The Fitzpatrick segments in the book are particularly relevant to any current Harvard football fan who has watched the captain lead Harvard to its amazing capture of the Ivy League title.
Captain Jason Lange of the Yale roster stood out as not only a strong quarterback, but, as Corbett calls him, “the real poster boy of everything that has been great from Ivy League since the beginning…certainly a renaissance man.”
Lange had stayed on an extra year at Yale not just to throw for the Bulldogs, but also with the intent to make it into The Whiffenpoofs, the most prestigious Yale a capella group.
It is this personal approach that makes the book so readable. While the on-field descriptions are written with the play-by-play style that is customary to sports announcers like Corbett, no real knowledge of football is necessary to genuinely appreciate this survey of the sport and exploration of character. ESPN fans, for whom vocabulary like “inside reverse run” is second nature, may appreciate the book on an additional level.
Corbett vibrantly captures the best games in Harvard-Yale history: in particular, the miracle Harvard “win” of 1968, in which Harvard came back from 29-13 to tie 29-29 in the last three and half minutes. In the 1974 game, dubbed “The Best Game,” Harvard not only beat Yale in The Game, but also for the Ivy League Title in a last minute perfect touchdown by the concussed quarterback Milt Holt.
But the book is far more than a compilation of unbelievable passes and touchdowns, just as The Game is much more than just four quarters of football. Corbett seems to have a deep understanding that the Bulldogs and Crimson teams are not just talented players, but also destined for greatness outside of athletics. “For two squads of gridiron combatants that were destined to become stockbrockers, investment bankers, corporate lawyers, and doctors, this was a taste of what it was like to play in the Super Bowl,” he says on page 21.
The stories of Ivy League are of leaders on the playing field who will go on to be leaders in many other fields. It is unfortunate that more attention is not paid to the fantastic current generation of Crimson and Blue players.
While the book could be taken simply as a pleasurable read for Harvard and Yale students and alums and football fans, it might also be a real galvanizing tool to reinstate the popularity of the nation’s original football teams. There is a void in the popular consciousness and media exposure of Ivy League sports, especially, as Corbett says, when “ESPN has been overrun by dollars.” Harvard’s own Ryan Fitzpatrick confessed to the authors on page 118 that he “didn’t even know they played football at Ivy League schools until I started getting letters.”
With the nearby Boston College playing on the 1-A level and the New England Patriots soaking up tailgaters each Sunday, there is a very small crowd for Crimson home games and even less space on the pages of The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald. Corbett, as both a participant in and a proponent of Harvard football, believes that if people come in to Soldiers’ Field and give the game a chance early in the season, they will want to keep coming back. Widespread reading of his book may just be the ticket to attracting a local audience and clueing Harvard students into the living history that is played across the river.
The book becomes particularly important with The Crimson’s so-far undefeated and titled season coming to a close this Saturday with the 121st Game. While Corbett refuses to give his prediction for fear of jinxing The Game, he does advise readers to keep an eye out for the Fitzpatrick vs. Cowan match-up, the second meeting of two phenomenal quarterbacks.
Spectators looking to understand the significance of Alvin Cowan and Ryan Fitzpatrick should turn immediately to The Only Game That Matters and learn about the formative years of the team captains.
Harvard and Yale alums will read the book and relive their glory days on the field or in the stands. Harvard and Yale students, regardless of familiarity with university history or even football, should read the book to know why exactly they are braving late-November weather and mediocre Cambridge tailgates.
The Game is much more than a flagrant display of drunken college revelry or unabashed school spirit: it is an essential tradition in history and a chance to see some really great football played.
Corbett entreats the local audience and student body alike to “please come to a game. You’re going to be the original stadium. You’re going to be in a magnificent stadium. They’ve been a great team to watch.”