Attending the Big Game - Printable Version

Attending the Big Game - Printable Version

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Attending the Big Game - terry - 11-18-2022

Is anyone planning to attend the Big Game tomorrow?

I will be there. It will be my 47th Big Game. I attended 45 Big Games in a row from 1975 to 2019, then missed the Covid game in 2020, then started a new consecutive-game streak last year.

Stanford's record in the 46 Big Games I've attended is 28-17-1, so I've gone home happy a lot more often than not.

That winning record is part of a longer era of Stanford dominance that began before my time. Starting in 1961, Stanford's Big Game record is 40-20-1.

It's Stanford's Axe. Cal just borrows it from time to time.

RE: Attending the Big Game - 76lsjumb - 11-18-2022

I’ll be there; any REAL Stanford fan will be.

RE: Attending the Big Game - Mick - 11-18-2022

(11-18-2022, 03:51 PM)76lsjumb Wrote: I’ll be there; any REAL Stanford fan will be.

I will be in Philadelphia, enjoying it online...

RE: Attending the Big Game - CowboyIndian - 11-18-2022

On the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.
- W.C. Fields

RE: Attending the Big Game - Embo - 11-18-2022

I'll be there. I started early, attending my first Big Game as a 14 year old, seeing Don Bunce leading the team to a 14-0 win. The Stanford students had a precision card section, with a sequence including "Our Bowl", then a picture of a rose, then "Your Bowl", followed by a picture of a toilet. Imagine that, a card section at Stanford.
Tomorrow will be my 50th in person. I was supposed to reach that milestone at Stanford, but Covid took care of that. I had entertained the idea of going to Tightwad Hill in 2020 just to keep the streak alive, but figured that was a nutty idea. I had to sit down when Steve Frost asked those last year in the attendance to stand if it had been 50 or more.
My record for in-person Big Games is 31-17-1. There have been four games where I walked into the stadium with not even a smidgen of hope of a Stanford victory. The first was 1983, watching a 1-9 Paul Wiggin team (if he couldn't win with Elway, imagine without....) The second was Buddy's last stand in 2004 (he had no business ever being on a Stanford sideline). The third was Wlat's 2006 1-10 team. The fourth? That's tomorrow.

RE: Attending the Big Game - Phogge - 11-18-2022

I attended 65 in a row. Because as a kid I was wowed by the stadium, the green grass, 90,000 people and a team that passed! Imagine that. Pete Elliott used to run on third and ten.

I won't be there anymore. Lots of factors. Too old for a long drive, no paper tickets, no programs (my BG collection goes back to 1921), a coach named Alibi. Turned it off at halftime last year.

Hope they win but until they have a coach who does things not to lose I'm not all that interested.

RE: Attending the Big Game - Giants - 11-18-2022

I hit the 50 mark (1960-2009) and ended my streak. It was great fun but I realized after ‘09, it was time to move on. Now, I watch on the big screen with a short stroll to the fridge for refreshments…

1974 was my favorite for on-field reasons and 1963 was the most memorable for off-field reasons.

RE: Attending the Big Game - Jamesy - 11-18-2022

I'll be there. Any suggestions on best places to park?

RE: Attending the Big Game - Section QQ - 11-18-2022

Yes, I will be there. It will be my 44th Big Game, and my 41st consecutive if you don't count 2020. Go Cardinal.

(11-18-2022, 06:57 PM)Jamesy Wrote: I'll be there. Any suggestions on best places to park?

Park at your favorite BART station and take the train.

RE: Attending the Big Game - BigEasyCard - 11-18-2022

(11-18-2022, 06:59 PM)Section QQ Wrote: Yes, I will be there. It will be my 44th Big Game, and my 41st consecutive if you don't count 2020. Go Cardinal.

(11-18-2022, 06:57 PM)Jamesy Wrote: I'll be there. Any suggestions on best places to park?

Park at your favorite BART station and take the train.

I second the "Park at BART" suggestion based on prior experience.

Geaux Cardinal!

RE: Attending the Big Game - baymeadows3408 - 11-18-2022

I won't be at this Big Game and I haven't attended one in person since 2003. I have been living mostly on the East Coast since 2008, so I haven't been to many games in person. For many years I used to think that maybe I would try to attend the 125th Big Game so I could say I attended both the 100th and the 125th, but the combination of distance and waning fortunes of the football team was tough to overcome.

