Celebrities on the Sidelines
This is my first attempt at a post, so be kind.
Celebrities as we know like to be associated with anything cool, and right now in LA the coolest thing around is USC Football. Why college football you ask? Well, because the LA Lakers are kinda sucky, the Clippers are just now starting not to suck, and there is NO NFL. The sidelines at USC games have become just like courtside seats for the Lakers. Heck, Jack Nicholson was spotted at a game recently. Personally, I have met Nick Lachey (who brought Cacee) and Henry Winkler on the sidelines and I saw Michael Clark Duncan in the stands once. That's not even counting that the players, especially Matt Leinart have become celebrities in their own right. It's gotten so bad, I have heard rumors that Brittany has been bugging people for tickets to the Rose Bowl, and the article that follows lists a few people who will actually be at the Rose Bowl this year.
USC's top-ranked, two-time defending national champion Trojans are the most glamorous team in college football, with two Heisman Trophy winners in the backfield (quarterback Matt Leinart and tailback Reggie Bush), a 34-game winning streak in the bank and a historical three-peat in their sights.
Wednesday, they'll meet No. 2 Texas for the national championship at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The Trojans, who have eclipsed the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers for the glitziest fans in sports, are more than ready for their close-up.
The big names who have been connected to the Trojans football program this season come straight from the pages of People and the sound bites of Entertainment Tonight. At times the sideline at the Coliseum, USC's home field, has looked like a red-carpet parade at the ESPYs, Emmys, Grammys and Academy Awards rolled into one.
The list includes singers Nick Lachey and Flea; actresses Kirsten Dunst and Alyssa Milano; actors Will Ferrell, LeVar Burton, Wilmer Valderrama, Jake Gyllenhaal and Tiny "Zeus" Lister; rappers and hip-hop artists Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Andre 3000, Warren G and The Game; and directors George Lucas and Spike Lee.
They're standing center stage, right beside the USC bench, during games.
They're directing the Trojans Marching Band and ringing the Victory Bell.
They're shaking hands and leading chants in the student section.
They're attending practice and catching passes from Leinart.
They're being tossed balls in the end zone after touchdowns by running back LenDale White.
Why, these days in Los Angeles, USC seems to stand for the University of Sideline Celebrities.
All the rage
"USC football is the biggest show in town," says Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen, the 1981 Heisman Trophy-winning USC tailback who has lived in Los Angeles for more than two decades and is a vital member of the 2005 Trojans sideline entourage.
"People love to be around winners. People love to be at events. USC games have become huge events."
Adds former USC quarterback Rodney Peete, another sideline regular, "If you do well at USC, celebrities show up. There's no NFL team here, so USC has become the city's NFL franchise."
Offers former USC basketball star and TNT NBA sideline reporter Cheryl Miller, who has also been vocal in support of her alma mater: "Who doesn't want to hang out with the sexy 'in' crowd?"
Just how "in" are USC games? This season the Trojans set Pacific-10 Conference records for total home attendance (544,872) and average home attendance (90,812). They played before sold-out crowds at five of six road games.
That does not include the coveted team bench-area credentials (between the 25-yard lines) or sideline passes (outside the 25s). The NCAA allotment is 60 bench-area credentials a team - they're issued to anybody not in uniform - and USC sports information director Tim Tessalone can't even begin to guess how many the school divvies out for regular-season games.
"This is really like the Showtime Lakers when they had their run going" in the 1980s, Tessalone says. "The first year is kind of like a surprise. The second year you wonder if it's a fluke. And then the third year people really get into it."
USC players admit that being in the Hollywood whirl feels surreal.
"When you're sitting on the bench and you see George Lucas walk by or Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson cruise past, you're like, 'Is that who I thought it was?' " says junior linebacker Oscar Lua, USC's leading tackler.
Adds freshman linebacker Brian Cushing: "It's crazy. You hear about this stuff when you're being recruited, like Snoop Dogg coming to practice last year, and then you come here and you actually see the guy. It's unbelievable."
Even Bush, USC's own shooting star, does double takes.
"Sometimes I look over and say, 'What is he doing here?' " says Bush, a junior.
Who stopped him in his tracks? Outkast's Andre 3000, who had never been to a USC game until he went as the guest of director and USC graduate John Singleton to the 66-19 drubbing of UCLA on Dec. 3.
