USC Trip Experience (Mrs. Lincoln Thread)-Hike Picture Added!!

[Knight Shift]

No, not Mrs Lincoln Riley! Other than the game result itself, how was the experience?

Mrs Shift and I are having a fantastic time. LA is a obviously great destination, much better than any other B1G destination in terms of things to do.

Santa Monica and the pier were interesting and the pier was creepy and weird. Curious Palate was fantastic.

Skipped the Thursday night social event. Did anyone go, and how was it? We are staying at a house in Studio City, and we had a fantastic dinner in Studio City.

Yesterday's hike to the Hollywood Sign was marvelous. Great crew of long time fans. I did not get everyone's board name. Thanks to @PatrickRU92 for setting up the hike. Met @rucoe89 , @Westcoast , and many others. Had some great mountain biking discussions with the guy from Bedminster, and hope we have an opportunity to ride together back in NJ.

The RU tailgate was good, not great. Very well attended and strong showing. Food was meh to bad.

Game experience was unparalleled greatness. How refreshing to have ZERO piped in music, and a loud and proud marching band mic'd up and playing between every play on offense, cheering loudly and making noise when USC was in defense.

Wonderful to hear a PA announcer with a deep voice and no schtick. Announced the result of each play clearly and gave the down and distance with no goofy affects.

Halftime band and drone show was outstanding. Very patriotic drone show. The Marine introduction who surprised his parents by showing up on the field was awesome.

Layout of the stadium was great. Spacious perimeter outdoor the gates with lots of food and drink options. Individual ramps for each of 2 lower sections, and separate ramps for upper levels eased flow into stadium. More food options inside the stadium.

Getting to and from the Coliseum wa easy with the Metro.

Only small negative was the torch was broken and they could not light the torch. No worries, the Trojans torched then Knights on the field!

Happy to have met @RUforester72 and @PiscatawayMike in the stands.

There were a lot of empty seats, which was a bit of a surprise. The one thing that made the on field performance more tolerable was sitting in front of @The RUT and his San Diego buddies, especially his friend who had just a little too much to drink. Thanks for the laughs. We should have kicked that obnoxious woman's ass. Getting arrested would have been worth it. Kidding!

All in all, a great trip and a Great Knight. Make lemons out of lemonade.

EDIT- Pic from the hike added:

Respectfully,
Mrs. Lincoln

 

[rcube1994]

Drone show was indeed amazing.

Their on campus tailgating scene is pretty sweet.

Agree about the in game experience, hopefully our people were paying attention. So much more enjoyable with minimal piped in music, loud band, lower volume etc. Although the guy on the mic trying to get fans to cheer was weak.

Traffic was overhyped, wasn't too bad getting to game, just usual los angeles traffic.

 

[jaydogsmooth1]

Good to hear they let their band play
We can, and should, take a cue
Our in-game experience has deterioted to the point where my enjoyment level whilst at SHI is a fraction of what it once was

 

[Rutgers Chris]

Drove up from San Diego at 3 pm, I’ve hit worse traffic on a Tuesday morning so that was a relief. Parked right next to the stadium in a garage. It was an easy in and out, not sure that would have been the case has the game been closer.

Loved the campus and tailgate setup. Nice and relaxed atmosphere. USC fans near us were great, had a lot of questions about our team and were gushing about Kyle.

Sorry Yankee fans but the overall atmosphere with the Dodger win was pretty awesome to watch. Drone show was awesome too.

One of my favorite parts were the seats- very spacious and comfortable. Was not expecting that for such an old stadium.

I only had one negative aside from play on the field and it was thanks to a scumbag Rutgers fan. Mid 40’s guy in front of us thought it was ok to take pictures of a 15 year old USC fan down in front of us. The girl was dressed ridiculously inappropriately and he needed to take pictures to zoom in on. Called him out on it and he and his 3 friends didn’t say a word for the rest of the game. If you’re here, seek help.

 

[Knight Shift]

Drove up from San Diego at 3 pm, I’ve hit worse traffic on a Tuesday morning so that was a relief. Parked right next to the stadium in a garage. It was an easy in and out, not sure that would have been the case has the game been closer.

Loved the campus and tailgate setup. Nice and relaxed atmosphere. USC fans near us were great, had a lot of questions about our team and were gushing about Kyle.

