[Kathy]

in light of last night's loss to University of Spoiled Children  Stanford fan should reread this article.

I think everyone here is only too familiar with the heartbreak of Stanford fandom. Last Saturday's game brought back the bitter memory of my last trip to the Coliseum: November 1973, sophomore year. Improbable as it seemed, we were at the doorstep of beating the eighth-ranked team in the nation. We had the best kicker in the country ~ Rod Garcia had already set a Pac-8 record with a 59-yard field goal in the first quarter. We were delirious in anticipation of a 26-24 upset. But $C's mediocre kicker, who had never kicked anything longer than 25 yards, booted a 34-yarder with 34 seconds left for the win. Eating out in LA that night,  still in our Stanford fan gear, was my introduction to the heights of Trojan obnoxiousness.

Even the balm of sweet revenge two years later when Mike Langford repaid the favor with a last-second, game-winning field goal was not enough to wipe out the pain of 1973. I have witnessed worse Stanford losses, to be sure (like the slaughter in Ann Arbor in 1976) but I count back to Nov. 10, 1973, as the birth of my hatred of USC.

[Kathy]

in light of last night's loss to University of Spoiled Children  Stanford fan should reread this article.

I think everyone here is only too familiar with the heartbreak of Stanford fandom. Last Saturday's game brought back the bitter memory of my last trip to the Coliseum: November 1973, sophomore year. Improbable as it seemed, we were at the doorstep of beating the eighth-ranked team in the nation. We had the best kicker in the country ~ Rod Garcia had already set a Pac-8 record with a 59-yard field goal in the first quarter. We were delirious in anticipation of a 26-24 upset. But $C's mediocre kicker, who had never kicked anything longer than 25 yards, booted a 34-yarder with 34 seconds left for the win. Eating out in LA that night,  still in our Stanford fan gear, was my introduction to the heights of Trojan obnoxiousness.

Even the balm of sweet revenge two years later when Mike Langford repaid the favor with a last-second, game-winning field goal was not enough to wipe out the pain of 1973. I have witnessed worse Stanford losses, to be sure (like the slaughter in Ann Arbor in 1976) but I count back to Nov. 10, 1973, as the birth of my hatred of USC.