Young USC fan visits team of his dreams

Northwestern Financial Review, Dec 1-Dec 14, 2004

Kirby Davidson and his 11-year-old son, Ryan, were recent recipients of some championship-style goodwill doled out by the players and coaches of the University of Southern California football Trojans.

Ryan Davidson, who'd spent his summer vacation battling a cancerous brain tumor (his second), and Kirby, vice president of marketing for the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, share a love for the USC Trojans. A business acquaintance of Davidson's, who also happens to be a USC alum, invited father and son to come to southern California to take in a game. The two accepted, made the trip in October and ended up with a good deal more than just great seats to a great football game.

After a stop at the USC Student Union to purchase team memorabilia, the Davidsons were escorted by their host to view the USC hall of trophies, then on to visit the team offices. Once inside, Trojan coach Pete Carroll greeted Ryan enthusiastically, inviting the boy to review game film with him. The coach then took Ryan to the locker room to meet some of his players; the boy got to sit in on the quarterbacks' meeting and the offensive line meeting. Then it was off to watch practice.

"At practice lots of players kept coming over to introduce themselves to Ryan and give him a high five," Davidson reported. "At the end of practice when the whole team gathered in the middle of the field to start 'whooping it up,' they opened a circle and pulled Ryan into the middle and onto their shoulders, chanting 'Ryan! Ryan! Ryan!' "

On game day, the Davidsons watched USC defeat Cal, 23-17. Afterward, Ryan was once again invited into the team locker room where coach Carroll told the boy the team had talked about him at their final meeting and used him as the inspiration for their victory.

"As the parent of a child battling cancer it's so uplifting to see so much good in this world when people go out of their way to share a special and memorable experience with someone less fortunate," Davidson wrote in a letter to friends. "I was a big fan of USC football before; I'm a huge fan now ... Ryan has many stories and treasures he'll carry with him for the rest of his life."