Best friends, crosstown rivals

Nadine MelamedOpinion EditorThe USC-UCLA rivalry is relevant to even those who have no direct connection to either school. It’s entertaining to watch men and/or women with passion in their eyes, battling it out for the title of their given sport. It’s even more interesting when one is informed that two historic schools such as these have nurtured this overpowering rivalry since 1929, when they first played each other in a game of football. No matter the sport, the USC-UCLA games are always a marvel to behold.Seniors Marc Vonderweidt and Maxi Vilim-Brozyna have been friends since they were seven years old. Though they met playing soccer, their friendship continued and strengthened in the tenth grade, when they started seeing each other more often.Though history is no problem for the two, rivalry might prove to be too much.As high school comes to a close, both must decide on their paths for their future careers and for their hopes of continuing Water Polo.After considering many schools, Vonderweidt settled on USC, a school notorious for it’s academic and athletic competitiveness and excellence. In the past 3 years alone, USC’s men’s water polo has won three straight national championships, adding to their 114 overall national championship titles. “Because USC is a private school, there won't be any budget cuts. Also, the coaching staff for guys and girls is a lot better than any of the other schools I’ve seen,” Vonderweidt said. “It was between USC and Berkeley for me, but in the end I just decided that USC was a better fit,” Vonderweidt continued.And in the spirit of the game, Vilim-Brozyna committed to UCLA, after "...originally being committed to Pepperdine. But after really thinking of which school was the better fit, UCLA was the one... and UCLA is public... so no rules," Vilim-Brozyna said.The rivalry only gets better. Both of the schools are  in the top 10 of water polo programs in the country, with USC ranking number two and UCLA coming in third."Yes of course there is going to be a rivalry with me and Marc. It's UCLA vs. USC — that's a big game... but in the end, me and Marc are homies for life. Straight up," Vilim-Brozyna said.Vonderweidt agrees that regardless of the rivalry, their friendship will remain strong.“Honestly, the rivalry is school based... he’s my brother ‘til death,” Vonderweidt said.It can safely be said that Samo is waiting to watch their soon-to-be alumni battle off for a good ole' face to face rivalry match in the coming years.