Big Game Stories 25, 50 and 75 years ago

The Sunday SF Chronicle this week provided brief snippets from articles from 25, 50 and 75 years ago. Included in the research:

Nov 21, 1982:
Shocked and grief-stricken Stanford players and coaches reacted with bitterness and anger at what one of them termed a robbery in the 85th Big Game. "This was an insult to college football," quarterback John Elway said after Cal's unbelievable 57-yard, five-lateral kickoff return gave the Bears a 25-20 triumph on the last play of the game. "It was just a farce. The officials didn't have control of the whole game. They ruined my last game as a college player. It was a very bittersweet ending. I did not want it to end this way. It's something I'll have to live with for the rest of my life."

Nov. 22, 1957:
A group of gentlemen from the University of California will engage a group from Stanford University in a game of football on the latter's playing field. Naturally, every hotel in San Francisco is crowded to the rafters with people known as "Old Grads," the railroad and bus companies are dusting off everything that can roll, hundreds of traffic police officers will lose their day off, and the international frankfurter and peanut magnates are rubbing their hands in anticipation of a killing. It happens every year about this time, and it is called the Big Game, even though it doesn't last any longer than any other game and is rarely for a championship. There is a trophy involved, however. It is an old ax worth several dollars. This is now in the possession of the Californians, which makes the Stanfordians very angry. Big Games are often sentimental. Alumni from the two institutions traditionally gather and try to remember one another's names.

Nov. 20, 1932:
A Big Game that might well go down in history as the "dog-in-a-manger" game was fought out in Berkeley Memorial Stadium. When the final whistle blew, the score was carefully calculated by the officials, recounted by the players and finally audited by faculties of both universities. It read: University of California 0, Leland Stanford Jr. University 0. And never did a score mirror a game so perfectly.