The Bunnies Tackle Kirkland

Early this month, I met my freshman roommate in front of Kirkland House, and we began talking about the usual things. Our discussion turned to football. I told him that the Leverett House tackle football team was going to romp over the Kirkland team, his House squad. "Are you kidding?" he said incredulously. "We were the champions last year and you're not going to beat us."

Having full confidence in my House team, I was ready to wager some money. After all, the Bunnies would have Joe Roda at quarterback, a backfield perhaps second only to the JV's and a bunch of my friends and former roommates, who if drunk enough, would play anyone, including the Minnesota Vikings. I had no doubt in my mind that they would give anybody a good game. Bill refused to bet, but as he was walking away, he yelled a warning. "Just be at the game a couple of weeks from now, and we will see who the best team is."

The Suicide Squad

I forgot about the game, until Sunday night when one of the members of the Bunny suicide squad told me about the encounter. "The guys are really psyched for this one," he said. "We're really going to beat them."

Indeed the team was so high that they didn't get drunk or stoned that night. While House tackle football is not considered a serious activity by a large part of the Harvard community, there are many former high school football players who do not feel committed to play varsity football, but who nevertheless enjoy the sport. "A lot of us dig playing football," Mark Faller, one of the Crimson's best wrestlers, told me last night. "It is a great way to play a hard contact sport, without the worry about getting hurt."

Competition Is Tough

Nearly every House has at least one or two players who could or who have started on the varsity, and at least four House teams could give some small college teams a real battle. The competition is so tough this year that four teams are still undefeated. "The teams that are usually weak are stronger this year, and the tough teams have also added some strength," Faller said.

The Leverett and Kirkland teams are among the four best. Many followers of the House football circuit figured that the battle between both of these powers would decide the championship. And at least 27 people were around the field when the teams came running out of the field-house, Leverett in pale green uniforms with 1950's helmets, some in red but some repainted in green with a golden playboy bunny stenciled on the side. The Kirkland team, much more serious, was dressed in red jerseys with matching stockings.

Pass Interference?

For three-and-a-half quarters, the Leverett team was clearly superior. The Bunnies scored the second time they had the ball, but failed to score after that even though they had several chances. Kirkland came alive in the last few minutes, and with the help of a couple of dubious pass interference calls by the referees, managed to go all the way for a score. So like many of the great football battles of the last half century-Notre Dame VS. Michingan State in '66, Harvard VS. Yale in '68, etc.-it ended in a tie.