From: hintzman@hpljah.hpl.hp.com (Jeff Hintzman)
Subject: Re: The Big Game (Stanford axes Cal bigtime)
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 16:38:57 GMT
Distribution: rec
Reply-To: hintzman@hpljah.hpl.hp.com
Organization: HP IC Business Division R&D, Palo Alto, CA

In article <aelman.722417672@Xenon.Stanford.EDU>, aelman@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Adam Elman) writes:
|> Wow -- this one was amazing for it's _predictability_.  After all --
|> in how many Big Games in the last few years has the better team not
|> only won, but kicked some serious butt?  
|> 
None.

|> About the game:
|> Cal scored a quick field goal at the beginning, and Stanford's offense
|> was looking _really_ cold in the early going.  But then came a break
|> and the first touchdown, and from then on it was almost easy. :-)
|> Milburn's _beautiful_ touchdown on a punt return -- right around the
|> end past a big wall of blue defenders.  And of course, the fumbled
|> punt that ended up gaining us ~30 yards.
|> 
|> Of course, the last three minutes were a little scary -- after all,
|> it's Big Game in Berkeley.  But the two touchdowns in as many minutes
|> just weren't enough to win it.
|> 
|> About the other stuff: I have to say that that game was _scary_.  The
|> guys who came and tackled the Tree (why does that ALWAYS happen???) at
|> halftime were summarily hurt by the Band members whose jobs it was to
|> stop that sort of thing.  The thrown fruit was placed in a large
|> catapult aimed at the Cal student section (but you didn't really think
|> we were going to fire it, did you? :-)
|> 
I had just observed that the Tree seemed to be well-protected by his 
"bodyguards," and then I turned to watch the catapult.  When I looked back
poor Tree was being thrashed.  The cops decided to do something about 5 
minutes later...

|> And then the end of the game -- Cal idiots try to steal the flag in a
|> large group of red and are stopped.
|> 
|> And of course the Cal fans who rushed the field at postgame and were
|> shouting "Stanford sucks" after we'd just kicked their butts.  I don't
|> get it...
|> 
|> Why exactly do people act so stupidly at these games?  In fact, other
|> than the fruit-throwing, Cal fans seem to be a lot worse about it --
|> maybe because they were losing so badly.  But Stanford people just
|> seem to be more mellow about it.  In any case -- riots or near-riots
|> just _don't_ add to my enjoyment of a football game.
|> 
I don't get it either.  You had a situation where there were several 
hundred people on the field yelling and throwing things at each other.
The situation could have gotten out of hand and somebody could have really
been hurt.  Win or lose, that's just not what the Big Game is about.

|> In case anyone was still wondering why the Stanford Band didn't take
|> the field as usual after the game, that's why.  We were scared for our
|> lives.
I don't blame you at all.  I was watching the Axe and saw it beat a hasty 
retreat down the stairs to the Stanford locker room when this whole business
started.

|> 
|> If we'd lost, I might even be annoyed about it...:-)
|> 
|> Adam Elman
|> aelman@cs.stanford.edu

Best part after trouncing Cal was that Washington and USC lost.
-- 


Jeff Hintzman                          Stanford: 1992 Pac-10 Co-champions