102 Years Later, It Is Not Just Another Football Game

Reeking of Ivy League tradition, for 101 years the Harvard-Yale game has drawn not only football enthusiasts, but also those intrigued by the mystique of a time-honored rivalry.

This year will be no different.

At 1 p.m. tomorrow, close to 70,000 Harvards and Yalies will fill the Yale Bowl nearly to the brim and spend the afternoon screaming at each other across the gridiron.

Most wouldn't miss this day for anything. As Ned A. White '86 says, "I have been going to The Game for as long as I can remember."

"The (Harvard/) Yale game is everything," says Brad J. Corrodi, a junior at Yale.

For 10 Harvard Business School students, eight of them Yale graduates, The Game clearly comes first. They arranged to reschedule an exam for 6 a.m. Saturday and charter a plane to arrive in New Haven in time for the kick-off.

One reason Harvard and Yale fans both cite for their devotion to The Game is that it embodies each year the schools' long-standing rivalry.

"While they say academics are fairly equal, people use sports as a criterion to compare Harvard and Yale," says Yale senior Andrew E. Chau.

To one Harvard student, The Game "stands for more than just football because it proves that Harvard is better than Yale."

For Adrian Blake '88, the rivalry harkens back to high school. "It's one way of justifying that you're better than your friend from prep school who went to Yale," he says.

Although the two colleges recently tied for second place in a ranking of national universities, some Elis may feel that they still have some ground to make up.

Bradford A. Lee, assistant professor of history, who graduated from Yale in 1970, says, "At Yale there's sort of a funny attitude to Harvard. At Yale people sort of want to prove they're equal to Harvard. I don't think Harvard people feel that way. They're too sure of their superiority."

But others see The Game as a way for both schools to affirm their superiority to the other Ivies. Alan Brinkley, associate professor of American History and a Princeton grad, says, "I think it's a way in which Harvard and Yale confirm their view of themselves as being special places."

While other Ivy League schools may view their match with Harvard or Yale as their "Big Game," the Crimson and Bulldogs have eyes only for each other. "Princeton's big rivalry is Yale but no one at Yale really cares about the Princeton Game," says Chau.

But the Bulldogs get serious when the Crimson is in town. Yale Professor of Economics William V. Nordhaus, Yale '63, says that The Game embodies "athletic rivalry between the two leading universities of the world, one leading in both intellectual and athletic arenas: Yale."

"People like to see Yale prove its dominance over Harvard," says Yale freshman Jerry A. Miller. "I'm going to see the new way that Yale will tramp over Harvard."

Harvard Band Manager Joseph F. McCafferty '86 cautions against letting school spirit go too far. "Yale sucks" paraphernalia is "out of place," he says.

"I think it's great to have things to cheer on Harvard, but when school pride gets to the point where you're actually putting down the other institution, especially an institution like Yale, it's absurd," the band boss adds.

Torn Loyalties

Those with ties to both schools usually have no problem deciding which ties are the ones that bond. Lee, who played football for Yale, doesn't think twice about "definitely" rooting for the Elis.

Similarly, the business students jetting to New Haven are siding with their college alma mater.

Yale fanatic Nordhaus will sit across the Yale Bowl from his son tomorrow. According to the elder Nordhaus, son Jeffrey '89 is just exhibiting transitory sentiments.

"For a temporary period he may find himself rooting with Harvard so fellow students don't beat him up," says the elder Nordhaus. "His youthful mislaid enthusiasm will change."

Certainly, The Game isn't New Haven's only attraction this weekend. "Two minutes after the game you've forgotten the score," says Blake.

"We're not going to be watching the game, it's more having a good time," says Marie L. Park '87.

"I'm psyched," says Patrick Rivelli '88, "because it's nothing but a weekend of partying. Even if we lose the game, or if there wasn't one, it's a great weekend of partying. I really don't care if we win or lose."

"Everybody's there," adds Peter A. Robertson '88.

"Friends and a lot of alumni who wouldn't normally go to any game go to this one," says Eileen R. Trujallo '86.

"It's fun being together, huddling with friends in the stands, passing around coffee or flasks of other beverages," says Chau.

"We've just been told that this is the 'big game'--it's the only football game I go to each year," says Park.