Sorry Yankee fans but the overall atmosphere with the Dodger win was pretty awesome to watch. Drone show was awesome too.

One of my favorite parts were the seats- very spacious and comfortable. Was not expecting that for such an old stadium.

I only had one negative aside from play on the field and it was thanks to a scumbag Rutgers fan. Mid 40’s guy in front of us thought it was ok to take pictures of a 15 year old USC fan down in front of us. The girl was dressed ridiculously inappropriately and he needed to take pictures to zoom in on. Called him out on it and he and his 3 friends didn’t say a word for the rest of the game. If you’re here, seek help.

Totally forgot about the seats. They were very comfortable and there were so many empties, we had seat cushions.

 

[PiscatawayMike]

@Knight Shift thanks for dropping by to say hello. Sorry we didn't have time to chat.

Couldn't agree more about the crowd environment. Band playing often... very little piped in music... the pageantry of college football the way it should be!

 

[The RUT]

LOL that lady was nuts.

I will say pretty awesome showing from our fans IMO. For as rough as the recent weeks have been, it was cool seeing that lower section cheering for RU after we cut it to 28-20.

 

[e5fdny]

No, not Mrs Lincoln Riley! Other than the game result itself, how was the experience?

Mrs Shift and I are having a fantastic time. LA is a obviously great destination, much better than any other B1G destination in terms of things to do.

Santa Monica and the pier were interesting and the pier was creepy and weird. Curious Palate was fantastic.

Skipped the Thursday night social event. Did anyone go, and how was it? We are staying at a house in Studio City, and we had a fantastic dinner in Studio City.

Yesterday's hike to the Hollywood Sign was marvelous. Great crew of long time fans. I did not get everyone's board name. Thanks to @PatrickRU92 for setting up the hike. Met @rucoe89 , @Westcoast , and many others. Had some great mountain biking discussions with the guy from Bedminster, and hope we have an opportunity to ride together back in NJ.

The RU tailgate was good, not great. Very well attended and strong showing. Food was meh to bad.

Game experience was unparalleled greatness. How refreshing to have ZERO piped in music, and a loud and proud marching band mic'd up and playing between every play on offense, cheering loudly and making noise when USC was in defense.

Wonderful to hear a PA announcer with a deep voice and no schtick. Announced the result of each play clearly and gave the down and distance with no goofy affects.

Halftime band and drone show was outstanding. Very patriotic drone show. The Marine introduction who surprised his parents by showing up on the field was awesome.

Layout of the stadium was great. Spacious perimeter outdoor the gates with lots of food and drink options. Individual ramps for each of 2 lower sections, and separate ramps for upper levels eased flow into stadium. More food options inside the stadium.

Getting to and from the Coliseum wa easy with the Metro.

Only small negative was the torch was broken and they could not light the torch. No worries, the Trojans torched then Knights on the field!

Happy to have met @RUforester72 and @PiscatawayMike in the stands.

There were a lot of empty seats, which was a bit of a surprise. The one thing that made the on field performance more tolerable was sitting in front of @The RUT and his San Diego buddies, especially his friend who had just a little too much to drink. Thanks for the laughs. We should have kicked that obnoxious woman's ass. Getting arrested would have been worth it. Kidding!

All in all, a great trip and a Great Knight. Make lemons out of lemonade.

Respectfully,
Mrs. Lincoln

Zero?

As others have mentioned it’s seems it was minimal as I actually heard some of the stuff they play here while watching on TV.

 

[Knight Shift]

Zero?

As others have mentioned it’s seems it was minimal as I actually heard some of the stuff they play here while watching on TV.

Maybe there was some during TV breaks, but don't recall any between plays and on downs. Just the marching band that was mic'd up and on a nice set of speakers.

