The USC Trojans got off to a successful start under new head football coach Lincoln Riley as they cruised to a dominant 66-14 win over the Rice Owls in the season opener.
While Trojans fans had plenty to cheer for during the game, the university recognized late Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully on the video board before kickoff. USC was among the countless institutions, professional athletes, celebrities and fans to celebrate the Hall of Famer after he passed away in August.
Scully’s 67 years in the Dodgers broadcast booth began in Brooklyn but included calling games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum when the team moved to the West Coast in 1958. The Dodgers didn’t begin playing at Dodger Stadium until April 10, 1962.
On March 29, 2008, the Dodgers returned to the L.A. Memorial Coliseum for an exhibition game against the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox. The team spent $250,000 to build temporary dugouts, construct a baseball diamond and fencing in left field.
The game was played in front of 115,300 fans, which still stands as the largest crowd for a baseball game.
USC is doing a tribute to Vin Scully.#VIN #Trojans #FightOn pic.twitter.com/yC4MfCYeMf
— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) September 3, 2022
Scully was nearly a decade away from retiring and joined the Dodgers for their return to the Coliseum, which unfortunately ended in a 7-4 loss to the Red Sox.
Justin Turner excited for Trojans football
When USC hired Riley last fall, Justin Turner, a noted Trojans fan, told DodgerBlue.com he was looking forward to the football program returning to its once-proud standing.
“Obviously you’d like to see them improve and get back to their dominating ways and being able to keep blue chip high school recruits right here in Southern California,” Turner said. “That’s (hiring Riley) obviously a good step to that. There’s a lot of buzz around it, so hoping we can see a lot of Southern California talent not leave the state.”
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