Goux Knew Where This Road Led for USC

Probably no one would have enjoyed USC’s Rose Bowl victory more than Marv Goux, the energetic longtime assistant coach known as Mr. Trojan.

Goux died of cancer in July 2002 at 69, but his wife, Patti, a first-grade teacher in Palm Springs, went to the game with former Trojans Marlin and Judy McKeever.

Afterward, celebrating at DeLacey’s Club 41 in Old Town Pasadena, Patti Goux was asked what her husband would have had to say about the Trojans’ victory over Michigan.

“He would have said what he said when he was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2000,” Patti said. “ ‘For USC, the road to the national championship always goes through Pasadena.’ The Trojans proved that today.”

Trivia time: Why do Fresno State players wear green Vs on the backs of their helmets?

One-man party: Former Trojan Pat Haden was faced with a problem. He was scheduled to work the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., on Thursday. Normally, he would have flown home after the game, which began at 9:30 a.m. PST. But he rebooked his flight for Friday so he could watch the Rose Bowl game.

“I ordered room service, had a glass of wine and kicked back and watched the game by myself,” Haden said Friday from Jacksonville. “It was a great night.”

Headlines: “We’re No. 1” screamed the headline. No, it wasn’t in the Daily Trojan. It was on the back page of Friday’s New York Post. In smaller type above the headline was: “USC mauls Michigan, stakes its claim.”

The conservative New York Times went with: “U.S.C. Wraps Up Its Share of the Title.” What’s with the periods?

Highlights, please: Don Barrett reported on his Web site, laradio.com, that he returned from out of town Thursday and tuned into USC flagship station KMPC to find out how the Rose Bowl was going. It was halftime, and instead of a recap he got five minutes of a feature offering news about women’s volleyball and swimming.

“I went over to KSPN for [ESPN radio] coverage and stayed,” Barrett wrote.

Trivia answer: The V stands for the San Joaquin Valley, and it is green because of the valley’s agriculture. Coach Pat Hill wants his program, the only one in Division I in a 250-mile stretch from Bakersfield to Modesto, to draw from the entire valley.

No interest here: One reader asked about the V after watching the Bulldogs’ victory over UCLA Tuesday night in the Silicon Valley Classic. Not many Bruin fans watched. The Holiday Bowl in San Diego got a better rating in the L.A. market than the Silicon Valley Classic, 3.1 to 2.4.

And finally: Washington State’s 28-20 victory over Texas in the Holiday Bowl served as a wake-up call for ABC’s Keith Jackson. He generally makes a $25,000 donation to a football scholarship for his alma mater, and the victory reminded him he hadn’t made a donation in 2003. He sent off a check the next day.

“That win was a costly one for me,” he quipped.

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Larry Stewart can be reached at [email protected].