L.A.'s hippest club

LOS ANGELES – This sprawling metropolis can be called a million different things, but "college town" isn't usually one of them.

It's too big, too diverse and too distracted to be confused with Ann Arbor or Tuscaloosa or Gainesville, or someplace that lives and dies with the fortunes of the local college football juggernaut.

Right?

"You go all over town and you see people wearing Matt (Leinart) jerseys, Reggie (Bush) jerseys," said USC defensive end Lawrence Jackson of his two Heisman Trophy-winning iconic teammates. "Back when I was in high school, it was hard to find SC stuff at the Foot Locker."

USC has won a lot of things in Pete Carroll's five seasons – 34 consecutive games, three Heisman trophies and one BCS national championship. But nothing may be as impressive as winning over L.A., the ultimate in big city blas that has turned into a rabid, rollicking college football hotbed as the Trojans prepare to play Texas in Wednesday's Rose Bowl, home of the national championship game.

No, L.A. doesn't have the near-100 percent devotion of some corn-surrounded campus town on the plains, but it is getting close. Bumper stickers adorn cars in traffic jams on the 405. SC flags wave proudly in front of Beverly Hills mansions. And on Saturday afternoons, catching waves isn't as important as catching the Trojans.

Besides, what other football program can you play the game of Name Your Favorite Celebrity On The Sideline?

"Spike Lee came, and that was pretty cool," Jackson said.

"Snoop Dogg and Nick Lachey are pretty cool guys," LenDale White said.

"The Game (a rapper) came and he wanted an autograph from me" said Bush, still a bit dumbfounded by the reversal of fortune.

"Shaq," Carroll said. "He stood in front of me during the national anthem and all of a sudden everything went dark. I couldn't even see the flag."

Then there is Leinart, who had Jessica Simpson, Lindsay Lohan and Alyssa Milano attend his birthday party.

"There are so many celebrities at our games it is ridiculous," said Bush of a long, long list that includes Dr. Dre, Will Ferrell, Kirsten Dunst, Warren G and George Lucas. "It is turning into what the Lakers used to be (when) all of the celebrities used to sit courtside."

But it isn't just the pretty people who have embraced the Trojans – although the idea of A-list celebrities becoming college football fans remains remarkable. About everyone in the area, outside of UCLA alums, have jumped on the USC bandwagon. In a decidedly pro town, the Trojans are undeniably the most popular team.

"Once we started winning, we turned people's heads," White said.

"Over time we've become the team of L.A.," Bush said.

Now the media coverage is bottomless, from 24-hour talk radio, to gushing local television anchors, to a daily special section in the Los Angeles Times. Leinart, Carroll and Bush are bona fide celebrities, maybe not De Niro level but certainly every bit of Vincent Chase and his entourage.

Earlier this week when the team visited Disneyland as part of the Rose Bowl's festivities, Leinart and Bush received a police escort around the park. And when Carroll recently announced he had signed a contract extension, stunting the likelihood he would go back to the NFL, you could feel the collective sigh around town.

While SC has always had its fans and routinely sold out the 90,000-seat L.A. Coliseum, especially back in John Robinson's glory days, that doesn't mean that much in a metropolitan area with more than 17 million residents. With so many transplants from around the world living here and so many diversions – especially the beach – SC was never a dominant entity.

But things are different now, in part because the city has been without an NFL franchise since 1994, when the Raiders and Rams played their last seasons in Southern California. Generally, college football is never as big in the big city as it is in the country because the pros control media and fan attention.

But now, L.A. isn't so different from Nebraska, Oklahoma or Alabama where the college kids are the stars.

"With no NFL, we certainly have a special opportunity," Carroll said. "And the media has embraced us and maximized the fun of it and made it special. We've been lucky to see the good side of (the media attention) because it can be a tough town sports-wise."

But only when you lose, which USC hasn't done in nearly three seasons. In the meantime, a city that loves star power, that feeds off of success and that flocks to the new cool things has fallen for college football.

Tickets for the Rose Bowl are going for a minimum of $1,100 each and no one expects the prices to drop. It's all the result of a rabid college fan base taking root in the most unusual of locations.