Traditions in Trojan History
Tirebiter Tradition
As told by George Tirebiter…the dog. On a cold wet night, looking for shelter from the rain I wondered onto the USC campus. It was the mid 1940’s I’m not sure the exact year. As luck would have it some nice students found and adopted me even though I was just a wet little stray mutt. They even gave me a new name, “George Tirebiter” which I thought was really neat. I believe they chose that name because I just loved chasing cars and biting at the tires
I was really happy; my whole life turned around. I received a USC sweater and traveled in grand style to the football games in a limousine. I lead the marching band on the football field with thousands of fans cheering me. Once I got so excited I bit the mask of UCLA mascot, Joe bruin, on the nose. That did it for me I became the school mascot, loved by all Trojans. I became a legend.
I guess nothing lasts forever as my fun loving nature led to my own demise. In 1950 I was run over and died doing what I loved best…chasing cars. I couldn’t believe they had a public funeral for me right on campus. They even found a similar looking dog to take my place and named him George the second. As I look down on how much the campus has grown I see a sculpture of me now stands in my honor, George Tirebiter. You can see it on the “Bloom Walk” at Trousdale Parkway.
The Red Wig
All new players making the Trojan baseball team for the first time had at some point, wear the red wig. This would occur when the team was traveling. It was worn on the bus to the airport, on the plane, at the arrival terminal and on the bus to the visitor’s hotel.
McNamara’s Band
Captain of the Bench
Double Xer’s
Bovard Boners
Dedeaux Shuffle
A great attribute of Coach Rod was his ability to conduct intense practices and make them fun as well.
The Dedeaux Shuffle was one example. This was a variation of a warm up exercise. Rather than the
team doing standard jumping jacks, Rod changed the routine to include different leg and arm movements.
The exercise added agility and coordination and still functioned as a warm up. Coach and players had fun
with it as several players required some time before they mastered the routine.