I was taking my son to visit colleges last weekend and since we were at Stanford, we took in the USC game. Some general and disorganized observations (and obviously personal opinions): The USC and Stanford band contrast was awesome. I am the first to admit, I'm not a band guy. Much like competitive cheerleading, I appreciate the dedication and talent but its just not my thing. However the dichotomy was fun to watch. The USC band is huge and takes the field methodically to that tune that they play over and over at games. They take themselves so seriously. The Stanford band, in what seem to be smoking jackets and fishing caps, along with various members poorly dressed in X-men costumes, scattered onto the field into formations with the theme that was basically, "How George Bush can screw up in his remaining days in office." I thought that the contrast made the USC band look ridiculous, but admittedly I am a fan of irreverence. I am sure that Stanford has a fight song, but it seems to be replaced with Free's "Alright Now" which they play after every score, accompanied by their dancing tree mascot. The crowd was at least half USC fans. If there is such a phenomenon as 'Walmart Wolverines', there has to be a much larger contingent of 'Target Trojans'(OSTTE). Most appeared as though they had never set foot near the USC campus. They had many annoying traditions (verbal trumpet noises and goofy hand gestures). I had no stake in the game but given the above, and my love of the underdog, I pulled for Stanford. As far as the game, Stanford totally outplayed USC in the first half in every phase of the game except kickoff coverage. By the end of the 3rd quarter USC had pulled even in pass and run yardage. Ultimately, they had too much talent for Stanford. I left fairly unimpressed with USC. My impression of Harbaugh's team is that they are well coached. I have not been a fan of his public statements and he was not ready for a stage like Michigan, but I think someday he will be a player. I hope, of course, that we are then several years into the RR reign of awesomeness. Rich will then turn the program over to coach Hart who then gets a chance to stick it to old man Harbaugh for his past sins. I was hoping to see a repeat of last year and it certainly was no SEC experience, but it was a good time.