by Karen Stevens, USC Alumna & friend of the Gridiron Goddess

Yesterday was historic… it was epic… and it was fun! No, I’m not talking about Paul Dee’s karmic explosion thanks to Yahoo sports and his own hubris, I’m referring to the fact that I got to see the boys in cardinal and gold on the practice field once again. That’s right people, for a few hours I was transported back to the Golden Era of Trojan Football, when the boosters and fans were beloved by the school and the players hammed it up on the field to the cheers and boos from the sidelines.

I was lucky enough to get an invitation to the patron’s party at Dedeaux Field that included surprisingly great food, abundant cocktails and a ring side seat to all the happenings on Howard Jones Field. For three hours I was perched on the observation deck watching Matt Barkley throw zingers to Marquis Lee, I heard the grunts of young men as they “finished” their tackles and I got to see how Dillon Baxter learned to find the hole to run up the middle for a perfectly executed play. This wasn’t Narnia… it was better!

While the Trojan Marching Band rehearsed in the background to Dr. Bartner’s husky voiced directions, Howard Jones was rocking some very cool tunes, although some of the music choices left me a little uninspired, (Kesha!!). What I did notice was none of the players were slacking off, they were focused and wanted to earn our respect. And, after the 11 on 11s the guys were still out there wholeheartedly doing drills. I never wanted it to end but it was time for speeches and I had to hear if Pat Haden was going to say we were going to “win the right way”, one more time, (I’ll let you wonder about the answer) and kid around with Coach Kiffin about his reputation at Tennessee which got a good laugh.

What I learned about my testosterone infused afternoon of USC football is that our defense looks great, our offense needs some work, we finally have a kicker and that it’s good to be a Trojan.