I was at the game which ended "the streak." It was not at all "packed," and word had not spread down to campus that we might win one finally, thereby jamming the subway cars heading uptown. I'd be very surprised if there were more than 2000 total fans in the stadium, including on the visitor's side.
The actual campus afterwards, did, however, somewhat resemble a kind of Viking celebration of the sack of someplace wimpish and full of helpless monks like Iona. Even the most apparent nerds seemed to go wild. The win became a huge bandwagon to jump up on and it was probably a long, long night for many students. But that was hours later. Up at Baker Field, there seemed t be some degree of shellshock, of PTSD, for a few minutes that we;d actually just won, and against then-hated Princeton.
I remember the actual game day as gray and muggy. (Though I could of course be wrong after all that time.) Evevn the light blue jerseys seemed flimsy and un-threatening. A feeble breeze seemed to suck all the energy out from the field below. But there was a win that day, by God, and I remember four guys who were sitting in front of me, who'd in fct come south by subway from Manhattan College. "I'm glad we came today," one said. "We really didn't expect this."
But then, after 44 straight, not too many save the players on the field did.
Wow, very well described! In my day at CU nerds were called "pears" -- for the characteristic shape many of them had. The study room in Hartley Hall was the pear palace.
I remember ecstatic chaos. As soon as the final whistle blew, a large crowd of Columbia fans on the field dancing, shouting, leaping around like lunatics, including me. Then the goalposts coming down quickly...pure joy. Afterwards, stopping on the drive home to buy champagne.
It'll be nice to feel that bliss again, but not only after long losing streaks.
I took my daughter to that game. She was 8 years old. After Princeton missed their last-second FG attempt to win the game, the stands erupted and fans stormed the field, tearing down both goalposts.
I believe the home stands were fairly full (Homecoming?), although as usual there was a dearth of visitors. But the enthusiasm grew throughout the game until the final explosion.
Since this was Kate's first college game, she was left with the impression that all games were like this one. She loved it.
Kudos to Mitch S for reminding me of the ubiquitous Columbia "pear". I used to think that the characteristic pear shape was the hallmark of a disproportionate number of Bronx Science graduates in the College, and that it was a look which was taught there in a special food science course for Columbia bound seniors.
You reminded me, Dawg, that our daughter was a Columbia freshman that fall and we stopped at 116th to pick her up that day for her first game. Fortunately she's not easily spoiled, but she's seen a few more nice wins since and some not-so-nice games too. Right now, I just want THIS streak to end.
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Jake, our former QB coach John DeFilippo is now the OC of the Browns.
I was at the game which ended "the streak." It was not at all "packed," and word had not spread down to campus that we might win one finally, thereby jamming the subway cars heading uptown. I'd be very surprised if there were more than 2000 total fans in the stadium, including on the visitor's side.
The actual campus afterwards, did, however, somewhat resemble a kind of Viking celebration of the sack of someplace wimpish and full of helpless monks like Iona. Even the most apparent nerds seemed to go wild. The win became a huge bandwagon to jump up on and it was probably a long, long night for many students. But that was hours later. Up at Baker Field, there seemed t be some degree of shellshock, of PTSD, for a few minutes that we;d actually just won, and against then-hated Princeton.
I remember the actual game day as gray and muggy. (Though I could of course be wrong after all that time.) Evevn the light blue jerseys seemed flimsy and un-threatening. A feeble breeze seemed to suck all the energy out from the field below. But there was a win that day, by God, and I remember four guys who were sitting in front of me, who'd in fct come south by subway from Manhattan College. "I'm glad we came today," one said. "We really didn't expect this."
But then, after 44 straight, not too many save the players on the field did.
Wow, very well described! In my day at CU
nerds were called "pears" -- for the
characteristic shape many of them had.
The study room in Hartley Hall was the
pear palace.
Mitch S
68CC
I was also there. Became uncontrollably festive downtown later at the Manhattan brewery with 4 others from '82.
To be fair I think the crowd did swell by a few hundred in the second half. But the volume of cheers tripled.
I remember ecstatic chaos. As soon as the final whistle blew, a large crowd of Columbia fans on the field dancing, shouting, leaping around like lunatics, including me. Then the goalposts coming down quickly...pure joy. Afterwards, stopping on the drive home to buy champagne.
It'll be nice to feel that bliss again, but not only after long losing streaks.
I took my daughter to that game. She was 8 years old. After Princeton missed their last-second FG attempt to win the game, the stands erupted and fans stormed the field, tearing down both goalposts.
I believe the home stands were fairly full (Homecoming?), although as usual there was a dearth of visitors. But the enthusiasm grew throughout the game until the final explosion.
Since this was Kate's first college game, she was left with the impression that all games were like this one. She loved it.
Kudos to Mitch S for reminding me of the ubiquitous Columbia "pear". I used to think that the characteristic pear shape was the hallmark of a disproportionate number of Bronx Science graduates in the College, and that it was a look which was taught there in a special food science course for Columbia bound seniors.
You reminded me, Dawg, that our daughter was a Columbia freshman that fall and we stopped at 116th to pick her up that day for her first game. Fortunately she's not easily spoiled, but she's seen a few more nice wins since and some not-so-nice games too.
Right now, I just want THIS streak to end.
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