Go Joe Bruin interviews the author of ‘UCLA vs. USC: A Rivalry of Hate’

Go Joe Bruin got the lowdown on the newest book about the UCLA Football team,  ‘UCLA vs. USC: A Rivalry of Hate’ by author Spencer Stueve.

Go Joe Bruin: This is your second book, so before we jump into it, briefly tell me about your first one.

Spencer Steve: The first book is titled UCLA Football Encyclopedia: From Tears to Touchdowns. It was released last year and covers every UCLA Football team from 1919 through 2015. Every UCLA football coach from Fred Cozens through Jim Mora is featured. UCLA’s finest football players, the men who became UCLA legends, from Kenny Washington to Maurice Jones-Drew, are written about extensively.

The book features an all-time roster, with every player who ever played for UCLA listed numerically. There is also a list of every assistant coach in UCLA history and much more. It is the most detailed, extensive UCLA Football book ever written.

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GJB: So with that in mind, tell us about your latest creation.

Stueve: My new book, UCLA vs. USC: A Rivalry of Hate, looks at the history of the rivalry between the Bruins and the Trojans. In the early chapters, you will read about the days before the rivalry and the path taken by each program that ultimately led to the first ever meeting between the two. As the book goes on, every season and every meeting between the two teams is covered in detail, and we see how the crosstown showdown went from friendly competition to fierce rivalry.

For UCLA fans, this book will bring back many great memories, but also many disappointing times. Like every great rivalry, there are key events outside the field of sports that have helped elevate the rivalry itself. We look at the pranks, the fights, the antagonists, the controversies, the stories that have long been forgotten, and every moment that has made the UCLA-USC rivalry what it is today.

GJB: What prompted you to work on this most recent book?

Stueve: While writing the first book, one theme of each season really stood out to me. Every season is judged in two ways. First, you look at the overall success, or lack thereof, and decide if it was a successful season or not. Next, you look at the USC game. Did you win? Without beating USC, success as a whole does not exist. I wanted to see how we got to where we are today.

UCLA’s early rivals were not USC, Cal, or Stanford. They were Whittier, Pomona, and other Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference members. The early meetings with USC helped elevate UCLA as a program and one of the greatest rivalries in college athletics was born.

GJB: How did the research part of the book develop? Where did you go to for your sources?

Stueve: The research for this book was actually fairly simple. Much of the information about UCLA was gathered while writing my first book. I worked with several former athletes, dug through old UCLA yearbooks, and was able to gather some information from the UCLA Sports Information Department. As for the USC side of things, much of the information used came directly from their SID Department, old newspapers, other books, and interviews with former players.

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GJB: What was the most interesting tidbit you learned about the rivalry when researching it?

Stueve: The most interesting thing I learned in researching and writing the book is the creation of the rivalry itself and how it came to be. For both sides, there was a trade off. It wasn’t as easy as deciding that the matchups made sense geographically and the two L.A. schools should play each other. USC was an established program. UCLA was not. USC officials knew that playing UCLA would ultimately elevate the Bruins. UCLA officials knew the early matchups had the potential to be lopsided. Still, both sides decided it was worth it, and almost 90 years later, we’re all better off for it.

GJB: What is your favorite memory from the rivalry?

Stueve: My favorite personal memories all come from the ’90’s when UCLA dominated the rivalry. In researching for the book, however, I was fascinated by the stuff beyond the games. The pranks, the victory bell, the fights, and all the extracurricular stuff outside of football was fascinating.

GJB: What do you hope readers take away from your new book?

Stueve: I want readers to feel the emotion while reading the book that they do while watching the games. I hope every reader realizes that it’s okay to hate the other side. That’s sports. That’s what rivalries are about. For writers, rivalry books are always a challenge.

Fans of both sides are invested in their team and despise the other side. Inevitably fans always feel rivalry books are biased against them. I tell the truth in this book, whether good or bad. More than anything, however, there is one underlying truth in this book. The UCLA-USC rivalry is unique. It is different, and it is great.

GJB: Where can the book be purchased?

Stueve: The book can be purchased in a few different places. It is on Amazon, the Barnes and Noble website, Createspace, and a few more sites. It will be in the UCLA Store on campus within a few weeks and several stores in Westwood. It will be in several different stores on the USC campus and in the surrounding area. Right now I’m working on getting distribution in Barnes and Noble, Target, and WalMart locations throughout Southern California, as well.

Click HERE to purchase the book on Amazon.

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Thank you very much to Spencer Steve for sharing his thoughts on his new book, UCLA vs. USC: A Rivalry of Hate.