 

[MrsScrew]

Mr Screw & I had a great time

--Did a different hike to the Hollywood sign
--Went to the Santa Monica Pier but unfortunately it was very foggy
--Took the light rail from Santa Monica to USC & back...great experience
--Had to show ID to get into the school part of the campus. Campus was beautiful
--Rutgers Tailgating kills their tailgating. Truly kills it
--Went to a private tailgate next to the RU official tailgate. Ours started at 5pm. Oddly, RU, despite being set up, refused to let people in until 6pm...long line to get in. Grills not allowed at the tailgates
--USC fans were a mixed bag...some very nice, others total DBs ..drunk & obnoxious, verbally abusing RU & Yankee fans
***Kids behind me were very annoying & obnoxious, so when they got on the big board, I stood up & blocked them & got on the board with my R gear & Rutgers pompom. #GoRU
--The coliseum was very nice, seats comfortable. boatload of food choices, including random people selling hotdogs wrapped in bacon. Alcohol seltzers were $20 a piece...
--Relatively zero piped in music was awesome. Being able to hear ther band was great. Halftime drone show very good
--Huge homeless population everywhere....street corners, on the train, on the pier. very sad situation

--We got up this AM(Saturday) & drove to Flagstaff as the start of a road trip. Went to a random bar & sat down.....next to a guy who graduated from RU in 2008. Small world.

Enjoyed the trip, hate the outcome, planning to enjoy our road trip

 

[NotInRHouse]

They def had some gimmicks. Like when they said RU fans want us silent on third down lol

Also thought their third down was weird- play the bells for a few seconds and then zombie nation for a few seconds

I thought their campus was nice, but for that amount of tuition was expecting a fancier feel. Felt like a mildly fancier Busch.

LA has some fun spots and good food and I can do a trip every year. But lack of public transportation and more "grit" make me thankful for NYC and my adopted hometown of the greatest midsize city in the US, JC :)

 

[RUPete]

Drove up from San Diego at 3 pm, I’ve hit worse traffic on a Tuesday morning so that was a relief. Parked right next to the stadium in a garage. It was an easy in and out, not sure that would have been the case has the game been closer.

Loved the campus and tailgate setup. Nice and relaxed atmosphere. USC fans near us were great, had a lot of questions about our team and were gushing about Kyle.

Sorry Yankee fans but the overall atmosphere with the Dodger win was pretty awesome to watch. Drone show was awesome too.

One of my favorite parts were the seats- very spacious and comfortable. Was not expecting that for such an old stadium.

I only had one negative aside from play on the field and it was thanks to a scumbag Rutgers fan. Mid 40’s guy in front of us thought it was ok to take pictures of a 15 year old USC fan down in front of us. The girl was dressed ridiculously inappropriately and he needed to take pictures to zoom in on. Called him out on it and he and his 3 friends didn’t say a word for the rest of the game. If you’re here, seek help.

Wow. That post took a bit of a turn. But good job.

 

[jaydogsmooth1]

They def had some gimmicks. Like when they said RU fans want us silent on third down lol

Also thought their third down was weird- play the bells for a few seconds and then zombie nation for a few seconds

I thought their campus was nice, but for that amount of tuition was expecting a fancier feel. Felt like a mildly fancier Busch.

LA has some fun spots and good food and I can do a trip every year. But lack of public transportation and more "grit" make me thankful for NYC and my adopted hometown of the greatest midsize city in the US, JC :)

I always assumed due to being in So Cal and their reputation and tradition coupled w/tuition, the campus would be insanely bougie

 

[Arizona Knight]

Great trip. Got in Thursday with the Mrs. We stayed in the AC Marriott a short walk from the JW Marriott. We attended the official Rutgers Foundation event in the lobby. They did a nice job and we enjoyed ourselves.

Friday we headed over to USC in the early afternoon. As others have said, beautiful campus. Met several people from NJ who go to USC and were very cordial and some even said they were torn over who to root for. Got back to the hotel and then we were picked up by friends who had driven a party bus up from Newport Beach.

Our seats were insane. Literally first row at about the goal line on the Rutgers side. Fun seats but wouldn’t want them all the time as it’s very tough to follow the game from that vantage point. Great experience overall and the Colosseum is just a very cool place. After the game we took the bus down to Newport to stay with my bother and sister in law and enjoyed our time down there on Saturday and Sunday.

Looking forward to a trip to the Rose Bowl whenever that is. Hopefully next year?

Oh, and disappointed that I missed the hike. I woke up a bit too late.

 

[RUforester72]

No, not Mrs Lincoln Riley! Other than the game result itself, how was the experience?

Mrs Shift and I are having a fantastic time. LA is a obviously great destination, much better than any other B1G destination in terms of things to do.

