Big Game (football)

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The Big Game
History
Number of Meetings	112
First	March 19, 1892
Most Recent	November 21, 2009
Next	December 4, 2010
All-Time Series	Stanford: 55-46-11
At Berkeley	Stanford leads 23-21-6
At Palo Alto	Stanford leads 27-21-1
At San Francisco	Stanford leads 5-4-4
Home Team Vs. Visitor	52-49-11
Current Streak	California: Won 2 Visitor: Won 1
Longest Win Streaks
Stanford	7 (1995-2001)
California	5 (1919-23, 2002-06)
Home Team	6 (1939-47)
Visitor	5 (1954-1958, 1969-73)
Trophy	Stanford Axe

The Big Game is the annual football game between University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University, which is held in late November or early December. The first Big Game was held in March 19, 1892 on San Francisco's Haight Street grounds when Stanford beat Cal 14-10. It is the tenth longest rivalry in NCAA Division 1 FBS football. Stanford leads the series record at 55-46-11 (wins-losses-ties). Cal won the most recent Big Game on November 21, 2009 by a score of 34-28. Cal has won seven of the last eight Big Games, following a seven game winning streak by Stanford. The location of the Big Game alternates between the two universities every year. In even numbered years, the game is played at Berkeley; in odd numbered years, at Stanford.

In the week before the game, both schools celebrate the occasion with rallies, reunions and luncheons. Cal students hold a traditional pep rally and bonfire at the Greek Theatre on the eve of the game, while Stanford students stage the Gaieties, a theatrical production that both celebrates and pokes fun at the rivalry. The week also includes various other athletic events including The Big Splash (water polo) and The Big Freeze (ice hockey). The overall athletic rivalry between the schools has been solidified into The Lexus Gauntlet, an annual award given to the school winning the most rivalries and championships under a point system.

[edit] History

Stanford vs California in 1904

The Big Game is the biggest college football event in the Bay Area, and has a rich history. Future U.S. President Herbert Hoover was the Stanford team manager for the first Big Game, held in 1892. The term "Big Game" was first used in 1900, which also saw the most tragic event to happen at a Big Game. The match that year was played on Thanksgiving Day in San Francisco. A large group of spectators observing from the roof of the nearby S.F. and Pacific Glass Works fell into the fiery interior of the building when the roof collapsed. Thirteen died and 78 were injured[1]. The first-ever card stunts were performed at the halftime of the 1910 Big Game. Since 1933, the victor of the game has been granted possession of the Stanford Axe. If the game ended in a tie, the Axe stayed on the side that already possessed it; this rule was discarded in 1996 after the NCAA instituted overtime. The Axe is a key part of the history, having been stolen on several occasions by both sides, starting at the very first Big Game.

Stanford University's Axe Committee carries the Axe around Memorial Stadium during the 2008 Big Game

The Big Game has produced several cliffhangers, where the outcome of the game was decided on the final play. In 1972, a Vince Ferragamo touchdown pass to Steve Sweeney resulted in a last second Cal victory, while Mike Langford nailed a 50 yard field goal on the final play for a 22-20 Stanford triumph in 1974. Stanford's Tuan Van Le blocked a 21 yard Cal field goal attempt to preserve a 19-19 tie in 1988. In 1990, Stanford snatched victory in the final 12 seconds by scoring a touchdown, recovering an onside kick, and, aided by a controversial roughing-the-passer penalty, kicking a field goal. In 2000, Stanford's Casey Moore caught the winning touchdown on the final play of the first-ever Big Game to go into overtime. In 2009, Cal's Michael Mohamed intercepted a pass at the Cal 3 yard line with 1:36 left to preserve the win, 34-28.

Scenes for the Harold Lloyd silent classic The Freshman were filmed at California Memorial Stadium during halftime of the 1924 Big Game.

[edit] The Play

The conclusion of the 85th Big Game on November 20, 1982 would go down as perhaps the greatest play in college football history. Cal held a lead late in the game, but Stanford, led by John Elway, drove down the field to retake the lead and seemingly elevate Elway to the first bowl game of his college career (as Stanford, with a victory, would likely been invited to the Hall of Fame Bowl^{[citation needed]}). More importantly, Elway, with a victory, might well have won the Heisman Trophy.^{[citation needed]} In what is now known simply as "The Play," four Cal players lateraled the ball five times on a kickoff return with four seconds left on the clock. The final ball carrier, Kevin Moen, who was also the initial ball carrier, ran for a touchdown through the Stanford Band, which had run onto the field to celebrate prematurely (although the game clock had run out of time, in football the play already in progress is allowed to be completed), knocking down the final Stanford "defender", trombone player Gary Tyrrell.

The Play is often recounted with KGO radio announcer Joe Starkey's emotional call of The Play, which he hailed as "the most amazing, sensational, dramatic, heartrending, exciting, thrilling finish in the history of college football!" The legitimacy of The Play has remained controversial among some Stanford fans. To this day, the final score in the official record shows Cal winning by a score of 25-20, whereas in many Stanford publications it is recorded as Stanford 20, Cal 19 due to Stanford's contention that a Cal ball carrier had his knee down and the last lateral was actually an illegal forward pass, either of which would have resulted in the end of the play.

[edit] Naming rights

In March 2007, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the NFL intended to trademark the phrase "The Big Game" in reference to the Super Bowl.^[1] In May 2007, the NFL gave up trying to trademark the phrase, after being faced with opposition from Cal and Stanford.^[2]

[edit] Big Game results

[edit] Big Game Bonfire Rallies

2008 bonfire at the Greek Theater

The Big Game Bonfire Rally is a pep and bonfire rally that takes place at University of California in Hearst Greek Theatre on the eve of the Big Game. More than 10,000 students gather to hear the history about the The Stanford Axe and the Big Game. The UC Rally Committee is in charge of setting up the bonfire, and refueling it during the rally. Specifically, freshman UC Rally Committee members, as well as freshman band members are sent out with pallets to the chanting of "Freshmen More Wood". Several alumni show up to perform traditional rituals. A tradition unique to Cal is the performance of the "Haka," a traditional Maori war dance/chant. Traditionally performed by an alumni Yell Leader, The Haka performed was written in the 1960s by a Cal rugby player of Maori descent. The traditional Axe Yell is also made, and visits from the Cal Men's Octet and Golden Overtones are always expected. The University of California Marching Band is also present, playing traditional Cal songs throughout the duration of the Rally. The highlight of the Rally is the lighting of the Big Game Bonfire itself, with the fire reaching over four stories high at its zenith.

The Big Game Bonfire Rally always ends with the reciting of a speech known as the Andy Smith Eulogy or "The Spirit of California. Written in remembrance of the fabled Cal football coach, who led the Bears to 5 straight undefeated seasons starting in 1920s before tragically dying of pneumonia in 1925, the speech closes the Rally annually. During the speech, candles are passed out among the attendants, and are lit for the singing of the campus alma mater, "Hail to California."

For decades Stanford also held a bonfire on the dry lakebed of Lake Lagunita, but this was discontinued in the 1990s due to the lake being a habitat for the vulnerable California Tiger Salamander. Stanford now holds a laser light show commonly known as the "Non-fire," as well as the annual student produced "Gaieties," during the week leading up to the Big Game in place of a Bonfire Rally. ^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Big Game

• Stanford Magazine feature on Big Game
• The Play
• Transcript of Joe Starkey's call of the Play
• Discussion about the filming of 1925 film, The Freshman at the Big Game
• Stanford Daily article on the history of Big Game
• Big Game Videos Summary of the entire 1982 game on mReplay.com