Who Do You Hate More, USC or Stanford?
I did notice on the Bear Insider that there was mixed joy and trepidation to the fact that Bears fans would root on Stanford, even under the amazing circumstances of Saturday night. Unsurprisingly, many of these fans came from the Holmoe era, where Stanford was consistently on top and arrogantly flaunted the Axe, and their fans turned unbearable. I can’t really blame them; if I were one of them I’d probably just wish for an earthquake to swallow up the Coliseum.
It’s an experience foreign to many of the younger students ensconced within the Tedford era, although I do know healthy hatred of Stanford still remains within the general student body. But USC has occupied many a Bears heart with Cal’s rise to national prominence, with USC blocking the door to the Rose Bowl and the BCS, and their insufferable, idiotic fanbase taunting Cal fans the entire way.
The dynamic is similar to many of the compelling rivalries in sports (Colts-Pats, Sox-Yanks), although we can’t really call it a rivalry until Cal wins a meaningful game against USC. It hasn’t happened yet. But this might be our best chance out of the best five. Until then, the Trojans mock and fill many Golden Bear fans (including myself) with general loathing. Hence why Saturday night was one of the happiest of my life.
I pose the question to you Bears fans (we will exclude UCLA from this discussion, and return to it next week)–where does your anger lie? Do you find more joy from Cardinal suffering or Trojan meltdowns? Or do you take equal happiness from both?
Some mostly unedited responses from Bear Insider fans follow after the hop, in case you want help crystallizing your thoughts.
“First of all, I don’t “hate” anyone. I enjoy a healthy rivalry, and we now have two. This is because we are no longer the doormat of the Pac-10, sharing the bottom with Stanford. JT’s success means we now compete with the giants and $C is certainly still a giant.
Secondly, I was rooting for Stanford to win, just because it was such an upset and I wanted to watch it. But now it is Sunday and I realize we would be better off playing an undefeated $C, rather than one with 1 or 2 losses. I was looking forward to a game where #1 $C played #2 Cal. Oh well, we still need to win out and if we have learned anything from the last two weeks, anyone can beat anybody.”
“You cited their arrogance and “pampered-ass” attitude. I know that my loathing of them is far deeper than my dislike for the ‘furds. At least the adobe hut kids had good academic credentials before heading to Palo Alto, as opposed to the spoiled rich kids that participate in a four-year party in South Central. Well, except for the barely-literate athletes that compose most of the Toejam rosters – the highest paid athletes in college sports.
I just think it’s hysterical that “Pom-Pom” Pete has it stuffed up his nose by the guy who dissed him in the off-season, and now has to live with the shattered national championship hosts as he mulls his next career move… as well as his upcoming loss in November up north!”
“Wouldn’t categorize it as hate…. but, when you live in Southern California, and every other house has a USC flag, just about every car has a USC license plate holder, most everyone wears the USC clothing, and just about every conversation is about how great “we” are (as if all those arrogant jerks actually played on the team), you pretty put much have to put USC in the total disdain column.
As for Stanford, while totally understanding the cross-town rivalry situation, and our inbred hate for the ‘Furd, I am proud of what they did and I really couldn’t think of a better win to squarely kick USC in the nuts. Also, the fact they did this with a backup QB makes it so much better. Congrats to Stanford on believing in themselves, and to coach Harbaugh for his work in turning that team around. Its been a long time since they felt good about anything football, so I hope they can hold on to feeling the night of November 30th. However, on Dec 1st, I am sure that the reality check will finally set in when Cal knocks them back into place.”
“I was at Cal from fall of 1995 through the fall of 1999. We lost to Stanfurd EVERY YEAR. I can’t tell you how crushing that was. The crap I had to hear from the Furdies was worse than anything I’ve ever had to put up with from anyone else. Yes, I live in Southern California and the bandwagon USC douchebags are pretty damn intolerable, but I will always hate Stanfurd more. Always.
Whereas the pricks came out of the woodwork when USC returned to prominence, the Furdies are pricks even with a sorry football program.
They are both the antithesis of Cal. So damn them all. Damn them all to hell.”
“USC by a country mile. Can’t say I’m fond of Furd, but at least we share two things…being in NorCal and being a university rather than a football factory (which some Toejams actually brag about).”
“Losing to the Spoiled Children sucks, but they’re always talented and tough. You don’t like it, but you’re able to rationalize it, make your peace with it, and banish the mental images of Trojan arrogance by thinking about the ways in which your beloved Cal is superior to USC (i.e. every other way).
Losing to Furd really cuts to the quick. You think about it all off-season. It rankles and festers. Furds you run into will never miss an opportunity to remind you of it with a smug smile. It lingers in the back of the part of your mind that thinks or cares about sports or universities to any degree. It haunts you and it doesn’t stop haunting you until you see RallyCom walking off the field, Axe in hand.”
“When you grow up in the Bay Area and a third of the smart kids go to Stanford and the other third go to Cal (the other third go to Ivies) you just get this hate for them.
What about those of us who lived through the Holmoe years and their idiotic band chanting “Junior College *clap clap clap*” through various Big Game meltdowns.
And their insufferable patrician posturing during late 90s. Tyrone Willingham declaring to his football teal “We don’t lose to Cal.”
$C is a love affair compared to my hate for the farm boys of Shallow Alto.
I hate Leland Stanfurd Junior College with infinite ire.”
“On Big Game Day, I hate Stanford’s guts. It really is a visceral thing with me. Every other day of the year, though, when Stanford is not playing Cal, I actually like ’em. It’s kind of like a sibling who bugs the $#it out of you on occassion, but most of the time you actually like the kid.
With ‘SC, I just hate ’em all year round. Doesn’t keep me from admiring their ability to play good football (when they do play good football). But I really don’t like USC. And it seems to be that you can count on ‘SC to play dirty football when they start to lose their composure. Sometimes they play dirty anyhow. If you wonder why I feel that way, I got two words for you: Pat Cannamela.
Find out what Cannamela did to Johnny Olszewski and then you’ll understand the basis for why I hate USC. Cannamela personifies the disgust I have for USC (or rather, personified, since he died in the 1970s, I believe).”
“Stanfurd, hands down because they are who they are and how they act. Because of their proximity here in NorCal, we run into them everyday. Almost 50 years of BigGame when they usually won-until the last few years-and having to put up with them for yet another year was/is galling. For decades, we could only look up to U$C as they were so much better than we were, only recently have we been on a competitive basis with them year in and year out.”
“You got to give the devil his due; Stanford played one hell of a game and won the biggest upset of the year. The good news, aside from SC being a game down in conference race, is we will not take the Trees lightly.
Go Bears!”
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RockinBiz 3 Column by Nathan Rice &bull Modified by lawvol
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