He’s attended 79 consecutive Rose Bowl games. His 80th game will be Alabama-Michigan

admin | January 1, 2024 | Other Clubs | No Comments

Reynolds Crutchfield like asking people how many Rose Bowl games they’ve seen. It’s an excellent icebreaker.

During a pregame Hall of Fame luncheon outside the stadium, a man from New Mexico named Duane Schmitz noticed Crutchfield sitting alone and felt sorry for him. He approached and introduced himself, and then the question came.

“I get all puffed up,” Schmitz told a source this week, “and I said, ‘Twenty.'”

Crutchfield responded calmly that he’d been to 55 in a row. This happened 25 years ago.

“I crawled under the table,” Schmitz jokingly said.

Crutchfield, 93, returns to his hometown of Pasadena, Calif., for the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. It started with his parents taking him and a junior high friend. Crutchfield sat in the lower bowl, thinking to himself that one day he’d like to go 50 straight. Crutchfield’s 80th visit to The Granddaddy of Them All will coincide with Alabama and Michigan deciding one half of the College Football Playoff.

Alabama last participated in a real Rose Bowl on the first day of the year against Southern California in 1946. Crutchfield was present. When a global pandemic moved the game to Arlington, Texas, in 2021, Crutchfield was contacted by the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation, who collaborated with the Cowboys to place Crutchfield near the 50-yard line. He was one of about 20,000 people permitted inside to see the Tide destroy Notre Dame.

For Monday’s game (which kicks off at 4 p.m. CT on ESPN), Crutchfield didn’t want to give a prediction but is leaning toward No. 4 Alabama.

“I think it’s going to be a good game,” he told reporters. “… I could be incorrect. They appear to have made significant progress. “They looked really good against Georgia.”

He came the closest to missing one in 1978. Crutchfield had yet to locate a ticket for the game a few weeks prior when his parents met a Tournament of Roses official at a gathering. They discussed Crutchfield’s impending run and were directed to contact Tournament headquarters the following Monday. Crutchfield was able to see Warren Moon’s Washington defeat Michigan.

Crutchfield’s method of purchasing tickets, as well as its location, had changed until a few years ago. Crutchfield was on a shuttle leaving the parking lot when he began chatting with a passenger about their first Rose Bowl game. When Crutchfield revealed his streak, a former pupil from his time at a Menlo Park private school recognized him.

Tod Spieker, a UCLA alumnus, was part of the family who gave $10 million and had the Rose Bowl field named after them in 2017. Crutchfield has obtained more 50-yard-line tickets for himself, Schmitz, and his wife, Elizabeth, thanks to his contacts with the Legacy Foundation.

“Our routine is pretty much the same and I can’t wait for it every year,” Schmitz said.

Crutchfield and the Schmitz’s, husband Duane, 69, and Elizabeth, 67, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, met in 1998 and hit it off right away. Duane, who had been married for 37 years, had one condition with his proposal: he would attend the Rose Bowl every year. Duane is on his 46th trip, and Elizabeth is on her 36th.

The trio got together this week for dinner and a light display. Crutchfield used to attend the Tournament of Roses procession, but as he’s become older, he’s stopped. Crutchfield, on the other hand, was able to go onto the field last Wednesday, Dec. 27, and assist in the painting of the Michigan endzone.

“When you go to so many games, I have friends that can remember, I don’t remember all the details,” Crutchfield said. “The best game I’ve seen was Texas-USC (Vince Young’s classic in 2006).”

Tomorrow, Crutchfield takes his seat underneath the San Gabriel Mountains and a setting sun and have a normal start to the year, at least for him.