Thursday, November 29, 2007
Big Game memories
On the 25th anniversary of the 1982 Big Game.
I was a senior. It was Elway's last game and mine too, at least as a student. It was also meaningful because it offered a chance to redeem a promising season that was on its way to being squandered. In the prior two games, we had lost a shootout to UCLA 38-35 (anyone remember that Tom Ramsey was co-Pac 10 player of the year with Elway?) and in the final home game of the year Stanford gave up 4 TDs in the last quarter to fall to Arizona 41-27. A 5-3 record that included a win at Ohio State and a win over the #1 team in the country Washington had led to the hope of a major bowl. Now we were 5-5 and despite having one of the best offenses in the country (remember those days?) had to win to get an invitation to the Hall of Fame Bowl in Birmingham.
This game was important to me personally because I badly wanted to beat the weenies in every sport. My loathing of all things Bear began in Harmon Gym freshman year. I was one of the basketball managers and was almost physically assaulted by the fans (who were not students) as I tried to film the game. I was definitely verbally abused the entire game. I had to call security at one point. I had also witnessed the kal straw hat band rudely and arrogantly march right through the Stanford warm up line beforehand. And then there was Oski. God I wanted to roast those weenies. Yes, pure hatred is the foundation of any good rivalry.
If you were at the game, you will be reminded that it was another crazy Big Game even before the last 4 seconds. Mariet Ford's incomplete pass-turned TD. Wes Howell's balls-out dive for a TD. Converting on 4th and 17. Dotterer untouched through the prevent defense for 25 yards. You know the rest. Watching a replay of the game is not an entirely unpleasant walk down memory lane. We had a great group of Dollies that year.
I believe that the guy with the trumpet was John de Benedetti. I was sitting with the Toyon crowd and believe he was living there at the time. He started the touchdown cheer after Mariet Ford's phantom TD. At halftime when we had been totally outplayed, it looked like that might be all we would have to keep ourselves entertained the rest of the way. But we did have real things to cheer about in the second half until . . .
One other memory from the game. kal fans used to launch frozen fruit at the band. This was a tactic unknown to me before college. They also had some water balloon funnellators. I thought it was hysterical that the Stanford lacrosse team was on the field to protect the band, at least from the heavier objects that might do the most damage. That was the reason for the band's hard hats.
My bitterness about the outcome of the game lasted until a friend talked me into trekking from LA to Berkeley for the 1990 Big Game. One of the few times I made the right call. The 1990 game was if anything even more exciting than 1982. It was better played. And I liked the outcome a lot more.
I think that day was the last time I was in Berkeley.
I was a senior. It was Elway's last game and mine too, at least as a student. It was also meaningful because it offered a chance to redeem a promising season that was on its way to being squandered. In the prior two games, we had lost a shootout to UCLA 38-35 (anyone remember that Tom Ramsey was co-Pac 10 player of the year with Elway?) and in the final home game of the year Stanford gave up 4 TDs in the last quarter to fall to Arizona 41-27. A 5-3 record that included a win at Ohio State and a win over the #1 team in the country Washington had led to the hope of a major bowl. Now we were 5-5 and despite having one of the best offenses in the country (remember those days?) had to win to get an invitation to the Hall of Fame Bowl in Birmingham.
This game was important to me personally because I badly wanted to beat the weenies in every sport. My loathing of all things Bear began in Harmon Gym freshman year. I was one of the basketball managers and was almost physically assaulted by the fans (who were not students) as I tried to film the game. I was definitely verbally abused the entire game. I had to call security at one point. I had also witnessed the kal straw hat band rudely and arrogantly march right through the Stanford warm up line beforehand. And then there was Oski. God I wanted to roast those weenies. Yes, pure hatred is the foundation of any good rivalry.
If you were at the game, you will be reminded that it was another crazy Big Game even before the last 4 seconds. Mariet Ford's incomplete pass-turned TD. Wes Howell's balls-out dive for a TD. Converting on 4th and 17. Dotterer untouched through the prevent defense for 25 yards. You know the rest. Watching a replay of the game is not an entirely unpleasant walk down memory lane. We had a great group of Dollies that year.
I believe that the guy with the trumpet was John de Benedetti. I was sitting with the Toyon crowd and believe he was living there at the time. He started the touchdown cheer after Mariet Ford's phantom TD. At halftime when we had been totally outplayed, it looked like that might be all we would have to keep ourselves entertained the rest of the way. But we did have real things to cheer about in the second half until . . .
One other memory from the game. kal fans used to launch frozen fruit at the band. This was a tactic unknown to me before college. They also had some water balloon funnellators. I thought it was hysterical that the Stanford lacrosse team was on the field to protect the band, at least from the heavier objects that might do the most damage. That was the reason for the band's hard hats.
My bitterness about the outcome of the game lasted until a friend talked me into trekking from LA to Berkeley for the 1990 Big Game. One of the few times I made the right call. The 1990 game was if anything even more exciting than 1982. It was better played. And I liked the outcome a lot more.
I think that day was the last time I was in Berkeley.
