Beat Cal - Printable Version

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Beat Cal - 82lsju - 11-14-2021

Quote:PISA. Italy, Oct. 22, 1960 (Special to The Daily)

Forty five fearless Stanford students today invaded this town, ascended its Loaning Tower, and told the world in six and one-half foot letters to "Beat Cal."

Clad as tourists, the group from the Stanford Overseas Study Center in Florence hung an 80-foot-long banner with the red letters "Beat Cal" on it from the world's most famous Campanile

https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1960/11/01?page=1&section=MODSMD_ARTICLE1&fbclid=IwAR15YP7t1cAAU1-ry7ZN3BvfabbF7zdphgGgE0as4e0gaXmHuYe06bsS0D0#article

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RE: Beat Cal - chrisk - 11-14-2021

Cal 4 point favorites

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RE: Beat Cal - Canalejas - 11-14-2021

So they've been cleared to play?

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RE: Beat Cal - CowboyIndian - 11-14-2021

(11-14-2021, 05:44 PM)82lsju Wrote:  [font=Arial]Forty five fearless Stanford students today invaded this town, ascended its Loaning Tower,

The REAL "Loaning Tower" of Pisa...

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RE: Beat Cal - Phogge - 11-14-2021

When I read Eric's post I told myself that CI was going to make a crack.

Some things are timeless... CI's cool humor and Stanford football being a yo-yo of success/failure.

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RE: Beat Cal - 82lsju - 11-14-2021

Quote:Big Game Pranks 1959

The Campanile went Stanford yesterday.

For about 15 minutes at noon, California's answer to Hoover Tower sported a 100-foot-long banner that loudly proclaimed "Beat Cal" in bright red letters. Ten Stanford jokesters aided by two ex-Stanfordites now doing grad work at Cal, pulled off the gag. And they escaped without so much as a suspicious look from anybody at Cal.

https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1959/11/20?page=5&section=MODSMD_ARTICLE8&fbclid=IwAR3uGFWtzP-F9fAsnT3ZEJTDIALEQss4wCIapk6GREIueAMPW3Q8EcMjAvw#article

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pasportsfan - PAsportsfan - 11-14-2021

(11-14-2021, 07:01 PM)82lsju Wrote:  

Quote:Big Game Pranks 1959

The Campanile went Stanford yesterday.

For about 15 minutes at noon, California's answer to Hoover Tower sported a 100-foot-long banner that loudly proclaimed "Beat Cal" in bright rod letters. Ten Stanford jokesters aided by two ex-Stanfordites now doing grad work at Cal, pulled off the gag. And they escaped without so much as a suspicious look from anybody at Cal.

https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1959/11/20?page=5&section=MODSMD_ARTICLE8&fbclid=IwAR3uGFWtzP-F9fAsnT3ZEJTDIALEQss4wCIapk6GREIueAMPW3Q8EcMjAvw#article

In 3…2…1…

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RE: Beat Cal - 82lsju - 11-17-2021

history of Axe thefts and liberations

https://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/11/22/two-of-the-infamous-three-reflect-on-last-successful-axe-theft/?fbclid=IwAR2suQSOcsb7JjLKF0S8Vkxb41YhKobCAb9xWfWDIk4iMB9HrxJHACD96iw

most famous Axe liberation in 1930



https://stanfordmag.org/contents/the-last-of-the-21?fbclid=IwAR0DOZOMdxuFLL-lMFd-McC2xkSb46dGrw2qSlEKcEhQlCMT6C5fXVavUCM

most recent Axe liberation in 1973



https://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/11/22/two-of-the-infamous-three-reflect-on-last-successful-axe-theft/?fbclid=IwAR2suQSOcsb7JjLKF0S8Vkxb41YhKobCAb9xWfWDIk4iMB9HrxJHACD96iw

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RE: Beat Cal - Spiny_Norman - 11-17-2021

On the occasion of the 100th Big Game in 1997, someone made a video of the history of Big Game. While 1982 and 1990 are prominent, there are plenty of other historic highlights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVy2IMLVdd4

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RE: Beat Cal - 82lsju - 11-17-2021

1991 Big Game, who else remembers Bob Whitfield flipping off the Cal sideline??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKxG2plNRMQ

and after we won did Brian Treggs ever move to Palo Alto??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liO4n7rortg

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RE: Beat Cal - Austroturf - 11-17-2021

In the last 60 Big Games, the record is 40-19-1 in favor of Stanford.  

Little known fact: Berkeley is in the East Bay, but is west of Palo Alto.

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RE: Beat Cal - 82lsju - 11-17-2021

(11-17-2021, 02:25 PM)Austroturf Wrote:  In the last 60 Big Games, the record is 40-19-1 in favor of Stanford.  

Little known fact: Berkeley is in the East Bay, but is west of Palo Alto.

