The 100th Rose Bowl: A Personal Perspective
The 100th Rose Bowl: A Personal Perspective
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The 100th Rose Bowl: A Personal Perspective, By
John C. Pings, ©2013.
The 100th Rose Bowl is here, they are getting things going as we speak, all the planning, making of assignments and identification of resources are already underway. The planning for the 125th Tournament of Roses Parade has already begun too. Oh by the way, the BCS National Championship Game is back for its historic final visit as well, historic? Yes, college football is changing and this will be the last year of the “BCS” as we know it. Our Beautiful Stadium, the Rose Bowl Stadium - “America’s Stadium” is nearing completion of its foundational for the future, if not controversial, renovation. As we look forward to a future of rotating national semi-final games and dueling wars with Dallas and everyone else for the “Big Game” of the future, I do believe it’s important to recognize what a truly historic year this year presents to the Community of Pasadena. Is not the history of ‘our little parade and game’ irretrievably tied to the City of Pasadena and the surrounding communities? And they to us? The upcoming Parade and Games truly do give our community a chance to enjoy these historic milestones and truly celebrate the fabric of our Community and it uniquely American Festival.
I am a Tournament of Roses volunteer member just like
Michael, or um, oops, sorry, @Mr_Pasadena (I am @AltadenaTrojan, https://twitter.com/AltadenaTrojan).
As Mr_Pasadena and many others can attest, some of our favorite moments are
when the Parade is “put to bed” and we say “See you at the Bowl!” and hurtle
towards the Arroyo Seco in time for kickoff. Lifelong friendships are annually rekindled
among the white suited ones and The Rose Bowl Game is truly is a chance to say “What
a great year! Lets have some fun!”
You cannot talk about the Rose Bowl without first talking about
the Tournament of Roses. My first Rose Parades? Well, we lived near the Parade
Route, two short blocks south of the old Horrell Football Field at PCC, way
back in the Old School Days when
there were bleachers. Shortly after
Christmas, the yearly invasion of the Good Sam RVer’s meant putting all the
bikes and toys away and then extra duty cleaning up from the “wandering” RVers. One year we were egged. A hot day, Parade
traffic at a standstill and egg yuck, Fun! Most Parade Mornings the Family
would walk up to the Parade Route with the 6-foot aluminum step ladder to the same
“Spot” every year. The Spot was just up those couple blocks on Sierra Bonita I
later walked to PCC, turning right there on Colorado past Bob’s Big Boy old bicycle up take-out window (insert sad tone) and Foster’s Freeze (insert sadder tone). Dad would lead us on the annual pilgrimage to the roses to what is now the
present day lawn of PCC’s spectacular library. I have a couple siblings, “One at a time on
the ladder” was the rule from Dad, the Engineer, so 2/3 thirds of the Parade
was spent at the bottom of the ladder. I recall the very first day I heard the
USC Trojan Marching Band, most likely in 1968, '69 or '70.
I do think my love for the Parade, for music and the arts and USC was born that day. Even
though I did not see it, I heard it, but more importantly, I felt it. That moment-in-time has stuck to me to this
very day. I had to move to the frigid Northern Rockies in Montana and see how
those people react to the Rose Parade for me to truly appreciate the Tournament
of Roses. It is seen in such high regard and with such joy that it brings to so
many other people in our country. Upon returning from graduate school and to Southern
California, I joined in because of that Rose Parade “moment in time” day and thereby
I got the chance to be of service to our community and to meet so many of you,
likely who we wouldn’t otherwise know. It’s been, and continues to be, a rich
and rewarding, and uniquely “Pasadena” thing to do together. These days? Once
in awhile I get to see the Parade, actually, quite a few by now, so it’s all
good!
My earliest Rose Bowl? My Dad Neal, helped start the
chemical engineering department at Stanford back in the 50’s. In those 1971 and
1972 Rose Bowls of Stanford versus Ohio State and then Michigan our home was
invaded by ChemE profs and graduate students. Joining us were the vaunted CalTech
Beavers and my Dad’s colleagues on the road in the biggest bus I have ever seen
from the Athenaeum to the Bowl. Bombing down the gutterball lane on California Blvd. to watch my first ever college football game with
Dad. Heisman trophy winner Jim “Plunkett
to Vataha” stunned Rex Kern and No. 1 Ohio State and Woody in the 4th
Quarter. Back then you could walk on the
field after game, and I was fortunate to shake Jim Plunkett’s hand. One year later; the same Invasion of the Jr.
University (sorry my Trojan-ness leaked out there) and the thrilling ’72 game
and late field goal kick and another Stanford heroic last-minute victory. That ’72
Bowl I saw from the old “I can’t see” first row seats, right behind the
Stanford bench. Um, well, they were pretty excited. “Hey, Dad! Are these Rose
Bowls Always Like This?” Hook, line, sinker, sold.