Santa Monica and the pier were interesting and the pier was creepy and weird. Curious Palate was fantastic.

Skipped the Thursday night social event. Did anyone go, and how was it? We are staying at a house in Studio City, and we had a fantastic dinner in Studio City.

Yesterday's hike to the Hollywood Sign was marvelous. Great crew of long time fans. I did not get everyone's board name. Thanks to @PatrickRU92 for setting up the hike. Met @rucoe89 , @Westcoast , and many others. Had some great mountain biking discussions with the guy from Bedminster, and hope we have an opportunity to ride together back in NJ.

The RU tailgate was good, not great. Very well attended and strong showing. Food was meh to bad.

Game experience was unparalleled greatness. How refreshing to have ZERO piped in music, and a loud and proud marching band mic'd up and playing between every play on offense, cheering loudly and making noise when USC was in defense.

Wonderful to hear a PA announcer with a deep voice and no schtick. Announced the result of each play clearly and gave the down and distance with no goofy affects.

Halftime band and drone show was outstanding. Very patriotic drone show. The Marine introduction who surprised his parents by showing up on the field was awesome.

Layout of the stadium was great. Spacious perimeter outdoor the gates with lots of food and drink options. Individual ramps for each of 2 lower sections, and separate ramps for upper levels eased flow into stadium. More food options inside the stadium.

Getting to and from the Coliseum wa easy with the Metro.

Only small negative was the torch was broken and they could not light the torch. No worries, the Trojans torched then Knights on the field!

Happy to have met @RUforester72 and @PiscatawayMike in the stands.

There were a lot of empty seats, which was a bit of a surprise. The one thing that made the on field performance more tolerable was sitting in front of @The RUT and his San Diego buddies, especially his friend who had just a little too much to drink. Thanks for the laughs. We should have kicked that obnoxious woman's ass. Getting arrested would have been worth it. Kidding!

All in all, a great trip and a Great Knight. Make lemons out of lemonade.

Respectfully,
Mrs. Lincoln

Great to finally meet you KS! Unfortunate circumstances and not much time to chat. Hope your trip to Sedona was fun.

 

[LeapinLou]

Other than our defense giving up 20 yards per play, it was a fun time in LA

- Took a tour of SoFi stadium on Wednesday, which included access to the owners box and VIP hospitality areas. The place is amazing. The scoreboard is an engineering marvel. It's night and day compared to Met Life Stadium.

- Walked around Hollywood, The Grove, and The Farmer's market on Thursday. Then saw a show in the planetarium of the Griffiths Observatory. Had dinner at "Horses" which is a fave of Beyonce, Jay-Z, and now LeapinLou.

- Took a hike to the back of the "Hollywood" sign on Friday. It was a 4 mile version of @PatrickRU92 's 6 mile hike and I saw him coming up as I was coming down. Great views of the city. Then walked around the Getty Museum which had Monet and VanGogh pieces among others. Then had lunch with my nephew who lives out there. While the game was what you saw, USC is a nice campus and they had a cool area with vendors giving away swag. I walked away with a hat, t-shirt, oreo cookies, sunglasses, and samples of Snoop Gin and Juice, and some tequila which was good but the name of which I've already forgotten. Then I saw @willisneverrana43 and @SF88 at the Rutgers pre-party.

- On Saturday we walked up and down the streets of Beverly Hills to see how rich people's houses. Later we got together with my wife's college room mate who lives in San Diego and walked around Venice Beach to enjoy the freak show. At night, we went to a restaurant called Bestia which was as loud as a place can get. If you've seen the Bear, you can see that there really are chefs that obsess over their food like that.

 

[RUforester72]

Despite my distaste for LA, we had a fun weekend. Stayed in Santa Monica and really enjoyed long walks on their excellent beachside walks, nicely separated from the equally excellent bike paths. Found some terrific restaurants and shopping, etc. The Coliseum was just amazing Concessions were numerous and offered a good variety of food and drink. Loved the USC band and how they drilled the fight song into your brain never to be erased. Still hearing it this morning in my head! Drone show great too. Just wish we could have been more competetive.

