USC-UCLA

Ahead by three scores, taking a knee or running up the middle would have been the humane thing to do, even against those terrible Trojans.

Cade McNown leaned into the huddle and relayed the play. As the clock ticked below 20 seconds, the Bruins quarterback stepped behind center and took the snap. He faked a pitch and took off in the other direction, no one there to protect him.

It was a naked bootleg, and a timeless kick in the rear.

“I mean, I still f— hate Cade McNown,” former USC fullback Petros Papadakis said this week with a hearty laugh.

Enjoyed this LA Times article by Ben Bolch about the 1998 USC-UCLA game. A 1998 time capsule:

Some might say the Bruins were cursed before kickoff. A large swath of the team had wanted to wear black wristbands in protest of Proposition 209, a state constitutional amendment that prohibited affirmative action in state programs and university admissions.

As for Cade McNown:

McNown later worked for UBS in the private wealth group before joining JPMorgan Chase Private Bank. In 2013, McNown joined capital management firm Lourd Murray as a vice president. In 2016, McNown joined Kayne Anderson as a senior managing director. In June 2022, McNown joined The Carlyle Group as a Managing Director and Client Relationship Manager.

Of course. The Carlyle Group is so odd:

In the late 1980s, Carlyle raised capital deal-by-deal to pursue leveraged buyout investments, including a failed takeover battle for Chi-Chi’s.

Chi-Chi’s was a Midwestern sensation that flopped on expansion:

Chi-Chi’s is noted in the Sentinel as specializing in Sonoran food. Sonora, a state in the northwestern region of Mexico, features cuisine known for having “subtle, less spicy seasoning.” For a chain that formed many Americans’ first impression of Mexican food, Chi-Chi’s likely understood the need to ease diners’ palates into the new fare. It was a savvy approach…

Despite having made over $2 million in revenue in its first year, Chi-Chi’s didn’t manage to replicate its Midwest popularity in other regions as it attempted to expand. Multiple locations in New York and the New England region failed, as well as locations in Atlanta, Texas, New Mexico, and San Diego.

Then came the Pittsburgh hepatitis outbreak, which killed at least four people.

Nostaljack took that one for Wikipedia. The last surviving Chi-Chi’s is in Vienna, Austria.

Today USC and UCLA will play in the Rose Bowl. Both teams underperformed expectations this year. Pride will be on the line.