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Traveler  Autumn Saturdays
inside the Los Angeles Coliseum have a pageantry unlike any other Pac
10 member. A winning tradition rivaled only by the likes of the
college football's elite, a great fight song, powerful marching band,
fantastic uniforms and a live mascot. What else could you want
from the college football experience?Since 1961, a Trojan score has precipitated the tradition of a Tommy Trojan riding Traveler to the tune of "Conquest." When you consider that USC is a major player in the college football world, you have to think that Traveler has put in some serious miles. It all started when Bob Jani, then USC's director of special events, and Eddie Tannenbaum, then a junior at USC, had spotted Richard Saukko riding his white horse, Traveler I, in the Rose Parade. They persuaded Saukko to ride his white horse around the Coliseum during USC games and, thus, one of college football's most recognized traditions was born. When he first began riding at games, Saukko appeared in the costume worn by Charlton Heston in the movie "Ben Hur." He participated in the tradition through the 1988 season but like many facets of the Autumn Spectacle, it has lived on even after he retired. The current horse is Traveler VII. Even though the breed of horse may have changed over the years - Travelers I through VI ranged from an Arabian/Tennessee Walker to a pure-bred Tennessee Walker to a pure-bred Arabian to an Andalusian - Traveler's color has always remained pure white. |
| “Saturday
afternoons in autumn. For more than a century they have stood as the
showcase for what has become a true American ritual, a time reserved
for one of the most richly colorful, spirited, and vibrantly exciting
sports in all the world." - Richard Whittingham, The Rites of Autumn |