 

[ScarletNut]

The Coliseum is awesome. Sat next to USC fans and when I asked why the stadium was less than half full, he said once the team loses 2 or 3 games the fans check out. As for the band, ours is far superior. They played the same song all game long, maybe 50 times. Their cheerleaders were like high school cheerleaders, really quite surprised. I guess I'm spoiled by our national championship dance teams. As for the game itself, no comment.

 

[RuWishBone]

Great trip. Got in Thursday with the Mrs. We stayed in the AC Marriott a short walk from the JW Marriott. We attended the official Rutgers Foundation event in the lobby. They did a nice job and we enjoyed ourselves.

Friday we headed over to USC in the early afternoon. As others have said, beautiful campus. Met several people from NJ who go to USC and were very cordial and some even said they were torn over who to root for. Got back to the hotel and then we were picked up by friends who had driven a party bus up from Newport Beach.

Our seats were insane. Literally first row at about the goal line on the Rutgers side. Fun seats but wouldn’t want them all the time as it’s very tough to follow the game from that vantage point. Great experience overall and the Colosseum is just a very cool place. After the game we took the bus down to Newport to stay with my bother and sister in law and enjoyed our time down there on Saturday and Sunday.

Looking forward to a trip to the Rose Bowl whenever that is. Hopefully next year?

Oh, and disappointed that I missed the hike. I woke up a bit too late.

Rose bowl in 2027

 

[Knight Shift]

The Coliseum is awesome. Sat next to USC fans and when I asked why the stadium was less than half full, he said once the team loses 2 or 3 games the fans check out. As for the band, ours is far superior. They played the same song all game long, maybe 50 times. Their cheerleaders were like high school cheerleaders, really quite surprised. I guess I'm spoiled by our national championship dance teams. As for the game itself, no comment.

If you read the Politi piece on the game, the empty seats were because RU is a C-level opponent. He is such a dick.

 

[RUPete]

If you read the Politi piece on the game, the empty seats were because RU is a C-level opponent. He is such a dick.

It was probably a few factors - both teams having disappointing seasons, World Series, NBA in action, etc. But I wouldn't blame it solely on our status. If USC pulls out some of those close games and maybe has one loss, there are a lot more people there. I'm glad those who went from our fanbase had a good time.

 

[Knight Shift]

It was probably a few factors - both teams having disappointing seasons, World Series, NBA in action, etc. But I wouldn't blame it solely on our status. If USC pulls out some of those close games and maybe has one loss, there are a lot more people there. I'm glad those who went from our fanbase had a good time.

I make my own happiness in life and make lemonade out of lemons. We sat in the wrong section by accident, and at least I (maybe not Mrs. Shift) was glad we did. Because me and @The RUT and his buddies had a rip roaring time, despite the on field result. Can't win them all, but hopefully we don't fall into the can't win at all phase for the rest of the season. If we do, that's life.

 

[RUPete]

I make my own happiness in life and make lemonade out of lemons. We sat in the wrong section by accident, and at least I (maybe not Mrs. Shift) was glad we did. Because me and @The RUT and his buddies had a rip roaring time, despite the on field result. Can't win them all, but hopefully we don't fall into the can't win at all phase for the rest of the season. If we do, that's life.

You’re an anomaly on this board! 😂

 

[RuWishBone]

I went to the world series on Saturday paid 1100 for a lodge level seat by the fole poll. The next day went to the charges game and paid less than 20 bucks to take my personal tour of sofi stadium Rutgers game at LA Collisuim was an old place with layer after layer of paint like comiskey Park in Chicago was in the 80's. Went to the kings home opener on Thursday thart arena is 25 years old it was still in great shape there was a tribute to the hockey Brothers from South Jersey that brought a tear to my eye. And they had these cool flags that light up with player images and numbers that were later used to help cheer on the kings. Also went to the catherial of lost anges to attend a mass,that place has a mosolium under it with the ashes of some movie stars.

 

[Knight Shift]

You’re an anomaly on this board! 😂

When you have used up two of your nine lives, little things like your sports teams winning mean a lot less than loving, laughing and having fun no matter what.

 

[Arizona Knight]

One thing I’ll add and I don’t know if it was mentioned yet, but for those at the game, how cool was the slow building crowd reaction to the walk off HR? There was a timeout on the field and you could hear a the buzz building but I had no idea why. Then you could see people looking at their phones and finally the place was going nuts. Then it was showed on the big board and they played “I love LA.” Very cool moment I thought.

