Five-Star Sports Experience: Stanford vs USC

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned possibly having tickets to the CAL / USC game with my friend Derrick. He mentioned something about a connection with Pepsi from his job with CSU East Bay. It turns out that it was last night's Stanford / USC game in Palo Alto. And so we made plans to meet at D's house around 12:30pm and together with our other friends John and Andrew, we got our tickets and headed to Palo Alto for the pre-game festivities sponsored by Pepsi, and then the game itself.

Once we arrived at the stadium and found a parking spot, we made our way to the track where our hospitality tent was located. We were treated to all the soft drinks, ribs, chicken, corn, potato salad, and cole slaw we could eat. The ribs were to die for. We were full and ready for some football after enjoying our pre-game meal.

During our Pepsi experience, the football team and notorious Stanford band made their way to the stadium on their traditional path through campus. It was exciting to be a part of that!

Our tickets were located in the second row, right behind the USC bench! Pepsi certainly came through with primo seats! We were treated to both bands performing traditional pre-game marching and music.

After the national anthem, we had a flyover courtesy of some powerful military aircraft.

Last year, in what many describe as the most historic upset in the history of college football, Stanford defeated USC, 24-23, at L.A. Memorial Coliseum. USC was avenged this stinging defeat with a 45-23 victory over the Cardinal last night.

The view from our seats. (#4 - Joe McKnight)

Right around the end of the 1st quarter I made my way to one of the concession stands. I had a little connection at Stanford Stadium. A parent at the school I teach at is the director of concessions for Stanford and she met up with D, Andrew, John and I. After saying hello, taking a picture, and having her show us around somewhat, she set us up with food and drinks before we made our way back to our seats. Now THAT was very thoughtful and generous!

Thank you, Gale!

Stanford jumped on USC early and the teams were tied at 17 going into halftime. USC outscored Stanford 28-6 in the second half to win.

It was very cool to be so up close and personal to the USC players, like Joe McKnight and Mark Sanchez. The stadium itself is state-of-the-art, clean, and absolutely beautiful. While I've always maintained my rooting interest in CAL athletics, I have to say, I am far more impressed with what Stanford has done with their campus and sports facilities. It was an experience I will never forget!

After the game, the USC band returned to the field for their traditional send-off to the team and as a way to salute their many fans. We guessed that between 50%-65% of the crowd was there to root for USC.

The postgame experience was like NASCAR except worse. It took about an hour to make it out of the dirt lots, except finding your car in the dark was a chore. We wandered around for about 45 minutes trying to determine where we were and where the car was. Ultimately, mainly by retracing our steps from driving into the lot that night, we found it.

The game was exciting. The tickets were first rate. The entire experience did not cost a thing, which is amazing.

L to R: Derrick, Andrew, John, and myself.