Yale vs. Harvard: 2017 vs. 2021

Ah, the “Game.” The smell of the grass, the roar of the crowd…

Every year, Harvard and Yale meet in a bloodthirsty football contest. Those not on the teams use the weekend as an excuse to stay up late, reconnect with old friends, and show the other school how to throw a party. As a super senior, I’ve witnessed FIVE iterations of the Game, each different from the next. My first year, in 2017, Yale hosted. In my last year, 2021, Yale also hosted. The following is a little reflection on those mirrored experiences. 

2017 marks the only Game I actually watched in its entirety. (Not because of disinterest, but because of logistics. The thinking-through of getting in and out of the Game is kind of nightmare.) And thank goodness I did! When Yale wins, fans storm the field and sing “Bright College Years,” our alma mater. We wave our little handkerchiefs in the air and boom out, “FOR GOOOOOOD, FOR COUNTRY…AND! FOR! YALE!” My thought is that you have to do the song and the waving and the handkerchief at least once. Just to say you did.

One huge mistake we made in 2017 was not walking. You really can walk from the center of campus to the Yale Bowl. It’s about a mile, and on a sunny autumn day, it’s beautiful. But we took the shuttle in 2017. There’s nothing necessarily WRONG with taking the shuttle, it’s just a little bit crowded and steamy and way longer than it needs to be because of the traffic. Honestly, this is incredibly important information that I’m giving you, and you should be very grateful to me. 


Sometimes, Harvard hosts the Game. Here we are in the Boston area in 2018, eating breakfast a diner where my friend’s sister worked. We did not actually attend the game this year, due to feeling intimidated by Fenway Park. But we did participate in the associated pre-Game revelry. 

Of course, the 2021 Game felt monumental because the Ivy League didn’t have a season last year. But the Game is such an important tradition that just because it wasn’t actually played in 2020 doesn’t mean it wasn’t celebrated in New Haven. For example, my friends decided to walk to a park (again, the walk is a really key part of the Game) and toss a football around. Even though I was in California, I got in on the action via FaceTime. I’m glad we didn’t have to do it like that this year, but I still feel happy when I see this picture:

Even though this year’s Game ended in disappointment, but it was still a really, really fun day. I like the walk to the Bowl so much that I made it twice: I got there, decided I needed a smoked salmon crispy roll from Maison Mathis, walked all the way back to Maison Mathis, and then walked back to the Game, at which point, my friends were leaving. Very sad.

However, the vibe of this weekend was unparalleled. Alumni were back in full force, and the streets were jammed with Harvard and Yale folks alike. Feeling the spirit on Friday and Saturday really reinforced something for me: even though this may be my last year as a Yale student, I will be back for the Game. Again and again and again!


2021