Big fans of 'Big Game'

As a kid from the Midwest, I was brought up to believe that big-time college football wars were always fought by the gridiron giants of Michigan, Ohio State, and Notre Dame. Even my alma mater, Michigan State, could field a pretty fair bunch of bruisers on occasion (although the folks down the road in Ann Arbor could never quite bring themselves to admit it).

Some 40 years later, I finally began to admit that the "Big Ten" schools are not the only places where football is played. Even places such as Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida, I discovered, could lay claim to impressive football traditions and the teams to back them up.

My final revelation came on a warm California afternoon in November 2002, while attending "Big Game" for the first time. It was then that I realized that the California Golden Bears and the Stanford Cardinal have taken competition and college rivalry to the ultimate ridiculous – but enjoyable – extreme.

My first clue that a unique experience was at hand came when my hostess, a dyed-in-the-wool Cal supporter (UC Berkeley class of '62), informed me that those in the know never use the word "the" before "Big Game" to refer to the upcoming contest. This game, she explained, exists at a higher level than all other important football contests being played around the country, and therefore it was not just the big game, it was "Big Game" – a game without equal!

Tailgate parties were not "in" back in my college days. As a matter of fact, we generally regarded alumni and their ilk as creatures from another world, to be avoided at all costs. At Big Game parties on the Berkeley campus, however, students, alums, and fans of all ages mingled together in Faculty Glade and along the tree-lined esplanade before Campanile, the campus bell tower.

Pregame festivities are the place where everyone gets in the proper frame of mind for the coming event – even fans need to get "up" for a game of this magnitude. Hordes of those faithful to Cal (the public university) reclined on blankets and feasted on hot dogs and sandwiches. We felt sure that those in the opposition camp (the private university for the scions of shameless wealth) were dining on caviar, crab, and other exotic seafood in an adjoining area – a fact that was never fully confirmed, though some crab legs were spotted during a brief reconnaissance.

The opponents and their supporters were often referred to as "Brie heads" (another scurrilous reference to their perceived economic status), while the home team and university were referred to only with greatest pride and respect.

Page: 1 | 2