There was also the 1928 Game, when Sedgwick was a junior and Harvard beat Yale for the first time in five years.

"I was one of those responsible for dashing on the field and ripping down the goalposts," he says. "We took them to the top of the bowl and threw them over. Why we didn't kill anybody, I'll never know."

But like everything at Harvard, the title of "flag custodian" is hotly contested.Sedgwick received a letter from Eugene R. Hurley'53, warning him that he's hot on the older man'stail.

Hurley, a retired lawyer from Long Island,attended his first Harvard-Yale game with hisfather in 1939, when he was eight years old. Hehasn't missed The Game since, except for 1942,when it was cancelled due to World War II.

"My father started me out with it, and then Iwound up going to Harvard...and after awhile itbecame one of those things where I couldn't missit," Hurley says. "I remember telling my wifeyears ago that if she was sick on that day, wellthat's too bad, I'd have to go anyway. It became areligious rite."

The Hurleys' rite began in 1910, when EugeneSr. attended his first Harvard-Yale game. Theelder Hurley went The Game every year until 1968,when doctor's orders kept him at home. But thedoctor might not be able to keep Hurley theYounger from watching The Game.

"I'II go to as many as I can possibly manage,until the doctor or the undertaker tell me I can'tdo it anymore," he says.

That's not likely to happen anytime soon, In1987, Hurley endured Arctic temperatures, riskinghypothermia and frostbite, to see The Game.

"It was 10-15 degrees with terrific wind," herecalls. "Half of the people who came to The Gamehad left it by halftime. I saw the entire game andleft like a 95-year-old cripple. I had to stick itout."

But there have also been rewards, such aspheasant--and besides, beer warms the soul if notthe body.

Indeed, tailgates have always been a large partof Hurley's game-day ritual.

"Our football teams were not very good in theyears I was at Harvard, but we had grandparties," he says.

These days, the former "girls, bridge and maybehistory" concentrator still races to the stadiumearly Saturday morning to secure a place totailgate.

While in College, Hurley and his friends founda pheasant in the Kirkland courtyard after oneHarvard-Yale game. Feeling a little peckish afterThe Game, they took the bird home to Kirkland G-32and plucked it.

We had feathers all over the suite," heremembers. "The next day we brought it down to the[kitchen] and asked them to prepare the pheasantfor us for Sunday night dinner."

Not only did the dining hall staff prepare thepheasant, but Hurley and his friends came todinner wearing tuxedos.

"They brought out the pheasant on a great trayand we had candles on the table," he says. "It wasa great accomplishment."

"You've got to have one accomplishment inlife," he says