Back to the Bowl: The Game '21

With comfort the pandemic of 2020 might be behind us, Yale and Harvard fans flocked to the Yale Bowl in surprising numbers Nov. 20 for the 137th edition of That Game. 

The Game of 2020 was canceled, of course, as the Ivy League elected not to have a season. The Game was on hold, and there wasn't a chance to re-live the memorable moments of The Game of 2019, a contest Yale won in glorious and historical fashion under dark skies in extra periods. 

In 2021, Yale athletic officials prepared well for a bounce-back affair. They had installed portable lights just in case This Game went into strands of overtime. And they welcomed back alumni, students, local residents and all others interested in gridiron matters tied to Yale and Harvard. 

The announced crowd, 49,500, crammed into the old Bowl. Most, as usual, don't bother to enter the old stadium until officials shut down tailgate. Still, it felt like a Yale-Harvard game, not a slimmed down version of what most alumni know well. 

The crowds returned, but so did the traditions so tailored to the rivalry:  the familiar chants between student sections, the comedic attempts to entertain by the respective bands, the fourth-quarter strip from those who claim to be from Saybrook College, the white hankerchiefs waved during the playing of Bright College Years, the storming of the field by students from the winning school. 

And there is the usual tradition of the two squads battling back and forth until the end. One takes the lead and grabs the momentum. A half-quarter later, the other stages a comeback. And on and on until the final stanza.

In the 2021 version of back-and-forth, Yale scored a fourth-quarter touchdown, and the Blue side let out a roar that soared beyond the Bowl's rims. The Bulldogs were in front, 31-27. With two minutes to go, the Yale crowd sensed a victory; players began to leap and roam the sidelines with joy.

But as in many Games in the past, the bizarre unfolds. With seconds to go, the Crimson marched swiftly down the field as it had done in 1968 and in 1974 and in pick-any-other-year. Receivers find pathways to get open. Receivers catch passes that had been dropped in the first half. And a receiver squirms beyond a Yale defender to catch the game-winning pass with 21 seconds to go. Harvard clinched the victory, 34-31. 

A painful, debilitating loss for the Yale side. But a hidden smile because The Game returned with the annual pleasures that accompany the late-autumn ritual. 

Reunion Season, 2019

If it's late May, early June at Yale, it's reunion season in New Haven. Flocks of alumni return to campus, sometimes to check on the state of Yale, sometimes to relive what occurred decades ago. Often to pretend to be 21 again.

In 2019, it was the year of reunions for the Nines and Fours, classes from 1954 (and before!) to 2014. Classmates flooded New Haven in two successive weekends and took over residential colleges, where Yale Alumni Association (yes, what many still refer to as "AYA") officials helped arranged non-stop activity, which now includes seminars, TED talks, and open houses at cultural houses. Old Whiffenpoofs reunite to croon to cheerful audiences at Woolsey. Old Yale Daily News editors ponder the state of journalism. Bright College Years (with waving white handkerchiefs) is sung throughout the weekend in tents and in dining halls.

During reunions and after graduation, the campus is often polished, clean, and well-decorated with flower beds and blue-and-white alumni signage.  While traditional reunion spot Commons is under reconstruction, alumni have new buildings to check out--including the two new residential colleges Franklin and Pauli Murray up Science Hill and the new home for the School of Management.

For just a few hours on a spring weekend (where weather in New Haven finally cooperated this year), alumni forget it's 2019 and feel like 21 again.

Jonathan Edwards Weekend at Yale

College reunions are now fashionable.  A new Yale tradition? Over 400 alumni and guests and 100 students helped celebrate Jonathan Edwards College. (Yale photo)

Is there a new trend for reunions on campus at Yale?  A new form of reunioning? A different type of Yale tradition?  In September, JE held an all-class reunion weekend filled with panels, presentations, and parties. It marked the fourth time a college had staged a celebration for alumni to come back en masse. (Stiles, Pierson, and Calhoun beat JE to the task.)  Classes from the 1940's to the present attended. They mingled, shared inside JE stories and memories, and reflected on what makes the college special or different. And they sang, since some alumni pronounced JE the "music college."

Some may have reviewed the Bladderball incident of the 1970's, where an accidental puncture of the ball ended the campus-wide game and, some contend, led to the demise of a Yale tradition. That led to a popular campus nickname for JE teams. Today JE students are the "Spiders."

An impressive list of JE alums appeared for JE Weekend, still beholden to what JE stands for and to the virtues of residential-college life. A U.S. senator (Amy Klobuchar '82) joined her JE-mates.  A college president (Marvin Krislov '82, '84JD) returned to celebrate JE, too.  Over 400 alumni and guests returned to campus. And of course, several Westchester alumni were in attendance (including three YWAA board members). English professor Penelope Laurans is the current JE master. Miko McGinty '93, '98MFA and Jonathan Dach '08, '13JD were co-chairs.

The weekend activities culminated in a gala dinner in Commons and the singing of the "JE Anthem." Yes, there is one.

Reunion Weekend, 2014

Yale Whiffenpoofs, from the Classes of '49 to '99, took the stage at Woolsey Hall (top)during the first weekend of reunions in New Haven (YWAA photos)

YALE REUNIONS, 2014

The moment when graduating students and parents cry one last set of tears and scatter toward new life phases, Yale disassembles the big stage on Old Campus and prepares for successive weekends of reunions. This year, the classes of the Nines and Fours returned to New Haven for another attempt to recreate bright college years. Old cliques reform, and stories are retold or reshaped.  'Hounies band together.  Former Daily News editors recall anxious all-nighters. Old football players rehash one more time a Harvard-Yale game on a cold field.  

JE is still the popular target of inter-college taunts. Science Hill is still thought to be too far from Cross Campus. Many exclaim they could never get admitted today with admit rates so imperceptibly low. Most can't believe what tuition rates have climbed to. Old Whiffs lead classes in a resounding rendition of Bright College Years.  Yet to the glee of all, old buildings, now spruced up for another few decades, still stand and conjure precious memories. 

This year Yale classes of the Nines and Fours gathered. Above, the Class of '49 was headquartered in JE College, the Class of '79 in Timothy Dwight, the Class of '84 in Davenport, the Class of '94 in Siliman, and the Class of '99 in Branford.

Twelve members of the Whiffenpoofs '79 (above, L) performed for members of all reunion classes in Woolsey Hall. (YWAA photos)