 

[Knight Shift]

One thing I’ll add and I don’t know if it was mentioned yet, but for those at the game, how cool was the slow building crowd reaction to the walk off HR? There was a timeout on the field and you could hear a the buzz building but I had no idea why. Then you could see people looking at their phones and finally the place was going nuts. Then it was showed on the big board and they played “I love LA.” Very cool moment I thought.

Actually had not noticed that slow build. But I cheered loudly.

 

[robcac26]

I had the same thoughts about the game atmosphere, very refreshing and I feel like I say that after every away game I go to. Very little piped in music, plenty of band, PA at a reasonable volume, plenty of game stats provided on the scoreboards, etc. Oh and there was zero line at all to get in.

 

[Caliknight]

Regarding the traffic, I think the talk about it all week scared people from driving. That often happens here.

 

[LeapinLou]

***Kids behind me were very annoying & obnoxious, so when they got on the big board, I stood up & blocked them & got on the board with my R gear & Rutgers pompom. #GoRU

We saw you up on the screen! That was great.

 

[Skull83]

Didn't make it to LA for the game, but saw the Trojans play in the 90's and that f'n "fight on" riff from the marching band is still stuck in my head!

 

[RUPete]

We saw you up on the screen! That was great.

I love it. Mrs. Screw represents on both coasts. You can't stop her, you can only hope to contain her... 😄

 

[MrsScrew]

We saw you up on the screen! That was great.

I was hoping someone got a pic of it, but so far nothing 😞

 

[The RUT]

One thing I’ll add and I don’t know if it was mentioned yet, but for those at the game, how cool was the slow building crowd reaction to the walk off HR? There was a timeout on the field and you could hear a the buzz building but I had no idea why. Then you could see people looking at their phones and finally the place was going nuts. Then it was showed on the big board and they played “I love LA.” Very cool moment I thought.

My buddy was the first one to jump up in the 3-4 sections around us. He's a huge Doyer fan and went nuts, everyone was looking at him like wtf is this guy going crazy about.

2 minutes later the entire stadium popped. Guy had that fiber internet working for him I guess

 

[RUskoolie]

I was hoping someone got a pic of it, but so far nothing 😞

The drive from Flagstaff to Sedona was one of the most scenic drives of my life. Take the scenic route to Sedona. It's 45 minutes and you will thank me.

 

[MrsScrew]

The drive from Flagstaff to Sedona was one of the most scenic drives of my life. Take the scenic route to Sedona. It's 45 minutes and you will thank me.

We drove Flagstaff to Santa Fe today. Have previously been to Sedona & wanted to try something different

 

[MrsScrew]

One thing I’ll add and I don’t know if it was mentioned yet, but for those at the game, how cool was the slow building crowd reaction to the walk off HR? There was a timeout on the field and you could hear a the buzz building but I had no idea why. Then you could see people looking at their phones and finally the place was going nuts. Then it was showed on the big board and they played “I love LA.” Very cool moment I thought.

The walk off HR happened right after USC scored & just as their horse/Trojan came out onto the field. The crowd was going nuts ..way too nuts. I leaned over to the USC fan in front of me to ask if they were really that excited about the horse coming out onto the field 🤣

 

[Knight Shift]

The drive from Flagstaff to Sedona was one of the most scenic drives of my life. Take the scenic route to Sedona. It's 45 minutes and you will thank me.

Indeed. We do it regularly. If you are ever up that way again, highly recommend taking the Forest Roads to the Edge of the World, or you can take the steep hike up the AB Young Trail and when you get to the top, wander over to the Edge of the World. Spectacular views. There is a cool fire tower (East Pocket) at the top of the trail.

Hiking A.B. Young Trail to East Pocket (Edge of the World) - Karabou Adventures

The A.B. Young Trail is a difficult day hike that quickly climbs 2000 feet in the first 2 miles and ends at the East Pocket Lookout Tower.

thekarabou.com

 

[JavaDunk18]

I was there, & I initially thought the same thing about the horse, then I realized "uh-oh" , Yankees lost..

 

[Knight Shift]

picture from Hollywood sign hike-thanks again to @PatrickRU92 for a fabulous hike: