Of bells and boots

Eccentric football fan shares his passion for football and life

By Jennifer Medina
Staff Writer

Not many people make a cardboard crown, plastic lei and tie-dyed socks part of their everyday wear. But then again, not many people are anything like Gypsy Boots, one of USC's greatest cheerleaders at football games.
Thousands of students and USC fans pass by this bearded man who rings a cow bell and shakes a maraca and wonder about his origins. Is he a vagabond, or a disgruntled ex-biology major, perhaps?
Gypsy Boots never attended USC, but he has been going to USC football games since the 1930s, when Howard Jones was the head football coach. Though he is reluctant to tell his birth name, he does reveal his real last name as Bootzin, which is now carried by his three children. Gypsy Boots has earned his living by publicizing natural health products, and now lives in an apartment in Camarillo, Calif.
He calls himself a lifelong USC cheerleader and proves it by cheering his way through most football games - even this year's first game against Purdue University, during which many spectators left from the 120-degree weather.
"I'm 88 and running all over the stadium and I don't even drink Gatorade," Boots said.
"I look for him. It's something my friends and I always look forward to," said Lynn Tran, a senior majoring in public relations. "He exerts this excitement nobody else is able to generate."
Some wonder if Boots is nothing but a flower child, intent upon reviving the attitude of the Œ60s.
"I'm not a hippie, even though I look like a hippie," Boots said. "The only pot I've ever taken is a fruit pot."
His optimism is a natural high that spreads to fans.
"When I was a freshman, my initial reaction was surprise," Tran said. "I wasn't sure if he was for real. But as I attended more games and got into the Trojan spirit, I was really impressed by a man of his age with his enthusiasm and energy. I think he is a symbol of the ideology of Trojan pride and family that we always tout."
Gypsy Boots attributes much of his energy to his natural eating habits and healthy living style. He endorses a variety of natural herbal products and often incorporates these lyrics into song: I'm a Gypsy Boots / I live on nuts and fruits / I live under a tree / I'm happy and free and I root for USC.
Gypsy Boots' rhyming sing-song philosophies could fill countless poetry books. Conversations with him pass like a reader flipping through such a book, moving endlessly from story to song. He is more than willing to share himself with the many people he meets.
"People know me everywhere I go. My cowbell and USC has made me more famous than I ever was," he said. "I laugh and con my way through everything."
When people asked Gypsy Boots whether he was a student at the university, he explained that his role at USC is symbolic. "Well, is the horse (Traveler) a student?" he asked.
His bell is his pompom and he demands that students join in his noise-making.
"I warm up the crowd. I'm just spreading health and happiness. I love to cheer," he said. "I know what I'm doing and I try not to get in the way. I don't interrupt exciting drives or ring the bell while the band is playing."
Football fans aren't the only ones who appreciate Gypsy Boots and his antics.
"He's the ultimate fan," said Ron Allice, director of track and field. "He has an outgoing and gregarious personality and he creates enthusiasm. He's a giant cheerleader, he gets the crowd into it. Sports is entertainment and he adds to the entertainment."
After about 50 years as a football fan, Gypsy Boots has collected a number of memorable cheerleading stunts.
His favorite dates back about 15 years when he began the SoCal spellout and had the crowd loudly cheering along with him. "S-O-U-T-E-R-N!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, without knowing he mispelled it. The error was met with the crowd's affectionate laughter.
Things like that, though, don't faze a man like Gypsy Boots.
"I've got guts," he said. "I go where the action is. I go anywhere there is fruit, a camera or nature women."
And, of course, he goes anywhere there is USC football.


This is one in a four-part Football Fanfare series.

Copyright 1998 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 135, No. 22 (Monday, October 5, 1998), beginning on page 1 and ending on page 2.