Millions of memories
“I don't know how to best describe it,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said when the game was moved to Texas last year. “As a fifth-generation Californian, I feel like, you know, there was a Gold Rush and then there was a Rose Bowl. And so it's been a big part of our lives — the Rose Bowl Parade, the game itself.”
Pasadena resident Donald E. Leis, who's attended 74 Rose Bowls in his 90 years of life, echoed the belief in an interview, acknowledging he couldn't imagine Pasadena without the stadium and “granddaddy of 'em all.”
Leis used to head to Brookside Park as a teenager “to sleep all night prior and then run to the gate in the morning where they sold a few tickets to get in to the game,” he said. “There was always fighting about who got in line first,” but in 1946 Leis and his friends decided to dig a tunnel under a fence so they could sneak in to see Alabama's jump-passing halfback Harry Gilmer.
“The security guy grabbed us by the collar and said you guys are out of here. But I asked: Sir, could you just wait one minute so I can see Alabama great Harry Gilmer,” Leis recalled. “He told me to step to the end of the tunnel where I wasn't blocking the view of anybody sitting in the seats, and I saw Harry Gilmer pass for a touchdown the next play.”
Leis joked the only person who's taken more steps in the Rose Bowl than him is retired CEO Darryl Dunn.
And since the stadium still hosts commencement ceremonies and serves as home of the annual homecoming Turkey Tussle between Pasadena High School and John Muir High School, many in the community possess their own fond memories of a time in the Rose Bowl.
“Everybody has a story,” said Weiden, which is a testament to the strength and prestige of the arena and why stadium stewards are working to ensure the stadium lasts another 100 years.
“I don't know if they had visions that this would be one of the marquee stadium concert sites in the world venue that hosted the Olympics and the World Cup. I don't know if they had that vision, or if they just said we're going to build something that's really cool. And we're going to make it a meeting grounds for people of Pasadena and L.A.,” Weiden said. “But I do know that our team now looking at the next 100 years which is really our driver is looking at how we can respect our history and make sure that this place stays this beautiful, iconic, picturesque setting. But how does it evolve and stay relevant for another 100 years?”
City leaders hope recently approved soccer matches, concerts and other entertainment events boost the chances of the dream becoming a reality.
Weiden also hopes UCLA's and USC's recent departure to the Big Ten will help since so many alums of Big Ten schools reside in Southern California, a phenomenon many attribute to the annual matchup between Pac-12 and Big Ten schools in the Rose Bowl.
“Fast forwarding 100 years later from when it was built, you'll have schools like Michigan, Ohio State and Minnesota still excited to come to the stadium for not just the Rose Bowl game but regular season matchups,” Weiden said, echoing Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren's media day press conference.
“The Rose Bowl is part of the fabric of college football, and hopefully it lasts another 100 years,” Weiden added, comparing the stadium to the Colosseum — the one in Rome.
“Where when you come and get a tour, they tell you they used to do events there,” Weiden said. “The Rose Bowl is cool because when you come and see it and we say this is the home of UCLA football, and the flea market, and concerts and so much else. And it's 100 years old.
“Our goal is to keep it that way,” Weiden added, “and make sure that when you get a tour of the Rose Bowl 100 years from now they don't say we used to do events.”
He added: “They say this is still one of the coolest places on Earth.”