Sports fans, sportswriters and athletes are all involved in the fabrication of myth. Past contests, battles ingrained in athletic lore, become legendary over time. Usually, it takes many years and many remembered and enhanced details for one particular event to be spun into the fabric of sports legend.

The November gathering of two teams on a playing field in either New Haven, Conn. or Cambridge, the complete spectacle that accompanies the football contest known as The Game, has contributed more than its share of yarn. But in the 110 years that the Yale and Harvard eleven have faced each other, there is one game that stands out, one game that became legendary the second after the final two points made their way onto the scoreboard in The Stadium.

That Game happened in 1968. And on this, its 25th anniversary, it is time once more to piece together the scraps of paper that recount the story, to pour over photographs that capture the moments. In short, it is time unravel that Game's thread and in so doing strengthen its fabric.

With 3:31 remaining in the contest, it appears that Yale is on its way to its second straight win in The Game. The Bulldogs' amazing quarterback captain Brian Dowling has just tallied his second touchdown run of the day, and Yale's 29-13 lead seems altogether secure. The Old Blues wave the symbolic white handkerchiefs and chant "You're number two," as Harvard fans contemplate an early departure.

On the field, reserve signal-caller Frank Champi leads an offense missing captain Vic Gatto and starting halfback junior Ray Hornblower because of injuries.

With the ball on its own 12-yard line, the Crimson gets a drive going with a 17-yard gain on a reverse. A holding penalty erases the Elis' sack of Champi on the next play, and the quarterback from Everett. Mass. keeps the drive going when he finds junior Bruce Freeman for 17 more yards.

After an incomplete pass and a sack, however, Champi faces an imposing third and 18. As the play develops, fans in the stands, players and coaches on the sidelines begin to realize that something special is happening. Champi scrambles and eludes the Yale pass rush before lateraling the ball in the general direction of a Harvard player. The player who picks up the ball is tackle Fritz Reed. He gathers the bouncing sphere and makes his way 23 yards, just inside Yale's 20.

The Crimson cuts the Elis' lead to 10 points when Champi passes to Freeman for the score on the next play. Harvard needs the two-point conversion, and when Varney fails to catch Champi's pass, it looks as if Harvard's score will turn out to be mathematically futile. But the officials call pass interference on Yale and Harvard gets another chance. This time senior fullback Gus Crim plows his way in for the conversion.

The Crimson has cut Yale's insurmountable lead to eight points. Just eight points...

"The news hounds couldn't stop talking about that game back then, and until this day, they're still calling," Yale football Coach Carm Cozza says.

This season is Cozza's 29th as head coach of the Bulldogs, and that number 29 is just another reminder of the one Game he wants to forget. Cozza led an undefeated Yale team into The Stadium on that fateful day in November of 1968. He led the famous Brian Dowling, the same Brian Dowling who provided the inspiration for B.D. in Gary Trudeau's comic strip, Doonesbury.

In his career, Dowling attained magician's status in his native state of Ohio, around the Ivy League and in New Haven. Going into the game, Dowling had led the Elis to 22 victories. His overall record through high school and college was 57-0.

The man could not be beaten, and in the previous year's Game, Dowling showed that all he needed was a small opening to guarantee victory. With only seconds left in the game, the quarterback threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to give the Elis a 24-20 win.

"Dowling was a Walter Mitty-type back then," Gus Crim `69 says. "He was larger than everything around him."

Yale also boasted the legendary Calvin Hill, a powerful 215-pound halfback who would become an NFL rookie of the year.