The Game. Two words, so much history. A rivalry between two of the oldest colleges in the nation. An Ivy League battle to determine athletic prowess in two schools revered more for their brain power and strength of will and character than their physiological vigor.

Let's not kid ourselves...with so much buildup for a few late afternoon encounters between the championship intramural soccer and football teams from Harvard and Yale.

On Friday, the day before the Yale and-Harvard varsity football teams faced off in Harvard Stadium surrounded by the fanfare of tailgates and band duals, a flock of hardy IM participants took to the barren, nameless fields (the J.V. soccer fields or the fields behind the Palmer Dixon tennis courts) to decide the nation's leader in IM aptitude.

The competition pitted the champions in soccer, A-league football and co-ed football from the respective colleges against each other.

This year, Harvard's contingent was a diverse brood hailing from the river and the Quad. Winthrop, which beat Mather to gain the IM soccer title, represented the Crimson, while Cabot, which beat Leverett to secure both Harvard football IM titles, fielded the championship football teams.

In contrast to the diversity of athletic ability at Harvard, perhaps a result of the recent randomization, Yale found a clear athletic powerhouse in its Timothy Dwight (TD) college, which represented Yale in all three of the championship games.

The football clashes on Friday were much more lopsided than The Game, Cabot prevailing in both contests. In A-League action, Cabot was trailing 14-13 when the TD QB stepped back out of the Yale endzone.

The safety gave Cabot its first lead of the game, and according to IM guru Russel Perkins, "Cabot shut down Timothy Dwight from there on out," a phenomenon that was not repeated in Saturday's game when the Bulldogs were certainly not shutdown by an early Crimson lead.

The co-ed game also saw a clear Harvard victory, as Cabot triumphed 21-6.

In the closest contest of the weekend, the IM soccer battle was reduced to a lesson in penalty kicks as Winthrop and Timothy Dwight went into a shootout after tying 2-2 in regulation and remaining scoreless through two five-minute overtimes.

As the sun was setting over this frigid, high tension duel, Winthrop proceeded to find the back of the net on all five shootout attempts.

Timothy Dwight fell short of the mark on its first shot and had no chance against the superior marksmanship exhibited by the Crimson.

Although there were no tailgates in preparation for these championship games, spirit, intensity and injury were not absent. Perkins downplayed the importance of these contests, but the victors put the games in true IM perspective.

Perhaps Perkins missed the point when he referred to the day's contests as "not ultra-competitive" or called them "gravy" compared to winning the actual college IM championships.

Winthrop seniors Jeff Krauss and Dave Capiola beg to differ. "My blocking group [which makes up the majority of Winthrop's soccer team] has been looking forward to winning the IM championship for three years," Krauss said.

Krauss and Capiola spoke of rivalry, intensity and pride. They mentioned cheering sections comprised of such esteemed personalities as house masters and senior tutors. Yale came waving a big college flag, the one that was seen the following day flecking the Yale section of the stadium.

So perhaps, the crowd wasn't as large, the drinking and festivities weren't as great, but you can be assured that whoever went to the IM championship games was going only for the games, not for the fanfare.

For this reason alone, it can easily be said that the real athletic competition and showcase was not The Game, but was the traditional IM rivalry between the Bulldogs and the Crimson, where Harvard swept the victory stand.