and told me to wait in line. At least they didn't flat up lie to me...Oh wait. Not a single DPS or security person even made an effort to regulate outside of the line. They all were "watching" the inside of the line, which of course was the safest part. Only after 20 minutes of nearly knocking the outer gate down did they come by, at which point they simply leaned against it and yelled at everyone to "stop pushing on the gate." Nevermind all kinds of people were being crushed in front of them. When you have a line of drunk students 30 people deep and a mile long, yelling at them from across the gate is not going to do much. Do your job, security, and keep people safe and in line. I have to work with DPS in my job and I am used to their pervasive incompetence, but this blew me away. Bring in LAPD. At least they aren't afraid to deal with students.

Did anyone get stuck in that MESS just North of the Coliseum? Huskers had parked RVs in that area somehow, and it was a logjam of people sitting there for like 20 minutes, pushing and shoving. I saw people grabbing women, and a lot of disgraceful behavior. Something needs to be done about this area, because if the other sellouts are anything similar to day, someone is going to get trampled or seriously injured.

Thirty years ago when I was at SC, we used to jokingly refer to DPS as "the Don Knotts Force," a reference to his bumbling sheriff's deputy character on The Andy Griffith Show (with all due respect to the late Mr. Knotts).

But this situation at the game is far from funny. You think only in soccer-crazed South American nations that crowds going into stadiums get trampled. Surely not here, and not next to the campus of an institution of higher learning!

Scott's right, this is a disgrace. I understand that eventually all the students got in, as room was found for them just before kick off. But that does not excuse or alleviate the direness of the situation that led to the pushing at the gates.

Major changes need to take place or I will be forced to agree with Expo Park that someone should be fired for this. It just should not happen.

Of course, it's also a great credit to the student population that there were so many drunk students. Last I heard, drinking under the age of 21 was illegal in this state. Or, was that all seniors that were storming the gates drunk? Obviously, alcohol on campus is a reality and who's going to get on a moral high horse about that? So the measures taken by the institution have to assume as fact that drunken behavior will take place, and prepare accordingly.

Fianlly, it is the greed (yes, that's the right word) for financial success that is the bane of any major program's existance. It's the same basic urge for money that drives a university to sacrifice its student body for probable band-wagon ticket buyers who'll pay more cash up front. Ticket buyers who may never be lasting members of the "Trojan Family," the way students are encouraged to believe they are now part of when they join the school. Sad.

Both the student gate mess and the mess created by the Nebraska vehicles were the worst I have seen in 35 years coming to the Coliseum. A bit of irony...so crowded were the conditions caused by both, that there were hardly any people trying to get into the game at the North Gate about an hour before game time, so getting into the game was easy, once we braved all the congestion in the area. I did notice, once I was safely in, the mass confusion at the gates in the time leading up to the game.

But WHY are students still being subjected to a scramble? Isn't it time to issue reserved seats, especially if they are going to sell more Activity Cards than available seats? If nothing else, somwone should realize that USC is exposing itself to massive liability for the poor security, and take corrective measures, before there is some tragedy arising from the crush.

The Coliseum has become a night club...

1) Students are subject to the hooligan soccer tactics as they try to get into the game...I watched it -- and was appalled and afraid at the same time.

That is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

2) The idiots in the Athletic Deptarment Marketing sell space to Blue 32...so that go-go girls can entertain the tailgaters? If you want 'T&A' the Spearmint Rhino club is only a few miles away...get that crap out of there.

3) the Rap/Hip Hop music blasting over the PA system during pre-game, time outs, half time...give me a break.

USC football is fun to watch...but it's 'marketing and game management' has dropped to a horribly low level of class.

The money earned from 2002 to present is the great corrupter -- it no fun anymore. Nice family environment you've crated Garrett...

Cedric Everson had a great time at the game. The superstar CB from Detroit should be a Trojan.

What the university has done to student seating is absolutely deplorable. In my previous 3 years at SC I have never experienced chaos in line like I did yesterday. I was at the front of the line when the DPS officer began to yell over the megaphone that no more students would be allowed entry. I was sure that a riot was about to break out, and I'm sure the police had the same idea as they began to form defensive lines behind the gate. My friends and I eventually got in because miraculaously they found 800 more "seats" which turned out to be grass patches behind the Sundeck. But there is no reason why matriculating students who shell out $135 for a Spirit Card should have to risk bodily injury, or worse, to watch their team because the university won't guarantee student seating.

This is more than a disgrace, this act on the part of the university to sell out its students flies in the face of the mission of higher education. Other institutions, like Michigan, Notre Dame, and Texas for example guarantee that any student who wants one will have a seat because they recognize extracurriculars (like going to football games) contribute to a complete educational experience. Steven Sample should be ashamed of himself for allowing this to happen. If he had his email address posted on the USC homepage directory I would have put it here and urged students and upset alumni to flood his inbox. I guess Michael Jackson, the Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment will have to do: mjackson@usc.edu

What's up with the continued hating on Mike Garrett? It's pretty ridiculous. What AD before Mike Garrett put 'SC in the position athletically it's in today? I'm waiting...exactly - NO ONE!!! Rememeber that basketball arena that was supposed to be built back when Paul Westphal was playing at 'SC? Did that AD get it built - NO!
Who hired those "famed" 'SC coaches such as Ted Tollner and Larry Smith?
Who hired Pete Carroll and seen the rejuvenation of 'SC football - in fact, not only the rejuvenation, but the greatest stretch of 'SC football EVER!!! You got it, Mike Garrett.

