UCLA Football Disallows USC’s Field-Stabbing Tradition At The Rose Bowl

Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

Every other year, the USC Drum Major takes to the Rose Bowl and stabs his sword into UCLA’s logo at midfield.

After UCLA fans took to the Internet to stop this tradition, UCLA officials informed the USC Band there will be no such sword-stabbing in Pasadena this Saturday.

From USC fan site Reign of Troy:

"The 2012 edition of the USC vs. UCLA rivalry has taken an interesting turn, with five days left until the teams collide in Pasadena. According to a source close to USC’s Spirit of Troy, the Trojans’ band has been informed by UCLA officials that the school’s sword-wielding drum major will be prohibited from his traditional pregame stabbing of the grass this weekend at the Rose Bowl.Furthermore, according to the source, the band has been told that should the sword be inserted into the turf, secruity would prevent the band from taking the field for a pregame or halftime show, as they would be limited to playing from the stands."

This is nothing but good news, and while we at Go Joe Bruin like to remain objective, as fans, it would be sickening for UCLA to allow this tradition to continue at the Rose Bowl.

According to Michael Castillo at Reign of Troy, the tradition is not unique to the UCLA-USC rivalry; apparently, the USC Drum Major does this regardless of location or opponent.

And while it’s USC’s tradition, it’s UCLA’s home-field. If spitting on an opponents’ logo was UCLA’s tradition, USC has every right to stop UCLA from doing such. It’s less a problem regarding the rivalry and more an attempt to protect from any sort of symbolic trashing of the UCLA script logo.

So good job, UCLA officials, and hats off to Bruins Nation, a site that receives a lot of criticism (and deservedly so) but also uses their clout for things such as this.