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Trojan 'Psycho' Has Attendance Streak To Match Name

Shotgun Spratling |
November 12, 2009 | 10:17 a.m. PST

Staff Reporter
Roy Nwaisser is an avid Los Angeles sports fan. He currently has season tickets for the Dodgers and Kings, and at one point, he held tickets for the Dodgers, Kings, Clippers, Major League Soccer's Galaxy, and the now defunct Riptide and Avengers, former members of the Major League Lacrosse and Arena Football Leagues, respectively.

But the team he fanatically follows more than any other -- almost psychotically some might say -- is his alma mater's football squad, the University of Southern California Trojans.

 

Nwaisser has gone to 214 consecutive USC football games, including all away and bowl games. It was a decision Nwaisser made his senior year while studying to get his Bachelor's degree in psychology. (He also has master's degrees in communication management and computer science, a law degree, and a web development certification, all from USC.) 
 
"My senior year I decided I wanted to go to every game, and I had so much fun doing it," said Nwaisser. "I just decided to do it another year and another year." 
 
However, it wasn't until a friend suggested that he take his license plate that reads "USC SYCO" to a game that Nwaisser became a celebrity amongst USC fans. 
 
Traveling to Notre Dame in 1995, Nwaisser took his license plate with him to his front row seats and caught the eye of the national television crew. Even though he was unaware during the game he was on television, he soon found out from friends when he returned home. 
 
Nwaisser says he thought it was cool, but he also said he couldn't imagine the outpouring of support from Trojans fans who recognized him as "USC Psycho" at the next home game, which happened to be Homecoming. 
 
"I brought the license plate and everyone recognized me from being on TV, so I just started bringing it to every game." 
 
There are no known USC fans with a longer active consecutive game streak, but Nwaisser is a far cry from Giles Pellerin's streak of 797 consecutive USC games from 1925 until his death in 1998. 
 
"I don't think anyone will ever break that record," Nwaisser said. "But I don't have any plans on breaking my streak, so who knows?" 
 
Though he travels to every away game, Nwaisser said he tries to spend as little time traveling to football games as possible, particularly for Pac-10 games, since he has been to those cities on multiple occasions. 
 
"Unless the game is in Hawaii or some city I want to spend a lot of time in, my road games are usually 48 hours or less." 
 
To keep expenses low for the yearly sojourns to opposing cities and stadiums, Nwaisser said he books his flights months in advance to assure  he gets low fares. He also doesn't go for the glitz and glamour when making hotel arrangements. 
 
"I don't stay in fancy hotels because I spend very little time in the hotel. I probably spend as much money on road games in an entire season as most people would spend on a week vacation." 
 
His week vacation just happens to take him to six different cities from September to January.


 

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