The 100th Big Game was my first. I was 12 at the time and it was my second season of following Stanford football closely. My father had been a fan since growing up in Palo Alto and he started taking me to games in 1996. The strong finish to the 1996 season capped by the route of Michigan State in the Sun Bowl got me hooked. I had high expectations going into the 1997 season and I remember the slogan the athletic department chose: "Hot schedule. Cool tradition. Rosy future." The 1997 season ended up being a disappointment and there was no bowl berth, much less a Rose Bowl berth, on the line going into the Big Game. Still, I was excited to witness my first Big Game in person.

My father's plan was to buy tickets from scalpers. We arrived at the stadium late because of a Caltrain delay and bought tickets from scalpers near the corner of El Camino and Embarcadero. My dad did not have a seating chart, so we were unaware until we were in the stadium that we were in the middle of the Cal section. The Cal fans were not particularly happy about our presence and became less happy after Chris Draft tipped Justin Vedder's pass and Corey Hill intercepted it and returned it for a touchdown. The tension became even greater after Anthony Bookman's touchdown put Stanford up 13-0, we decided to leave the stadium and visit a coin shop Town & Country village before returning to the stadium at halftime. We watched the second half by watching the game along the walkway at the bottom of the stadium on the sunny side, successfully avoiding security. The views were horrible down there, but I can still remember my father lifting me in the air in triumph when Andrew Currie sacked Vedder to seal the game for Stanford. Security open the gates and we followed the students on the field and had a great view of the Cal students weighing down the fence, charging at the Stanford contingent, and then tearing down the goal posts in what might have been the moment that epitomized weeniedom.

It's safe to say the 125th Big Game won't be as memorable for me. I follow Stanford football and sports in general with much less passion than I did at the age of 12, but I'll at minimum follow game on the Yahoo! sports app and maybe I'll try to find a video stream. Like Stanford football itself, my fandom isn't what it used to be, but I'll always treasure the memories I have from that Saturday afternoon in November 1997.

Video highlights from 1997: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdQVdRbu-Y8

RE: Attending the Big Game - cardcrimson - 11-18-2022

Nice stories and memories. Clearly some nice times. Think though 1996 was a Sun Bowl, not a Rose Bowl demolition of Sparty. . . .

RE: Attending the Big Game - lex24 - 11-18-2022

(11-18-2022, 06:57 PM)Jamesy Wrote: I'll be there. Any suggestions on best places to park?

North side. Coming from University - Take Hearst and head toward Stadium. Turn left on Euclid and head up a few blocks. It may take a bit, but you should find a spot. You’ll have a bit of a walk. You can always stop and grab some Pizza and a brew at La Val’s.

RE: Attending the Big Game - BostonCard - 11-18-2022

Park in the end zone, there should be plenty of spots.

Bc

RE: Attending the Big Game - baymeadows3408 - 11-19-2022

(11-18-2022, 09:23 PM)cardcrimson Wrote: Nice stories and memories. Clearly some nice times. Think though 1996 was a Sun Bowl, not a Rose Bowl demolition of Sparty. . . .

It was probably a Freudian slip on my part, wishing that we had demolished Sparty on New Year's Day in 2014. I still have visions of a counterfactual in which Hogan keeps it on a bootleg or pitches the ball on fourth and short and the runner scores a touchdown and we win 27-24 instead of getting stuffed...

RE: Attending the Big Game - winflop - 11-19-2022

I hope you all have a good time and I hope we get the Axe.

RE: Attending the Big Game - Canalejas - 11-19-2022

I don't attend many games in person each year. Just one or two. And this year I chose the USC and UCLA games, thinking those series might be coming to an end soon.

Hopefully today will be a much happier day than those two.

Go Stanford!

rastaman85 - rastaman85 - 11-19-2022

I’ll be there. Loud, wearing lots of Cardinal, and slightly obnoxious.

I was born in Berkeley, and I live in Oakland. Lots of Cal alums in my social circle, including my lovely wife if you count grad school. I worked at Cal for about 12 years in two different stints. Good friends are Cal donors, and they’ve invited us to partake of free beer and food in the Stadium Club.

So yeah, I’ll be there. Give ‘em the Axe!

RE: Attending the Big Game - thunder_chik - 11-19-2022

I would if I could, but I can't...
But I sure would like to.

Haven't been back to Cali since I retired and moved in 2014.

RE: Attending the Big Game - martyup - 11-19-2022

Glad I wasn't there.