More Big Game Trivia
Q1:  When was the first Big Game:  1892.  Stanford won 14–10
Q2:  Stanford Big Game record:  65–47–11
Q3:  Longest Big Game winning streak:  Stanford, 9 (2010–2018)
Q4:  Largest Big Game Victory:  Stanford, 63–13 (2013)
 
Big Game related trivia
Q1:  Last Stanford Rose Bowl appearance – 2016
Q2:  Last Stanford Rose Bowl win – 2016
Q3:  Last Cal Rose Bowl appearance – 1959
Q4:  Last Cal Rose Bowl win - 1938

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and another Big Game moment in 1988 when Tuan Van Le blocked a Cal field goal attempt to preserve the tie and retain the Axe!!!

https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1988/11/21?page=1&section=MODSMD_ARTICLE1&fbclid=IwAR2mua4JsXIDiyPbKSIKoSNj3Mw739M5VM89kDFS3efG_5vAzHS6WEqonSM#article

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RE: Beat Cal - teejers1 - 11-17-2021

(11-17-2021, 12:38 PM)82lsju Wrote:  1991 Big Game, who else remembers Bob Whitfield flipping off the Cal sideline??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKxG2plNRMQ

and after we won did Brian Treggs ever move to Palo Alto??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liO4n7rortg

80,000+ strong in the Old Lady.  
Offenses that were dynamic and mixed things up.
People who cared.
[Whimsical sigh].

What's that old saying? . . . "All good things . . . "

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RE: Beat Cal - 82lsju - 11-17-2021

Hal Mikelson's Stanford Axe Speech

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMo0OgX46qk

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RE: Beat Cal - Spiny_Norman - 11-17-2021

More recent Big Game highlights too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NaA0lR45LY

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Big Game goats (not the greatest of all time variety) from both sides - https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/BIG-GOATS-OF-THE-BIG-GAME-Herbert-Hoover-3020427.php

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RE: Beat Cal - Farm93 - 11-17-2021

(11-17-2021, 02:36 PM)teejers1 Wrote:  80,000+ strong in the Old Lady.  
Offenses that were dynamic and mixed things up.
People who cared.
[Whimsical sigh].

What's that old saying? . . . "All good things . . . "

Those days of packed stadiums and the entire Bay Area following Big Game week activities are long, long gone and they will not return simply by changing the offense.    Most people in the Bay Area didn't care when Stanford went to the Rose Bowl 3 out of 4 years when that happened just a few years ago.   

If that happened back in the Green era the entire Bay Area would have covered that very differently.  Though Green would have still left because that is what successful non-alum coaches do.   They come to show they can coach and after one or two successful seasons they leave (see...Walsh I, Green, Harbaugh)

It would be nice to have a more dynamic offense that is not so predictable just by watching the people that come in from the sideline, but even that would "only" get Stanford a chance at more wins.   The big crowds and an entire Bay Area passionately following Stanford or Big Game are not returning. 

FWIW - I was SHOCKED to see Penn State had some empty seats in their game against Michigan last Saturday.   If Michigan at Penn State can no longer easily pack a stadium, there are bigger national trends that will continue to make that non-HD yesteryear footage of the 1991 Big Game seem like very ancient history.

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RE: Beat Cal - 82lsju - 11-17-2021

Casey Moore's "Run for the Roses" in Big Game 1999!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOzRGH_8Ops&fbclid=IwAR3qO3iBJ-aoGgCM70_74JqGM0cxFnR5BZdc11Vy165dXp2MsetpkoNkGNM

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RE: Beat Cal - jacket3ree - 11-17-2021

Random you kids get off my lawn memories from Big Games of yore. I probably don't have some of the years right.

First (1985) - Fun time in SF the night before hanging with a bunch of Stanford and Cal grad students, because we rode that weird lab bus between campuses together. Rolled directly from the City off-gassing alcohol right into the stadium.  First time Stanford Stadium was full that year, and was it loud. Mostly the Cal section to be candid. Weird game where Stanford was way ahead and Cal came storming back as their fans roared. Cal missed an extra point or something as the gray sky overhead started to really threaten. Checked out parties around campus and realized there really was something different about being a grad student, even if I was younger than some of the undergrads. That gray sky became a full-on monsoon, there was a dance with your date exchange of sorts, things got weird, and I ended up driving a very nice young woman back to Berkeley in my Sirocco. (Amy or Naomi, something like that.) Ended up with a case of mono that lasted through finals. 

First in Berkeley (1986) - I was a working stiff living with grad students at a place we called "The Swamp" and we went over to watch what should have been an easy Stanford win over hapless 1-9 Cal with Zippergate raging and Kapp on his way out.  Hey maybe we'll run into Amy/Naomi.... Fire Jack Elway!

First while dating Calfan (1987) - Easy Stanford romp in beautiful sunshine and a full crowd.  I went over to the Cal section looking for her and her family. Never found her. Someone told me and my red T-shirt to go back to hell.  "Huh, Mountain View isn't that bad."

Almost killed a marriage before it started (1988) - Tuan Van Le blocks the kick to preserve a tie in a really poorly played game. I mean Snyder had them center the ball inside the ten for the winning field goal, and Stanford blocked it.  I was a little too exuberant sitting deep in the Bear Backer section on the 50.  Got it together enough to realize it was just a freaking tie and hopefully that would be it for Elway. It was.

