On Friday night, Harvard honored a legend.

After playing a full period, senior defenseman Tim Stay did not return to the locker room. He stayed in the tunnel until the appointed moment, skated out and removed his No. 4 jersey ala Ray Bourque to reveal a No. 3 uniform underneath and he handed the old garment to retiring Athletic Director Bill Cleary '56.

Stay was merely returning the No. 4 shirt to its rightful owner. The greatest figure in Harvard athletics history was getting his uniform back. The Crimson, for the first time in its 150-year old history, retired a number.

Nobody will wear No. 4 again for Harvard. That number forever belongs to the man who served Harvard for over seven decades, first as a seller of programs outside of Harvard Stadium.

Cleary still holds numerous scoring records, including most points in a single season--89 points in 21 games, set in 1954-55. As a coach, he guided Harvard to its only major NCAA championship in 1989. And now Cleary retires as Athletic Director, effective in June.

On hand to honor their old coach were Mark Fusco '83, Scott Fusco '85-86, and Lane MacDonald '89--Harvard's three Hobey Baker Award winners.

It was one of those rare events in sports whose pure class inspires even the opposition members of the sold out Bright Hockey Center crowd to stand and cheer.

"It was a real emotional moment," Yale Coach Tim Taylor '63 said. "Billy has helped my career out so much and what he has meant to Harvard and this sport is just tremendous. I could not begin to convey that to my team."