For all those teams that had to grit their teeth and watch Pete Carroll and the USC Trojans name their score the past few years, Stanford’s shellacking of the Trojans last season -- where Harbaugh went for a two-point conversion with a 48-21 lead instead of kicking the extra point -- probably brought a smile to their faces.
The run-up, and ultimate 55-21 score, led to an awkward midfield exchange after the game between Carroll and Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, which ended in Carroll asking Harbaugh repeatedly, “What’s your deal? What’s your deal?”
Now Stanford’s deal is selling tickets to the rematch.
After laying an egg with last year’s marketing pitch, the smart kids in Palo Alto came up with the “What’s Your Deal?” package. It’ll get you a ticket to the October 9th game against USC as well as tickets to two other games.
According to John Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News, the athletic department at Stanford mulled the decision over for a few weeks, but decided with Pete Carroll’s departure to the NFL that the idea was too good not to do.
And so Lane Kiffin’s first trip as a head coach to The Farm will have an added layer of intrigue.
(Just think, if the Pac-10 finally gets a good TV deal, maybe more than two-percent of the country can watch this one, too!)