1989 - Fire Ants under the lights!

1990 - Now married to CalFan and sitting in those same seats. During the penultimate drive I knew Stanford was going to win. Hardy intercepts. I still knew Stanford was going to win. Are you kidding, 12 seconds, in Berkeley, and fans are on the field? I even said out loud "game's not over, Stanford is winning this one."  I was laughed out of the stadium by everyone within ten seats to the side and in front, and the five in back. My mother in law said "I'm afraid you're right."  Long silent ride for some in that Pontiac Grand Prix (the one my late father in law would bust out for special occasions). Short silent ride for this guy.  To this day, one of the best football games I've seen.

1991 - One of two times both Cal and Stanford were good. Cal is going to circle the stadium twice with the axe and head back to Berkeley and Treggs will move to Palo Alto if the unthinkable happens. It does.  Touchdown Tommy just destroys Cal. Flopping like beaten fishes on the sun dappled late afternoon turf. Rode on a train full of CalFans back up the Peninsula. They were beaten.  Gave a coke to some kid in blue and gold.

1992 - Easy Walsh win. FIL makes us leave at halftime. Thought about protesting and finding my own way home, which would have been easy on transit, but CalFanWife shot me a look that said "pack up your things".

1998 - Explaining what "Fox Stanford" meant to my four year old.  I have to say that dragging a toe headed kid dressed head to toe in blue and gold while wearing red on BART and walking up Strawberry Canyon was something I should have done while single. Awesome play call in OT, which I believe was the first overtime Big Game.

1999 - Casey Moore puts away the Fightin' Deltha O'Neils, baskets of roses appear, my daughter exclaims "Wait, this means we get to go to Disneyland, right Daddy?" and the cadre of former Dollies we'd been sitting next to for ten years give her a big group hug. "Yes, yes it does!"

2004 - Teevens' last game. Cal was five orders of magnitude better. Some Stanford guy with a dirty headhunting hit on a punt returner. This has to be the all time nadir. Sitting away from the fam, but nothing but Cal fans around us. Told them to have fun in Pasadena; I was looking forward to going.  A week or three later, I'm on a ladder installing canned lights in the new addition I was building and heard my wife scream from the front room. I don't even remember where they went and to whom they lost.  That Texas-USC Rose Bowl was a classic!

2007 - Son gives his grandfather the business in Harbaugh's first year.  Had a teaching moment.

2009 - My last BG as a season ticket holder. With the son playing football, it was just too hard to make all the games. And they were really, really good after I dropped the tix, so I went with it. We did go whenever we could, and went to that BG with one of his teammates (now a journalist / KNBR personality) and dad. The second of two times both Cal and Stanford were good at the same time. Gerhart! Right in front of us - all we've gotta do is pound it in. They are gassed!  And then......thud.

2010 - My father in law's last Big Game while walking this mortal coil. Horrible for him.

2013 - 63 to whatever.  Son and a bunch of Middies are staying at our house because Navy played SJSU the night before. Triple OT thriller, Keenan Reynolds set some crazy TD record, on the way home we found out SI beat Mitty (?) to advance in the CCS and the Mids were really, really looking forward to "big time college football" on Saturday because I bought tickets for all of them. ("Big time?" You guys go to Army-Navy every year.  "No, big time!" OK.) A Rose Bowl was on the line, Stanford was in the top ten or so, and plenty of seats were available. We met up with some of his high school baseball teammates at a Cal 'gater. They knew what was coming and never went inside. Son says it was so lifeless in the stadium, they left early. My wife made us leave at the first score in the third quarter or when Goff was destroyed. I didn't even argue.  Knew then, that no matter how well Stanford played, or how exciting it was, Palo Alto would never be mistaken for Ann Arbor or Auburn.

2020 - I was setting up new hi-fi stuff and occasionally watched the game.  Wife turned it off real quick at the end.

What will 2021 bring?

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RE: Beat Cal - teejers1 - 11-17-2021

(11-17-2021, 06:19 PM)Farm93 Wrote:  It would be nice to have a more dynamic offense that is not so predictable just by watching the people that come in from the sideline, but even that would "only" get Stanford a chance at more wins.   The big crowds and an entire Bay Area passionately following Stanford or Big Game are not returning. 

Thank you, Captain Obvious!

Tell me, do you think crowds of 45K at Stanford are also never coming back?  (I'd happily settle for that in the not-too-distant future).  Is 2009/11/13 too far and is also never coming back?

I'm expecting maybe 25K for Saturday, and that's if some Cal die-hards rally.
Half-full in a pint-sized stadium . . .

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RE: Beat Cal - BostonCard - 11-17-2021

Never is a long time, so I would venture that we will probably see better crowds again if/when we have a team on the field.  But the long term trends are not good, and If I were a betting man, I’d say that this will someday be the new normal.  Of course, I would have said that “mom jeans” were never coming back, but I would have been wrong.  And I still believe that, against trend, Shaw could get Stanford football back on track.  So, maybe?

BC

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