Why They Play the Game

Saturday I did something I had not done in years; I sat and watched an entire American football game from start to finish. I watched the Stanford versus USC game. I actually watched in total amazement when it became clear what was happening. After the first 8 to 10 minutes of the games you could see that USC was not going to run away with the game. I had many levels of interest in the game. I am an alum of Stanford (Graduate School), my wife is an alum, I coached there for one year, a good friend and a player I used to work with Jon Haskins, is an assistant coach there now. I have been intrigued by the way Pete Carroll revived USC football and how he has managed to keep all the egos that he has recruited in check. But boy did the wheels come off of the USC chariot Saturday night. Stanford just played hard and never let up. They played the team on the field not the press clippings. By rights Stanford should never have been in the game, it should have been a complete blowout. Consider the following:

41 point underdog.
Starting QB....OUT
Starting RB.....OUT
Starting FB.....OUT
Starting Left Tackle....and future 1st Round Pick....OUT.
Starting MLB.....OUT
Starting and Best DT.....OUT
USC 35 consecutive home game victories
#1 Team in the County
USC’s homecoming game

Pretty cool – congratulations to the players and coaches at Stanford for a job well done.