Big year for Newport at the Tournament of Roses

I f you do not know that the City of Newport Beach has a centennial float called “Sailing Through a Century” in the Rose Parade or that USC will face Texas for the national championship in the Rose Bowl, you must be from out of town. It’s a big New Year’s week for the City of Newport Beach and for Southern California.

But there are some confusing things about this year’s events. For example, the Rose Parade will be held on Jan. 2 -- not on New Year’s Day. And the Rose Bowl game that usually follows the parade will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 4, beginning at 5 p.m.

There are good reasons for this. By tradition, the Rose Parade is never held on a Sunday. Although this allows for religious observances, the original reason for delaying until Monday was that the horses, frightened by the pealing of church bells, disturbed worshippers and parade viewers.

The Rose Bowl is usually played after the parade, and that’s when it will be played on any year that the Rose Bowl does not host the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title game.

Traditionally, the Rose Bowl game was played between the Pac-10 and the Big Ten champions. But now the collegiate championship is determined by the Bowl Championship Series, and that championship rotates between the Cotton, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange and Rose bowls. It’s the Rose Bowl’s turn to host the championship game this year.

There are lots of other interesting facts about the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl. For instance:

* The first parade, in 1890, was sponsored by the Pasadena Valley Hunt Club and was followed not by a football game but by foot races, polo matches and a tug-of-war.

* The parade route is 5 1/2 miles long.

* This year’s theme is “It’s Magical,” but in the past the event has celebrated everything from patriotism to laughter to sports.

* In the early days, local celebrities served as grand marshals. Shirley Temple holds the record, at three, for grand marshal appearances by a non-Pasadena resident. This year, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will be the grand marshal.

* The first appearance by a band was in 1891. It was the Monrovia Town Band and consisted of 20 musicians. Today, 16 bands win a spot through competition, and it is not uncommon for a band to have 250 instruments.

* The Tournament of Roses queen and princesses receive scholarship money and 30-piece wardrobes.

* One float uses more flowers than the average florist does in five years.

* The first Rose Bowl game dates back to 1902 when Stanford was invited to host the University of Michigan. The West Coast team lost 49-0, and as a result for a few years thereafter the Rose Bowl committee hosted chariot races instead. The football games returned in 1916.

* The football games became so popular that the Rose Bowl was constructed in 1923 -- at a cost of $273,198, funded by 10-year subscription tickets.

* The original configuration of the stadium held 57,000. Today’s official capacity is 93,000, but the stadium has been known to hold nearly 107,000 fans.

So be sure to watch the parade and cheer for Newport Beach’s float, featuring boats surrounded by dolphins, sea turtles and starfish. And on Wednesday, go USC!

If you have any more questions about these events, or, indeed, any other questions about anything, no matter how trivial, stop in and visit or call the reference staff at the library during library hours. After hours, you can e-mail your question through the library website and it will be answered the next day.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public Library.All titles may be reserved from home or office computers by accessing the catalog at www.newportbeachlibrary.org. For more information on the Central Library or any of the branches, please contact the Newport Beach Public Library at (949) 717-3800, option 2.