[Canalejas]

It would be interesting to view the responses to this question through a generational lens.  I suspect older posters have some sentimental attachments to the Big Game and younger posters don’t give a rats behind about it.

Speaking for myself, at one time, it was the biggest sporting event in the Bay Area every year.  I looked forward to it annually with a great deal of anticipation. Once the league scheduled the game in October, I realized the end was near.  Now, that end has arrived.  It is no longer part of either school’s season ticket package, it no longer is an automatic sellout (those days of 90+K at Stanford and 76+K, including field bleachers, at  Berkeley are a distant memory), it is no longer a great experience with unexpected off-field craziness.  Nothing lasts forever.  I’m glad I had a chance to see 50 of the games (1960-2009).

  

I like this idea of the generational lens.  

I wonder if there might also be any differences based on where we grew up, and if we attended public high schools.  

I went to a more than decent public high school in the LA suburbs during the late 90s. For most of my time there I was certain that I'd go to Cal. Maybe UCLA, but more than likely Cal.  But then I got that early admit big envelope and I got to wear red instead of blue. But dozens of my friends and classmates did indeed go on to Berkeley and Westwood. So it was particularly easy for me to make a Big deal out of the rivalry.

Meanwhile, I found that some of my new friends on the Farm came in without any strong feelings about Cal, no ties to that other school at all. Because why would they? They were from other states and had mostly applied to private schools.  Berkeley was never on their radar. The rivalry was just about some nearby school and they weren't into football anyway.  

Has the profile of our admits changed at all over the decades? Are there fewer Californians? Or at least fewer that attended public high schools? Just a thought.

[Canalejas]

It would be interesting to view the responses to this question through a generational lens.  I suspect older posters have some sentimental attachments to the Big Game and younger posters don’t give a rats behind about it.

Speaking for myself, at one time, it was the biggest sporting event in the Bay Area every year.  I looked forward to it annually with a great deal of anticipation. Once the league scheduled the game in October, I realized the end was near.  Now, that end has arrived.  It is no longer part of either school’s season ticket package, it no longer is an automatic sellout (those days of 90+K at Stanford and 76+K, including field bleachers, at  Berkeley are a distant memory), it is no longer a great experience with unexpected off-field craziness.  Nothing lasts forever.  I’m glad I had a chance to see 50 of the games (1960-2009).

  

I like this idea of the generational lens.  

I wonder if there might also be any differences based on where we grew up, and if we attended public high schools.  

I went to a more than decent public high school in the LA suburbs during the late 90s. For most of my time there I was certain that I'd go to Cal. Maybe UCLA, but more than likely Cal.  But then I got that early admit big envelope and I got to wear red instead of blue. But dozens of my friends and classmates did indeed go on to Berkeley and Westwood. So it was particularly easy for me to make a Big deal out of the rivalry.

Meanwhile, I found that some of my new friends on the Farm came in without any strong feelings about Cal, no ties to that other school at all. Because why would they? They were from other states and had mostly applied to private schools.  Berkeley was never on their radar. The rivalry was just about some nearby school and they weren't into football anyway.  

Has the profile of our admits changed at all over the decades? Are there fewer Californians? Or at least fewer that attended public high schools? Just a thought.