I'm a freshman at Yale and just went to my first Harvard-Yale football game. The weekend was one of my favorites at college so far.

Tue, 11/28/2023 - 13:17

Miles Kirkpatrick at yale football game — The author and his friends at the Yale-Harvard football game.
Courtesy of Samuel Johnson-Noya & Miles Kirkpatrick

I attended the famous Harvard-Yale football game as a Yale freshman for the first time.
I went tailgating, stripped in the stadium, and chanted as Yale won the game.
The rival weekend is one of my favorite events of college so far.

The Harvard-Yale rivalry is unlike any other, and as a Yale student, I recently learned firsthand just how deep this rivalry went.

The two schools are more known for producing academics than athletes, but for one weekend a year, we come together for one of the oldest college-football rivalry games.

The 139th iteration of The Game took place in November, and it was my first as a college freshman; the lead-up to the big game was also my first Harvard-Yale weekend.

Here's what the famous experience was like for me.

Harvard students started to arrive in New Haven the Friday before the game.

Miles Kirkpatrick and friend selfie — The author and one of his favorite Yale comedians at a comedy show.
Courtesy of Miles Kirkpatrick

Almost every performance group or club on my campus held a joint event or mixer. For example, the improv group I am a part of, the Purple Crayon, put on a joint show with a Yale sketch-comedy group, the Fifth Humour, and an improv group from Harvard, On Thin Ice.

I didn't know what to expect performing with a group from our rival school, but they were great. They were also funny, approachable, and personable before, during, and after the show. I almost forgot that we went to different universities.

On game day, my residential college embarked on a grueling 30-plus minute walk to the stadium.

yale students standing in a crowd — Saybrugians walking to the Yale Bowl.
Courtesy of Miles Kirkpatrick

While Yale had shuttles taking students from the main campus to the stadium, members of my residential college, Saybrook, met up in our courtyard to walk over to the stadium two hours before the noon kickoff. We all wanted to get good seats in the student section.

The walk over was grueling. I'd never had to walk more than 15 minutes to get around campus, but we were all in fairly good spirits. This was a large crowd of college students who knew each other, so most of the walk was spent chatting with friends and making score predictions.

Once there, my friends and I decided to check out some of the tailgating.

a crowd of harvard students tailgating — The Harvard tailgate section.
Courtesy of Miles Kirkpatrick

With a little under an hour until the start of the game, we wandered outside the Yale Bowl, accidentally walking into the Harvard tailgates before eventually making our way to the Yale section.

My friends and I got some bagels and hot chocolate from an Olmo Bagels tent, and some other folks we knew got food from some people tailgating. But by the time we got our wits about us, it was time to head in.

After briefly tailgating, I headed into the stadium.

inside the yale stadium — The Yale Bowl.
Courtesy of Miles Kirkpatrick

The Yale Bowl is a uniquely constructed stadium. It feels like you're walking into a crater with a football field in the center of it.

The Saybrook advanced guard had already gotten a few seats in the front of the student section, and my group filed in behind it — only about five rows back from the first row. Our tickets were free, and guest student-section tickets were $25, while general admission behind the end zones was $35.

With tailgates still going strong outside, the stadium was nearly empty when the teams first came out. But as the game picked up, the stadium filled up.

It took a minute for some of my friends to get the hang of things.

selfie of yale students at game — Me and my fellow Saybrook first years at the game.
Courtesy of Samuel Johnson-Noya

I grew up watching football, but a few of my friends had yet to see a complete game in person. For the first half, my friends, who also knew the rules, and I had to occasionally explain the concept of special teams and how to tell when someone earned a first down.

We came up with chants during the game.

stadium filled with harvard students — The Harvard section was full.
Courtesy of Miles Kirkpatrick

After my fellow Yalies got up to speed, and the Harvard students made it into the stadium, we had fun watching the game and coming up with chants.

One of my favorites was: "We can kick." That came as Harvard suffered two blocked punts.

Toward the end of the game, I engaged in a strange tradition — stripping.

yale students holding their sneakers in the air — The signal for the Saybrook strip.
Courtesy of Miles Kirkpatrick

With two minutes to go in the third quarter, much to the confusion of unaware spectators, all the Saybrugians at the front of the student section took off and raised our shoes. This was a sign the strip was about to begin.

A yearly tradition at The Game — kicked off by the raising of shoes and a wonderful chant — Saybrook College, in a moment of collective euphoria/psychosis, strips and cheers at the end of the third quarter. We all stripped down to our underwear. Most people wore Saybrook-themed undergarments because our college office sold Sayboxers and Saybras. Why? Tradition.

This tradition is what Saybrook College is most known for, and it's why we made sure to get seats in the front of the student section.

When Yale won, we stormed the field.

yale students storming the stadium — The frenzied, blurred chaos of storming the field.
Courtesy of Miles Kirkpatrick

The Harvard side fought well, and the game was close throughout, but Yale ultimately prevailed 23 to 18.

Winning a share of the Ivy League title and triumphing in one of the most iconic rivalry games in college football were cause for storming the field, so that's what we did.

As I walked back to campus, I realized this rivalry game was one of my favorite events of freshman year so far.

harvard and yale students in crowds — Harvard and Yale students intermingled after the game.
Courtesy of Miles Kirkpatrick

On the way back from the game, walking in a large crowd of Harvard and Yale students, I talked to one of my friends about the nature of the weekend and the rivalry at large.

We realized the Yale-Harvard relationship was a rivalry painted over a friendship, and a friendship painted over a rivalry. To the extent we dislike the other, it's that we see the things we dislike in ourselves reflected in us. But because we're so similar, there isn't much deeply held disdain compared with other rivalries.

This complex relationship enables the totality of the weekend, from the joint shows to the football jeers. I don't think there's another rivalry like the one between Harvard and Yale, where within a matter of hours, we can go from sharing a stage and laughing together to shouting (correctly) with all our might: "Harvard sucks!"

I loved every second of it.

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I'm a freshman at Yale and just went to my first Harvard-Yale football game. Th…