I have been a dedicated college football fan every since. Yes
there may be one day a year I don’t root for your team, but hey, it’s the game, the experience and fellowship with
sons, friends and family, Tournament folks. Those experiences that bring us
together that are remembered forever, that day your favorite athlete of the
days of yore hangs out at your tailgate with all your buddies. These college football gatherings, these annual
ritualistic settings, the tradition, the passing of the torch to a new
generation - The Rose Bowl as a Place and as a Game has meant all of that and
more to our Family. And I must pass along a fond memory of my Dad at many a
game at the Rose Bowl, especially a USC UCLA game, and a Trojan Rose Bowl here
and there too. I have Rose Bowl tickets stubs for about 35+ Rose Bowls, lost a
few, but have only missed 4 in that 41 year span, I lived in Montana for three
of those. National Championships (those won on the field not in a computer), Sam The Bam, Greatest team ever '72 Trojans, Coaches Donahue, Hayes, Schembecler, McKay, Robinson Carroll.....
Sprinkle in all of the Rose Bowl - Super Bowls....The '84 Olympics Soccer, sudden death penalty kicks of the Women's FIFA '99 World Cup, my kids’s AYSO teams parading with their team banners, golfing its open space, walking around it for fitness, rocking to U2, Pink Floyd, the Stones, and on and on….The Rose Bowl as a sense of place has become part of who our family is, part of who our Community "Is". I tried to capture what it meant in a conversation the other day… I think the grand old stadium has given my family and I a great and lasting gift, a gift that I am equally grateful for. I think it stirs my imagination for what was, how exciting it is now, and with a hopeful eye towards what the grand old stadium’s future will be.
Sprinkle in all of the Rose Bowl - Super Bowls....The '84 Olympics Soccer, sudden death penalty kicks of the Women's FIFA '99 World Cup, my kids’s AYSO teams parading with their team banners, golfing its open space, walking around it for fitness, rocking to U2, Pink Floyd, the Stones, and on and on….The Rose Bowl as a sense of place has become part of who our family is, part of who our Community "Is". I tried to capture what it meant in a conversation the other day… I think the grand old stadium has given my family and I a great and lasting gift, a gift that I am equally grateful for. I think it stirs my imagination for what was, how exciting it is now, and with a hopeful eye towards what the grand old stadium’s future will be.
Our historic stadium has evolved over the years, the Rose Bowl
Stadium website http://www.rosebowlstadium.com
is chocked full of historic information and also great a “look in” and updates
about what the new renovation is coming along too. I thought it might be fun to look back
recently and revisit some digital multimedia work I had done before the current
renovation. Hey, its AltadenaTrojan! Yes of course there’s going to be
pictures, links and stuff!! Check out the Bowl in a non-traditional digital archive format before
the last BCS visit to the Rose Bowl Stadium in 2010, before the renovations began. The Rose Bowl PhotoSynth, I do believe this is the first photosynth of the Bowl.
Then there’s that 2010 BCS Game’s Opening Ceremonies too
Its pretty exciting being around our grand old ball stadium,
isn’t it? A bike race perhaps?
Can’t ever get enough of those
B-2 flyovers either, 2013 Rose Bowl, (As much Jr. University band mercifully
edited out)
And the 2011 Rose Bowl Opening
ceremony too
Then there was that Rose Bowl
lump-in-my-throat moment that I learned that I was around something bigger,
something similar to my own passion for college football and its traditions.
That’s the year I was fortunate to meet Composer John Williams and then later
watch him conduct the unforgettable National Anthem at the 2004 Rose Bowl, with
both the USC and Michigan Marching Bands with best flyover, ever, by a B2, F-22
and F-117.
That Rose Bowl Game Tradition? its
part of how we grew up, its part of who I, and many others, are, and its part
of what my friends and fellow community members do year after year. For the greater good of enjoyment and
celebration of the New Year, but a chance for our Community to put out its best
foot forward and welcome the world. There are 935 Tournament members and I do
believe many feel about this thing we do here in a similar manner or fashion. This Rose Bowl Game, I do believe it annually
binds us together, it awakens our imagination, and it stirs our patriotic souls.
So yes, the 100th Rose Bowl Game is here. Though even in “it’s” year, The 100th
Bowl will share the limelight of attention in the press and in the ethersphere
with “Dreams Come True”, the 125th edition of the Tournament of Roses
Parade, and yes that historic BCS game too.
As we’ll watch the historical retrospectives take form and shape, The
Rose Bowl Stadium and 100th Rose Bowl will be seen as an event, or
as a place allowing us all to recall our own stories. I really do believe our generation has a
stewardship level of responsibility for this wonderful place, because of what
it does uniquely for Pasadena and nowhere else.
From this writer’s and multimedia blogger’s perspective; The Rose Parade
and Rose Bowl Game are a community “we thing”.
It is personal, very. It’s about the “we” part of us. So Thank You
Pasadena.
Countdown:
copyright pingsco.net©2013, reuse with credit attribution
permitted.
2 Comments:
Appreciate your personal history. Good stuff!
Post this on your Fbook page!
John, your videos are great!
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