It's a full-scale operation to load the truck with all the gear and materials from the equipment, strength and conditioning, training and office sectors of the Trojan football machine, one that has taken more than a week of meticulous preparation to ready for. It's a taxing proposition, to say the least.
"We gotta do what we gotta do," director of equipment operations David "Pops" Scott said as preparations wound down toward departure day.
Think of packing up the circus, and then double it.
Instead of the usual one moving truck the Trojans usually employ for road games, USC is sending two loaded-down trucks up the 5 to San Francisco for Emerald Bowl week and the game itself. About eight tons of gear and equipment -- nearly 16,000 pounds of stuff -- will make the 370-mile drive starting Sunday morning and arrive that night, about 24 hours before the USC team charter touches down in the Bay Area to begin a five-day stay leading up to the game next Saturday.
Because a roughly 125-man entourage will be spending six days in a distant city -- practicing, meeting and otherwise preparing for the bowl game -- the packing needs are absurd and almost unbelievable. Just about the only thing USC isn't bringing up to San Francisco is a blocking sled (but, actually, that did nearly become a reality). Take a look at the insane list of many of the things the Trojans are packing up and sending up for Emerald Bowl week:
- Practice equipment: Footballs, agility bags, hoops, cones, tackling bags
- Practice clothing: Shorts, pants, jerseys, pads, cleats, socks, shirts
- Video equipment: Cameras, editing equipment, projectors
- Athletic training: Tape, rehab equipment, stretching equipment
- Strength and conditioning: Dumbbells, weight bars, stretching equipment
- Office: Printer, laminators, reams of paper, scissors, markers