Who has overseen and led the biggest and most sweeping improvements in athletics at 'SC in it's entire history? You guess it - Mike Garrett.

And for all of those folks that talk crap about him, you'd at least better be a current student or alum. If you're not, you really need to shut up!!!

Yes, the student ticket allocation is messed up but it will be worked out. Give it some time. And if everyine was so pissy drunk, the situation wouldn't have been as bad. Maybe DPS needs to start chekcing IDs for people drinking on campus before the game? Yep, the students would REALLY love that one!

Hey Mike Garrett, when you're done going to the cocktail functions with people patting you on the back and congratulating each other, why don't you fix this problem before it becomes an embarassment nation-wide.

I've seen better crowd control at an Ozzy concert.

Hey NS - I'm an alum...won't go into my other connections to the university...

Garrett couldn't pass the bar...and like a blind squirrel, luckily found an acorn. Darryl Gross (now the AD at Syracuse [poor Orangemen] and who was just as corrupt) found both Hackett and Carroll for Garrett...so he too was more lucky than good.

The success cannot be denied...but tell me, have you heard about famous #20 meddling in the football program now like he did with both JR and Hackett? No.

Don't give him any credit for the success of the football program.

I know one girl was taken out of the line by EMS when having an asthema attack, and couldn't find her inhaler because the crowd was so tight. Another married couple of graduate students had their baby along and had to leave for his safety.

Is it legal negligence by the university? They have had similar conditions at the first few home games for the past 3 years (only then everyone knew they would get a seat). Thank goodness no one died and the crowd didn't rush and push down the gates.

Wow 4 yrs ago I heard comments that fans would not come to Coliseum because it was in a bad area. I then posted on USCFOOTBALL.com message board that "1 day people would be breaking the gates down to get into the Coliseum". After what I saw Pete Carroll was doing here. However I didnt expect anything like this to happen with Students actually jumpin the fences and the pushing and shoving.

I was in the Student section last night. Fortunately I got there early enough to get a seat. However for about an hour and into the 1st quarter of game the isle in the student section 27 was like gridlock. You had female students sitting on their boy friends laps in the section. You had Students takin over the adjacent Husker fans section seats. It was literally a fire hazzard. Thank God there was no incident of panic or you would have had a serious stampede incident there.

I think the University needs to come up with some sort of raffle system for the 8K seats they have vs the 12K activity books sold. Maybe rotate it to give all students a chance for a few games. They need to definitely come up with something in future however to only issue the number of tickets for a game that they have seats for.

How about if they think 8000/12000 students will attend a game, refund that 25% of the ticket price back to every student this year. At this stage raffle does not work. In several weeks it is parent weekend, and parents have already bought tickets to attend the sellout game. Will these parents, shelling out tuition, be very happy when they can't meet their child during half time, and their child cannot join them because they didn't line up early enough.

It is criminal negligence on the part of CSC staff and USC. These mob scenes have taken place at the first several games for each of the past 3 years, only at least then you had a guaranteed seat, possibly on the 50.

If anyone has access to the physical 11/16/05 Daily Trojan (it doesn't show up online), there is a letter from Dr. Lori S. White, associated vice president of Student Affairs, who says that the athletic staff would always consult student government about changes to the spirit card and student lotteries. This did not occur at all with the major changes this year.

They should only sell 8K activity cards if they only have 8K seats!

Our daughter was one of the girls stepped on, pushed and shoved against a tree. She was attended to by EMTs. I was called by the Assistant Athletic Director that she was at tunnel 28 having a "panic attack." Who would not have a panic attack in that situation?! We are enraged at the lack of crowd control at that student line, the danger our daughter and the rest of the students were subjected to. As parents and alumni, this is intolerable and unacceptable aned we have demanded a resolution to ensure student safety at future home games.

Wow, I'm stunned. I graduated 'SC waaaaay back in the dark days of the '90s, but we had assigned seating then. If I remember correctly, you had to turn in your Spirit Card vouchers for hard tickets the week of the game, thus enabling you to sit with friends.

'SC even went to three consecutive Rose Bowls while I was there, so it's not like the Coliseum was empty on game day.

Makes me rethink how I answer the next time the telemarketer asks me to make a donation to the university...

reading these stories about women & children in danger is starting to enrage me. soldiers are dying to preserve a civil society and I'm reading these firsthand accounts of our daughters in danger? babies?!!! how the hell is this possible? we need a statement from garrett now. today. somebody get him off the golf course.