The Real REAL Game
It's been well-documented by now that The Game -- Harvard and Yale's annual gridiron battle -- is hardly worth its title. It's even been suggested that tomorrow's showdown between Princeton and Yale should now be dubbed "The REAL Game."
But only one game is of any real importance this weekend, and that's tonight's Harvard-Cornell hockey matchup -- a rivalry so tough and bitter that it left the insane-screaming-and-body-paint end of the spectrum and re-entered on the side of sappy Richard Gere movies.
This game is actually important -- Harvard just pulled a huge upset over the No. 3 team in the country and Cornell is ranked 11th in the nation. But if the Big Bad, Big Red athletic department gets its way, the best part of this rivalry will disappear: the throwing of dead fish at Harvard hockey players.
The tradition has been in effect since 1973. It started with a Harvard fan throwing a chicken on the ice, which was apparently a crack at the fact that Cornell has an agriculture school (witty!). The Big Red faithful responded by throwing fish, a reference to Boston's love of seafood (wittier!).
But the funniest tradition is the one the Cornell Athletic Department is trying to start: bringing a stuffed animal to the game to give to charity. Haha, getting Ivy Leaguers to give up booze and debauchery for charity. Good one.
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November 10th, 2006 at 2:51 pm
Hmm, a stuffed animal sounds like a great way to smuggle contraband fish into Lynah. Thanks, AD!
November 10th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
never the less, every year fish still get in. Last year, two large squids found their way onto the ice at the very end. I remember the cornell goalie polking them with his stick and giving a “what the hell” glare into the croud.
November 10th, 2006 at 6:48 pm
What the hell does Richard Gere have to do with any of this? Shouldn’t we be talking about Tommy Lee Jones? It was is first movie. True Harvard guy in life too.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:57 pm
Let there be fish!
Some of them got past security– the tradition lives on.
November 11th, 2006 at 1:55 am
Cornell wins. Suck it Crimson.
November 11th, 2006 at 10:06 am
Factcheck: It was Ryan O’Neal, not Richard Gere
November 11th, 2006 at 10:43 am
Even though they lost, Harvard still gets an A for effort. But then again, they would still get the A if they didn’t show up to play at all…
November 11th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
Best game ever.
November 15th, 2006 at 12:14 am
Float says all I could’ve wanted to.
January 2nd, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Zing!