11-22-2019, 10:47 PM
Tomorrow will be my 48th Big Game. I started when I was in high school. Stanford's record in the games I've seen: 30-16-1.
I know this is somewhat of an odd choice, but I think my favorite was 1978. My senior year, so I knew this was my last as a student and I made sure I would enjoy it fully. Our dorm had a chartered bus, so we partied both to and from Berkeley. I smuggled in some bottle rockets and fired them off after each Stanford touchdown till I ran out. Bill Walsh, who we knew he was destined for the NFL, showed his genius. And Darrin Nelson was to this game what Christian McCaffrey was to the 2016 Rose Bowl - unstoppable with each touch. Curiously, even the Cal PA announcer gave him his due - he stated, in the second quarter after another big run, that "Nelson has 130 yards on nine carries".
Least favorite - perhaps a tie for 1980 and 1986. Both teams were ginormous favorites and had no business losing. And both teams mailed it in....
(I won't mention 2004 as the worst, because we all had the same thought: Beat Cal. or get blown out. The latter was the only way Ted Leland would be forced to get rid of his crony hire.)
I know this is somewhat of an odd choice, but I think my favorite was 1978. My senior year, so I knew this was my last as a student and I made sure I would enjoy it fully. Our dorm had a chartered bus, so we partied both to and from Berkeley. I smuggled in some bottle rockets and fired them off after each Stanford touchdown till I ran out. Bill Walsh, who we knew he was destined for the NFL, showed his genius. And Darrin Nelson was to this game what Christian McCaffrey was to the 2016 Rose Bowl - unstoppable with each touch. Curiously, even the Cal PA announcer gave him his due - he stated, in the second quarter after another big run, that "Nelson has 130 yards on nine carries".
Least favorite - perhaps a tie for 1980 and 1986. Both teams were ginormous favorites and had no business losing. And both teams mailed it in....
(I won't mention 2004 as the worst, because we all had the same thought: Beat Cal. or get blown out. The latter was the only way Ted Leland would be forced to get rid of his crony hire.)