Roots '66

One evening in 1985, a big, bull-shouldered man walked into Hana Sushi, a Japanese restaurant in Brentwood, and was approached by the owner.

"Hi, I'm Bob Stiles," the owner said, shaking the big man's hand.

"Hi, I'm Bob Apisa," the big man said.

Both men burst out laughing. They had met 19 years earlier--on the Rose Bowl's one-yard line.

"I nearly keeled over in a faint," Stiles said recently. "It was the first time we'd actually met since that game."

Recalled Apisa: "I knew he owned that restaurant, and I'd been meaning for years to go see him. He turned out to be a great guy. We sat down and talked for an hour."

Stiles and Apisa. Apisa and Stiles. They're linked forever in Rose Bowl lore.

On Jan. 1, 1966:

* New homes in Newport Beach were selling for $26,950.

* The Dow Jones industrial average was at 969.26.

* The people of China were told by their leaders that their primary task that day was to "prepare for war with the U.S."

* Dodger owner Walter O'Malley was upset his player payroll was about to surpass $600,000.

* New Laker owner Jack Kent Cooke squawked about his $2,000-per-game Sports Arena rent and threatened to build his own arena in Inglewood.

* Top ticket to see "Dr. Zhivago" at the Hollywood Paramount was $4.

* New Ford Mustangs were going for $2,299.

And in Pasadena, No. 1-ranked Michigan State (10-0) was a multiple-touchdown favorite over UCLA (7-2-1), a team it had already beaten, 13-3, in the 1965 season opener.

In the Rose Bowl before 100,087, in the final minute, Michigan State scored a touchdown but still trailed, 14-12.

Attempting a two-point conversion, Apisa, the fullback, took a pitch and ran right, where three Bruins got their hands on him; chiefly Stiles, who brought him down on the one--with 31 seconds left.

UCLA ran out the clock and one of the Rose Bowl's great upsets was in the book.

Thirty-five years later, both Stiles and Apisa are Southern Californians.

Stiles, 57, a Red Buttons look-alike, still greets people at the door at Hana Sushi. He lives in Brentwood and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Apisa, 54, lives in Granada Hills and is a stunt man and stunt coordinator for the film industry.

In separate interviews recently, both recalled the memorable conversion play.