Tuesday, January 1, 2019
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
If it's the first day of a New Year, then there is only one place to be in Southern California . . .
. . . in Pasadena for the 105th renewal
of the Rose Bowl Game!
"THE GRANDDADDY
OF THEM ALL!"
The Rose Bowl has earned this moniker as it was the first ever bowl game with game MVP fullback Neil Snow leading Michigan (11-0) to an easy 49-0 victory over Stanford (3-2-2) in the 1902 inaugural.
Because the score of that game was so lopsided, Pasadena waited until 1916 to hold the second edition of this now classic, annual event.
In the 1916 game it was another game MVP winning fullback, Washington State's Carl Dietz, that paved the way for the Cougars (7-0) 14-0 win over the Brown Bears (5-4-1).
Our Washington Huskies have now played in the Rose Bowl Classic a total of 15 times in the years 1924, 1926, 1937, 1944, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2001 and 2019. Going into today's game, the Husky record in the Rose Bowls stands at 7-6-1.
A total of ten Huskies have earned Rose Bowl MVPs honors. The ten are HB George Wilson in 1924, HB George Fleming and QB Bob Schloredt in 1960, QB Bob Schloredt again in 1961, QB Warren Moon in 1978, RB Jacque Robinson in 1982, DB Charles Mincy in 1991, DT Steve Emtman and QB Billy Joe Hobert in 1992 and 2001 QB Marques Tuiasosopo in 2001.
As for the Buckeyes, this would also be their 15th trip to the Rose Bowl with games in 1921, 1950, 1955, 1958, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1985, 1997, 2010 and 2019. The Ohio State's Rose Bowl record before kickoff today stood at 7-7-0.
Ohio State six Rose Bowl MVPs include fullback Fred "Curley" Morrison in 1950, QB Dave Leggett in 1955, QB Rex Kern in 1969, QB Cornelius Greene in 1974, QB Joe Germaine in 1997 and QB Terrelle Pryor in 2010.
The Big Ten Champion
Ohio State Buckeyes (12-1)
vs.
The PAC-12 Champion
Washington Huskies (10-3)
The Buckeyes entered the game as six point favorites according to the experts in Las Vegas.
At 8:00 a.m. we loaded up the FitzGerald's van with seven American football fans and lots of food and drink for a tailgating experience before and after the game on the fairways of the Brookside Golf Course which is adjacent to the Rose Bowl and serves as the Rose Bowl's parking lot at $60/car on game day.
Back Row: Brian and Koreen FitzGerald, Ryan Bolland and me
Front Row: Michael with Jacob aboard and Laurie
Of course a large part of the fun of going to these Husky games is getting together before the game to tailgate with good friends like . . .
. . . Loren Brucker, Penny and Ken Ballenger
and Sandy Brucker
It was so good to see them again today.
Must be a Buckeye fan
After spending about an hour grazing at our tailgate, we headed about 150 yards away to another, more elaborate tailgate being hosted by . . .
. . . the son of another Husky great
WR Peter "The Spear" Claridge seen
here holding out grandson Jacob
Peter has always been a fun
person to be around
There's that Buckeye fan again
I really can not explain this picture. Posing on the far right is Dan Claridge, this tailgate's host.
And yes, that is our son Michael laying on the ground.
Somedays being a parent is challenging.
The Claridge's Tailgate
2019 Claridge Rose Bowl Tailgate
Team Photo
Finally, it was time to join the rest of the 91,853 people in our efforts to enter the Rose Bowl.
It would be tougher than we thought to get into the stadium.
Though underdogs, there is always
HOPE!
The multitudes trying to find
a shorter line into the stadium
There was no shorter line as it turned out, we finally got into one of the long lines and voilà TWENTY-FIVE minutes later we sailed through the security check point.
The Good Year blimp high
over the Rose Bowl
When I took this photo, we were about five minutes into our entry line. You can see how far we still were from the stadium.
Ridiculous!
Our seats were in the stadium's last row
We made it to our row 77 seats
in time for the kickoff
BARELY!
What a GREAT setting for a game!
Buckeye WR #21 Parris Campbell
about to catch a pass for the games
first TD
The first three quarters were all Ohio State's as they steadily and convincingly built up their lead to 28-3 with only 15 minutes to play.
But the Fourth Quarter
was all Washington's
Suddenly the Huskies woke up in the final stanza outscoring the Buckeyes 20-0. A last minute on-side kick by the Huskies was easily recovered by the Buckeyes and the game was over.
A case of too little, too late for our PAC-12 Champions.
This headline about sums it up
Ohio State finished the season with a record of 13-1 and is now 8-7 all-time in Rose Bowl games.
Washington record dropped to 10-4 in 2019 and is now 7-7-1 in Rose Bowl competition.
Now for some good Rose Bowl game photos from the internet . . .
This incapsulates how the game's
first 45 minutes unfolded
In the background is Buckeye safety Brendon White who was the co-MVP of the game.
The Ohio State defense pressured
our QB constantly
Lots of dropped passes like this one
did not help our cause
The Buckeyes covered well most
of the Rose Bowl game
Hard to pass when you are under duress
On a side note, #32 for the Buckeyes is LB Tuf Borland whose grandfather Don Shotliff was one of our great coaches at Westlake High School back in the 1980s.
Small world isn't it?
Did I mention that we
dropped a lot of passes?
The other Ohio State Rose Bowl Co-MVPs
QB Dwayne Haskins Jr.
Three TD passes and 251 yards through the air will get you this well deserved honor.
Although we beat the six point spread,
the Buckeyes were clearly the better team
on this Chamber of Commerce day in
Pasadena's Arroyo Seco
With this victory, the Buckeyes extend their winning record against the Huskies in a series that began in 1957 in Seattle with an Ohio State 35-7 victory.
The two universities have met on the gridiron 11 times in regular season play and now once in a bowl game.
Ohio State has won nine of these contests, Washington the other three. The Buckeyes now have a four game win streak going in the series after yesterday's victory.
Reading Is FUNdamental!
WOW!
A tremendous read about a real person that was an 18 year old spy who amazingly infiltrated the Nazis high command who controlled Italy out of Milan at the end of WWII.
The fact that we lived in the greater Milan area last year for six months only added to my interest in this fascinating read about real life bravery, deception and betrayal.
I highly recommend that you read this one.
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