Football fans, who are you wearing?
On the Oscars red carpet, the question is about fashion designers. On the USC-UCLA cardinal-and-blue carpet, it's about fashionable jersey numbers.
A couple of hours before Saturday's game, I walked a lap around the Rose Bowl to see which Bruins and Trojans replica jerseys are the most popular among the fans barbecuing and throwing footballs around. First observation: Trojans fans are more eager to fly the colors these days (among the first 100 jerseys I saw, 57 were Trojans shirts, 39 were Bruins shirts and four were assorted others). Second observation: None of the current players on either side has eclipsed last season's stars.
Here are the most popular numbers among the first 100 jersey-wearing fans I spotted, along with the most famous player associated with the number (and how many times I saw it):
No. 5 -- Reggie Bush, USC (17 times); No. 11 -- Matt Leinart, USC (11); No. 8 -- Dwayne Jarrett, USC (10); No. 21 -- Maurice Drew, UCLA (10); No. 3 -- Carson Palmer, USC (or is it Keyshawn Johnson?) (6); No. 8 -- Troy Aikman, UCLA (or Junior Taylor?) (6); No. 10 -- John David Booty, USC (6); No. 7 -- Ben Olson, UCLA (5); No. 55 -- Junior Seau, USC (4); No. 9 -- Marcus Everett, UCLA (2); No. 26 -- Joe Cowan, UCLA (2); No. 41 -- Ken Norton, UCLA (2)
So, four Ben Olsons and no Patrick Cowan (No. 12), the UCLA quarterback starting over Olson. No USC No. 32s
Also: one Ohio State No. 7 (Joey Galloway?). Obviously scouting the USC jerseys in case they meet again in the national-title game.
And: one New Orleans Saints No. 25. More Reggie Bush -- still the most popular football player in town.
Comments
I think the #26 jerseys for UCLA are old Deshaun Foster jerseys. They have the old font on them.
Posted by: Wes Covington | December 2, 2006 07:44 PM