Utah fans have arrived in the city of roses and they are appearing loud and proud.
In the run-up, talked to a family on Thursday, straight in the still-dripping precipitation. They were from Phoenix, but had kin in Blanding. Ute fans. Talked to a father and a son in a restaurant just off the parade route. Ute fans. Talked to four guys loading into an elevator at a hotel with a stash of six-packs of beer. Ute fans. Talked to a woman planning to get a picture of a rose permanently applied on some untold body part at a tattoo parlor. Ute fan.
There’s something about the Rose Bowl and its mystique, its history, its draw that brings people in, especially fans from faraway places, cold places, eager to support teams that don’t often get to the classic, iconic stadium. Which is to say, this isn’t just another Shamrock Meats Bowl. Who doesn’t remember as a kid, looking out the window at the snow on the ground, the temperatures freezing, the ice hanging from the roof, then tuning in on Jan. 1 to watch the Buckeyes go up against USC under the warm rays of sunshine and on vast stretches of green grass, and feel more than a bit of envy?Well, I did end up living there. More on that later.
The Rose Bowl is one of those holy locations for college football, a place where legends were formed, and ghosts still roam, where echoes of Keith Jackson’s voice can still be heard. Utah has played in that building a number of times previously, it being the regular-season home of the UCLA Bruins. But on New Year’s Day, the old battle axe transforms from whatever it is normally into a kind of sanctuary.
Other things have happened in the building, as well. Everything from Super Bowls to Olympic events to World Cup soccer Finals to Brandi Chastain’s famous shirt removal when the U.S women beat the world, to massive dance festivals to concerts ranging from Metallica to U2. The Utah Utes pose for a team photo at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.