The streets of Troy shall run with blood ...

If you're already bleeding cardinal and gold, you may as well share with somebody who needs it. Since it's Troy Week (a/k/a Rivalry Week, a/k/a Hate Week), the Lexus Gauntlet and Red Cross are having a blood drive so USC and UCLA can compete in something for a good cause. Here's the info on where to give near USC:

Supporters of USC can give blood at the Heritage Hall Lounge on Monday (Nov. 26) as well as Wednesday through Friday (Nov. 28-30). On Tuesday (Nov. 27), a Red Cross station will be set up at Tommy’s Place. Both Project Umbilical Cord Stem Cell and the ROTC are coordinating the blood drive efforts at USC. The L.A.T.I.N.A.S. Group is sponsoring Wednesday’s blood drive. To sign up and make an appointment in advance on the USC campus, contact either Katherine Prendergrast (projectucsc@gmail.com) or Mitchell Chavarria (mrchavar@usc.edu).

A full press release is after the jump.

Lexus Gauntlet Blood Drive Kicks Off Spirit Week

Rivals Team Up with American Red Cross Prior to Annual Football Game

LOS ANGELES – For more than eight decades, the storied USC vs. UCLA rivalry has been among the nation’s fiercest competitions. Unlike no other, this heated same-city rivalry has strained friendships and divided family loyalties in the City of Angels and beyond. Most in Los Angeles, either bleed cardinal red for USC or Bruin blue for UCLA.

Now, regardless of blood type – Trojan or Bruin – fans can participate in the first Lexus Gauntlet Blood Drive to benefit the American Red Cross during Spirit Week in advance of the annual football game between the cross-town rivals. Donations will be collected Monday through Friday, (Nov. 26-30) at designated Red Cross locations at both UCLA and USC.

The rival school generating the most volume of blood donations will claim citywide bragging rights and receive special recognition prior to kick-off of the big game Saturday (Dec. 1).

Supporters of USC can give blood at the Heritage Hall Lounge on Monday (Nov. 26) as well as Wednesday through Friday (Nov. 28-30). On Tuesday (Nov. 27), a Red Cross station will be set up at Tommy’s Place. Both Project Umbilical Cord Stem Cell and the ROTC are coordinating the blood drive efforts at USC. The L.A.T.I.N.A.S. Group is sponsoring Wednesday’s blood drive. To sign-up and make an appointment in advance on the USC campus, contact either Katherine Prendergrast (projectucsc@gmail.com) or Mitchell Chavarria (mrchavar@usc.edu).

At UCLA, donors can take part in Lexus Gauntlet Blood Drive at the Ackerman Second Floor Lounge on Monday (Nov. 26) and again on Friday (Nov. 30). On Tuesday (Nov. 27), a donor station will be set up at Kerckhoff Grand Salon before moving across campus on Thursday (Nov. 29) to the Los Angeles Tennis Center Club House Straus. For UCLA donors, go to www.givelife.org and enter sponsor code: uclarivalry to make an advance appointment. The Red Cross will be on site daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at both universities.

Following the announcement of the Lexus Gauntlet Blood Drive champion, the chase for the 2007-08 Lexus Gauntlet resumes with a 1:30 p.m. kick-off of the USC vs. UCLA game at the L.A. Coliseum. Ten Gauntlet points are at stake in football, the most for any single event in the year-round, all-sports competition. USC and UCLA enter the game tied at 12.5-all in pursuit of the coveted all-sports championship trophy presented by the Southern California Lexus Dealers.

The Southern California Lexus Dealers are proud to be the leading sponsors of both UCLA and USC athletic departments as well as the exclusive title sponsor of every USC-UCLA athletic competition. For more than 80 years, these champion rivals have competed for the ultimate city-wide title of number one. Now, based on the practice of knights who challenged each other to duel by throwing their armored gauntlets to the ground, Lexus has issued the absolute challenge: the Lexus Gauntlet competition.