Today's Tidbit... Instructions For The 1909 Harvard-Yale Game
Percy Haughton became the coach at his alma mater, Harvard, in 1908, leading the Crimson to a 9-0-1 record, finishing with a 4-0 win over Yale.
The 1909 season began similarly, winning at West Point and in the first eight home games, allowing only six points in those nine games. Those who managed to obtain tickets to the game at Harvard Stadium received instructions with diagrams. Among other information, it told ticket holders that the gates opened at 12:30 PM for the 2:00 PM game, which was expected to take two hours to complete.
The ticket color indicated whether the seat was in the stadium's East, West, or End section. The remainder of the page provided instructions for arriving at Harvard Stadium, warning that roads around the stadium were closed for the afternoon.
There was an entrance for carriages, automobile parking, and information about the best street cars to take by those attending the game.
Warnings about appropriate behavior by fans during the game can next, along with a note about the availability of a retiring room for ladies.
The diagram on the reverse side showed the stadium location and horseshoe layout. The field diagram indicates the goal posts are on the goal line, and midfield is the 55-yard line.
The game proved typical of the era, with neither team moving the ball particularly well, but Yale earned the advantage by out-punting Harvard, leading to Captain Ted Coy making two of four field goal attempts for Yale. A blocked Harvard punt which the Crimson recovered in the end zone, accounted for the game's other points, as Yale won 8-0, completing their undefeated season and giving them the national championship.
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Great story. I did not think about that event when writing the story.
That 1908 Harvard-Yale Game was when the hard-bitten Percy, attempting to fire up his forces, strangled a bulldog. Did this actually happen? You can find the real story (alert! Shameless plug!) in my book, "The Coach Who Strangled a Bulldog: How Harvard's Percy Haughton Beat Yale and Reinvented Football." Seriously...what is amazing is how recognizable Harvard Stadium and approaches would look today to someone who attended that 1909 Game. I went to my first game there in 1959, which was 64 years ago--14 years longer than the span that had elapsed since that '09 Game, which seemed ancient even then.