In tough times, though, there are usually glimmers of hope. Don't forget that Neil Rose is only a junior, Carl Morris, Leiszler, and Palazzo are sophomores and Balestracci is a freshman. In fact, 30 of the team's 36 core players will return for the 2001 campaign. Most of yesterday's warriors will go on to fight another day and will perhaps have a shot at redemption.

But wishful thinking and hopeful expectation will not eliminate or diminish this loss. All of us will have to endure yet another year of friendly jokes, incessant reminders, and crass braggadocio. If I only get one thing for Christmas, I wish it would be serene silence from my friends who decided to plunge into higher education in what is generally considered to be the world's finest safety school.

And yes, as my slight jab indicates, maybe it wasn't so bad. After all, along with all the downs yesterday, there were certainly many ups. At various points, I'm sure we all enjoyed laughing at the other side of the stadium. Although some of us, for different reasons, may find it difficult to remember yesterday's contest in specific detail, we will all acknowledge that it was more than just a football game.

But I disagree with those who would only pass it off as just that- "youthful indiscretion" associated with a football game. For all the hype and attention accorded to The Game, there really is a reason to capitalize it. Not because of the tailgate, not because of the media, and certainly not because of the audience on either side. The players who give their time, energy, and college lives playing football without scholarships deserve the attention they receive. And for that reason, Harvard's players deserved better than yesterday.

In all, The Game evoked a mix of emotions too complicated to record and, in many ways, too difficult to recall. Every one of us felt diminished in some way when our team was the one dejectedly walking off the field while the Elis celebrated on the 'H' at midfield. But for all our disappointment, I guarantee that the players felt it more than we can imagine.

For every Crimson football player who walked off the field yesterday amid the Yale pageantry, I would not be surprised to learn that he shared my reaction.

It shouldn't have ended this way.