A city divided unites rivals for a cure
With 12 miles separating the two schools, USC and UCLA have one of the biggest and closest rivalries in the nation.
The long-standing rivalry — it spans 80 years — was featured in a documentary, "A City Divided," produced by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Jack Baric.
"I grew up in LA and I’m a big USC football fan," said Baric. "I grew up watching Terry Donahue and John Robinson compete when they were both coaches, and I just love the subject matter to begin with. But then taking it beyond that, I thought this is the greatest rivalry in the country because of the proximity. We share a city, so you get the house divided thing. You get the thing where you have fathers and sons, husbands and wives waking up the day of the game and going to their opposite camps to cheer for the other team.
"To me as a storyteller you couldn’t ask for a better storytelling material."
The film premiered Monday at Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles and raised funds toward an ongoing campaign that will benefit cancer research centers for UCLA and USC. The two schools also joined Rivals United for a Cure to help raise funds and awareness for innovative research for under-funded cancers.
Former star quarterbacks Matt Stevens (UCLA: 1985-86) and Paul McDonald (USC: 1977-79) started off the night with some very appropriate and timely banter. Stevens, a two-time testicular cancer survivor, and McDonald both agreed to ally when they knew the event had a philanthropic element.
"The whole event is a compilation of a lot of people’s work over the last year-and-a-half," McDonald said. "Jack Baric approached me about two years ago and wanted to do this film. My first thought was what’s so good about that; it’s been done before. Well, it hasn’t been done before from a neutral perspective. SC has done one and UCLA’s done one, so I agreed to do it under one condition and Jack was all for it, that we would have a philanthropic component. So we brought that, which is Rivals United for a Cure."
"Really what we are doing is uniting communities through a higher purpose."
The event, attended by more than 500, featured UCLA and USC alumni, coaches and supporters. Attendees included UCLA’s DeShaun Foster, Cade McNown, former USC head coach John Robinson and former UCLA coach Terry Donahue to name a few.
"Well when I found out they were going to do this premiere and that is was all coming together, I found a way to make it work for my schedule and I’m thrilled to be here," McNown said. "I think it’s a great way to bring these two institutions together, especially for something that everyone can agree on, which is obviously funding cancer research."
The film itself was a 60-plus minute documentary of the history of the rivalry dating back to their first meeting in the 1930s, including remarkable game footage, notable outcomes, standout athletes and interviews from players, coaches and fans. Many past Bruins and Trojans were honored, but the jarring between the athletes and supporters of each team continued throughout the entire film.
Each side even got a chance to sound off about each other’s mascots and fight songs.
Bruin and Trojan fans cheered throughout the movie for their favorite athletes, giving it a real authentic feel of being part of those historical moments in each school’s history.
The 81st annual rivalry game is this Saturday at the Rose Bowl at noon. The Trojans lead the series with a 46-28-7 all-time.
Saturday will mark Jim Mora Jr.'s first game in the rivalry as UCLA head coach and the first time a berth in the Pac-12 Championship Game is on the line for both teams.
Both Robinson and Donahue, who are very good friends now, are eager to see what happens this weekend.
"I think UCLA will win," Donahue said. "It will be a tight game and both teams are evenly matched. I think we have certain advantages and they have certain advantages but at the end of the day it’s our time."