Harvard-Dartmouth: No Love Lost

Once again it's time for that "iviest of the Ivy League games," as a New York Times reporter once said of the annual confrontation between Harvard and Dartmouth. But for the alumni, students, and players of both schools, the battle clearly transcends all ordinary football games. The Harvard-Dartmouth contest is without a doubt the most emotional time of the season.

Certainly a lot has to do with the fact that each year the Crimson and Big Green come into the contest as two of the top teams in the Ivies. The outcome is crucial for both squads--in each of the last seven years, the winner of the game has gone onto at least a share of the Ivy title. But it goes beyond that.

For the alumni, the game awakens the biggest demand for tickets, except for those infrequent times when Yale and Harvard come down to the final game for the Ivy title. This year is no exception, as 32,000 will jam the stadium tomorrow.

"There was really a heavy demand for tickets this year," said Gordon Page, head of the Harvard ticket office. "Because the game was at Dartmouth last year, a lot of people didn't get to go. So this year everybody wants to." This explains why students got such lousy seats, (if that's any consolation to those of you in Section 37 under the colonnade.)

Alumni also save their biggest Bacchanalian feasts for this game. Maybe it's the warm weather, but there are usually more tail-gating parties for Dartmouth than for any other game. And the orgiastic fervor of the Harvard alumni is more than matched by their Dartmouth counterparts. The Big Green legions will be there Saturday, all in green jackets with Dartmouth pennants tied to their car atennae, all getting incredibly drunk. I remember one guy who seemed to be near us every year next to Newell Boathouse, and I swear half of his party were too loaded to make it to the game.

Anyone who went to Hanover last year will attest that Dartmouth people take their football seriously, and for them the Harvard game is unquestionably the biggest game of the year, with the result that they concomitantly drink pretty seriously too.

Then of course there's the attitude of the players towards Dartmouth. To a man, there's no team that Harvard wants to beat more than the Big Green.

"The Dartmouth game has a special kind of arousal for me," senior adjuster George Newhouse said. "It's not that I really feel any animosity towards Dartmouth in particular. But from what Ive seen of those people, I just can't stand to lose to them."

Said junior linebacker Tommy Joyce, "It's the most important game of the year. With Dartmouth it's pure football. They come into town thinking that they're the best thing around, and there's nothing more we want to do than beat them."

Added safety Jon Judge, "It brings out the primal instincts in me."

A lot of this animosity on the part of the players results from the conflicting images of the two schools. To a Dartmouthian, Harvard is the academic "brain" school of the Ivy League, while to a Harvardian, Dartmouth is a jock-oriented, beer-drinking type place.

But under all the rivalry and bitterness, there is a mutual respect between the two squads.

"We really enjoy playing Dartmouth," senior guard Joe Antonellis said. "They're always a good football team, and we look forward to playing them."

"But," he added, "we still want to beat their brains in."