Okay, those of you who have been in recent years:

How's the best way to do this? We are staying in Santa Monica, and will go over to Pasadena around 11-noon or so...is that a decent time to get there for a 5 p.m. start? I have heard the parking sitch is not so good. What are our options? We are only going together (two of us) so we don't have a large group to tailgate with but should we pack some sort of "picnic" to take and snack on before and/or afterward if traffic is so ugly?

What other things might be going on at or near the stadium for fun if we are there hours before?

Any tips would be appreciated. There are some parking passes for sale on Ebay, it says the parking is at "brookside golf course" or parking "with shuttle service." What would be available on day-of and the costs associated with...how close or far would we be without a special pass in hand? I just don't know what to expect.

Fight on!

Hook 'em Horns!
M

The one problem with Brookside Golf Course is if it has rained the day or two before- it cuts out a lot of parking. We did the shuttle thing at Ralph M. Parsons when we went to the lst Natl Championship game at the rose Bowl and ended up walking to the
Rose Bowl (not a short walk) since the lines for shuttles were so long. Do get to Pasadena early and maybe have lunch in Old Town and then head over to the Rose Bowl. Last time the lines were long (in line for hours) but it was the year of 911 so maybe the security lines will be more organized by now. All in all we had a great time and we're going again this year too. Have fun! Go Trojans!!!

A back-up plan might be to park your car at the downtown LA rail station and take the Metro Gold Line to Pasadena. A shuttle is going to be operated on that day back and forth to train station, about 1 1/2 miles away.

I'm sorry I can't help you on parking, but after the game you best enjoy the walk screaming "UT ARE THE CHAMPS!" for me!!!

noryglory,

I'd invite you to our tailgate party, but wearing orange is required!

Should be a great game.

Hook 'em!

Brr...to both Kopp and Sppunk: THAT will be a cold day in Hell...

It will be a good game, but the Trojans will emerge victorious.

I'll just remind you of last year's national championship game: 55-19. And almost all the broadcasters and pundits had picked OU? O, U stink! And UT is in that same league, literally and figuratively!

I've been to many games at the Rose Bowl over 30 years. The Rose Bowl is poorly designed with inefficient ingress/egress into the stadium area and inadequate access tunnels to the seats. Its restrooms are too few in number, so lines are long.

The city of Pasadena does a fairly good job with the shuttle service from the Parsons Building (Fair Oaks at Union), but some years we've walked from there to the Rose Bowl and back after the game because the lines were just horrendous. (I like to walk, so I didn't think it was overly far.)

I like the suggestion of parking in downtown L.A. and taking the Gold Line metro rail into Pasadena. Park at Union Station where the Gold Line begins. The shuttle to the Rose Bowl is probably from the Holly St. station.
If you want to have lunch before the stadium, the Holly St. Bar and Grill is a block away from the station. Just don't underestimate how long the shuttle to and entry into the stadium will take. (We once missed an entire 1st quarter because the stadium tunnels were clogged.) Start moving by 2/2:30 p.m.

Or just go all the way to the stadium and soak up all the championship atmosphere. Tailgating at the Rose Bowl is a very big deal.

May I now sing my favorite (Pete) Carroll of the season?:

Ting, Ting, Bing
Ting, Ting, Bing
Lienart, White and Bush
Jarrett, Byrd
Pinkard, Ware
Maualuga, Reed

Ting, Ting, Bing
Ting, Ting, Bing
Rucker, Lua, Smith
Davis, Kirtman
Wyatt, Rivers
Turner, Walker, Kalil

I hope this Carroll repeats on an endless loop in the minds of Texas fans.

Fight On!

GOOD OLE BOYS VERSUS HOLLYWOOD!

Big 12 country versus Pac 10.

Gonna be a good one.....but, HOOK EM HORNS! USC will not log #36.

I have no experience with watching a game over there, but parking at Brookside seems to be an appealing option to me. The Brookside Golf Course is adjacent to the Rose Bowl Stadium, after all.

As for things to do, this is a bit difficult. The Rose Bowl is in a park setting surrounded by mountains on two sides and a (neat) residential area on the other. It is quite some way from anything else (except the golf course), so walking to Old Town would indeed take considerable time. Should you want to see Old Town, you might be better off going a bit earlier and taking it in before making it to the stadium as others suggested before.

I would really not plan to park at Brookside unless it was a really dry year (and this year it is predicted to rain up to the game) so think you should have other options available. Again, we parked near Ralph M. Parson's and you can take a shuttle from there (we walked) and back.

Heavy rain is forecast for Sunday-Monday so stay tuned.

mlgb,

The Rose Bowl is on Jan 4 this year, thanks to the BCS. Go Trojans!!

Unfortunately, the Rose Bowl Parade is on Monday morning and may indeed be seriously affected by the weather.

I know that, but don't think that Brookside will drain that well if they get 4 inches as forecast, so, stay tuned !.

I wish I could join your tailgate party, kopp, but I'll be there in spirit.

HOOK 'EM HORNS!!

HOOK EM HORNS!

Thank you Reggie Bush. That lateral was a thing of beauty and a gift to the poor ole boys from Texas.

Vince did the two Heisman winners one better. Final score 41-38. One for the history books.

Guess USC starts the streak back to ZERO now.

And all the Longhorn fans got a taste of the best of our wintertime weather today-- crystal-clear skies, sunny highs in the 80s, magnificent views of the snow on the Tehachapi mountains. The weather gods like good football too, it seems...!

Great game and many congrats to the Texas team and fans. What an awesome finish.

I just wish my Buckeyes had their starting quarterback when they played Texas early in the year....

Whoo-hoo, what a game! Congrats to Texas and their fans. As a fellow Big 12 member from Nebraska, we were cheering for you the whole game. Now Nebraska gets to travel to California and play USC Sept. 16. I'll remember the game plan suggestions if we go.

Tess,

The Rose Bowl game plan won't apply when Nebraska plays USC during the regular season. USC plays its home games in the Los Angeles Coliseum, not the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena (UCLA's home stadium).

What a great game! Congrats to the Texas fans.