"You never get used to stuff like that," Bush says.
Having the stars so up-close and personal really isn't a distraction, the players say.
"We're so used to it now," senior defensive end Frostee Rucker says. "Everybody keeps coming up. The mayor (Antonio Villaraigosa) came by the other day. It's cool, but we never let it steer off and get to us. We just know how to tap in and be ready and play our game."
Says White, a junior, "We know what's on the line. Besides, it's L.A. There's always some type of celebrity around you."
Or on your cellphone speed dial. He and Snoop, who have each other's numbers, regularly check in.
"That's my boy," says Snoop, who wears White's No. 21 jersey to games. After White scored a TD against Washington State on Oct. 29, he tossed the ball to Snoop, who was standing in the end zone and struck a Heisman pose, then took off running down the tunnel.
"I'm his big brother," Snoop says. "I told his mother, 'I've got his back.' "
Having celebrities on the sideline seems to inspire the players.
"It just shows we're very looked at," says sophomore split end Dwayne Jarrett, USC's leading receiver. "It just shows how much they respect us. It gives us motivation to play hard."
Says Valderrama: "These kids are really out to impress. ... They're hungry. They've got a vision of what they want the outcome of the game to be. They're so fiercely focused that the only distraction is a cheerleader."
Celebs keep players loose
After taking over at USC in December 2000, Carroll consciously embraced the famous faces. Mixing with the stars keeps his players loose, he says, and, perhaps more important, gives them poise.
Sure, high-profile fans can bolster recruiting, fundraising and publicity. But Carroll doesn't bring Winkler into the locker room at halftime, ask Lee to determine which unit wins "Competition Tuesday" or allow Ferrell to suit up and catch a 35-yard bomb from Leinart for those reasons.
Carroll thinks being exposed to celebrities teaches his players not to shrink in the spotlight. It makes the Trojans believe all the hype and hoopla associated with being No. 1 is just a typical day in Hollywood.
"There's a lot of people here who enjoy their sports, and we're having fun with it," Carroll says. "The more exposure to things and the people around us we can get, the better."
The sold-out Rose Bowl game, with tickets listed on StubHub.com for as much as $8,000 each, is being billed as a Who's Who of Entertainment and Sports. Tessalone has been referring any agents, publicists or entertainment lawyers who call requesting sideline passes or tickets - heck, even the stars themselves - to Jim Muldoon of the Pac-10 office.Says Muldoon: "Rose Bowl game management will not be issuing field credentials to anyone other than media and team area personnel. I will sell tickets in the stands to people USC would like to take care of as long as I have tickets." He recently sold four tickets to actor George Wendt (Cheers). "He seemed like a nice guy, so we took care of him," Muldoon says.
ABC Sports has Ferrell and actor Matthew McConaughey, a rabid Texas fan, for part of its intro on game night.
Snoop will wear a microphone during the game for ESPN Hollywood to capture sound bites and color from the sideline for future programming. "I don't know what it's like to be in the stands at a USC game," he says. "The sidelines are wild, they're unexplainable; they're 3-D/HDTV."
Winkler will be in the bench area, dressed in his "lucky" outfit plus long underwear.
"I cannot predict the final score," The Fonz says. "I really, truly believe USC has so many different ways to win that they'll win again."
Lachey and Valderrama, close friends with Leinart, also have sideline credentials. But they're torn.
"It's a lot more fun to watch from the stands," Valderrama says. "At the bench, you watch the game from the Jumbotron. This is the Rose Bowl, and I really don't want to miss a thing. So you might not see me until the end, when I'm directing the USC band."
Adds Lachey: "I've been accused of being an almost psychotic football fan. In the limo on the way to last year's Orange Bowl, I was more nervous than the players. And I knew they were prepared because I'd been at practice that week."
USC crushed Oklahoma 55-19, but Lachey was too crazed to be anywhere near the bench. So he watched from a suite, which he might do again next week.
"Obviously, the sidelines isn't the best place to see the game," he says. "But there's nothing like being that close to the energy."
And then there are the other celebrities who might have no choice but to watch from their sofas.
Says Outkast's Andre 3000, "If you talk to anybody, tell them Andre 3000 wants tickets, and I'll pay for them."
Link:
Sources: USA Today and InsideUSC.com