They are photo negatives in a surreal, M.C. Escher kind of way. Harvard is 8-1, boasting a stellar 6-0 Ivy mark. Lowly Yale is 1-8, languishing in the Ivy cellar with an 0-6 league record.
Yet in the culmination of a rivalry that dates beyond Prohibition, beyond the Charleston, even beyond the last White Sox World Series championship, Harvard is staying focused for the 114th Game tomorrow in New Haven.
"The Game is The Game," said sophomore placekicker Mike Giampaolo. "We have to play with the same intensity with which we entered the Dartmouth, Brown and Penn games. Yale will play 10 times above itself because it's The Game."
Incentive on both sides spices tomorrow's shindig. Harvard is one game removed from clinching its first Ivy title since 1987. A win against Yale would accomplish the feat in dramatic fashion.
This Harvard team would make history as the first Crimson squad to complete a perfect Ivy season. The nine Harvard wins would represent its best total since 1919, when the Crimson eked out a 7-6 win over Oregon in its final game to win the Rose Bowl and the national championship.
"The big thing, especially for our seniors, is the chance to make some history," said Harvard Coach Tim Murphy. "When I make them aware of their place in history, their eyes get big."
Yale, meanwhile, just wants to avoid a winless Ivy mark in Coach Jack Siedlecki's first season.
But both teams know that in The Game, anything can happen. Like this year's Bulldogs, the Crimson stumbled into the 1995 Game with an 0-5 league record. Harvard, though, rode tailback Eion Hu '97 for 175 yards and the game-winning touchdown in a thrilling 22-21 comeback victory.
"Yale is not unlike us two years ago--scrappy, kind of tough," Murphy said.
Furthermore, Yale is eager for revenge, having dropped two consecutive editions of The Game to Harvard. Last year, Hu bade a bittersweet farewell to Harvard, carrying 40 times for 177 yards--the most ever by a Harvard runner against the Elis--as the Crimson withstood a late Bulldog surge to win, 26-21.
"Having been involved in this rivalry and others, the records are somewhat irrelevant," Murphy said. "History shows us that the statistics can be thrown out. You can forget their recent history and ours. We They are photo negatives in a surreal, M.C. Escher kind of way. Harvard is 8-1, boasting a stellar 6-0 Ivy mark. Lowly Yale is 1-8, languishing in the Ivy cellar with an 0-6 league record. Yet in the culmination of a rivalry that dates beyond Prohibition, beyond the Charleston, even beyond the last White Sox World Series championship, Harvard is staying focused for the 114th Game on Saturday in New Haven. "The Game is The Game," said sophomore placekicker Mike Giampaolo. "We have to play with the same intensity with which we entered the Dartmouth, Brown, and Penn games. Yale will play 10 times above itself because it's The Game." Incentive on both sides spices Saturday's shindig. Harvard is one game removed from clinching its first Ivy title since 1987. A win against Yale would accomplish the feat in dramatic fashion. This Harvard team would make history as the first Crimson squad to complete a perfect Ivy season. The nine Harvard wins would represent its best total since 1919, when the Crimson eked out a 7-6 win over Oregon in its final game to win the Rose Bowl and the national championship. "The big thing, especially for our seniors, is the chance to make some history," Murphy said. "When I make them aware of their place in history, their eyes get big." Yale, meanwhile, just wants to avoid a winless Ivy mark in Coach Jack Siedlecki's first season. But both teams know that in The Game, anything can happen. Like this year's Bulldogs, the Crimson stumbled into the 1995 Game with an 0-5 league record. Harvard, though, rode tailback Eion Hu '97 for 175 yards and the game-winning touchdown in a thrilling 22-21 comeback victory. "Yale is not unlike us two years ago-
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