30-24, and yet, somehow, joy?
You know, it's bad enough that Harvard has won The Game for five straight years now. Why did they have to lead us on this time? There's nothing like a 21-3 lead at halftime to lift the hearts of the crowd in blue, and nothing like a horrific second-half choke and a painfully fumbled three-overtime coda to break them.

It's not as if most Yalies really cared that much about winning The Game before it started. Surely the football team did, and the seniors, and the most devoted of fans and H-haters. But The Game is not really about football. It's about the cameraderie. The tailgates, more anticipated by some than that background noise of the action itself, were not dampened this year by the new restrictions; they were intensified. Beer was flowing, and -- for the sugar-craving, holiday-minded among us (read: me) --hard cider and hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. And BBQ chicken and popcorn and apples and pie, and lots of mingling with those you scarcely see, and ogling the alumni tailgates (with their fine cheeses, champagne and rich desserts) from afar. The search across the stands for that beacon of belonging in the sea of windbitten faces, the Flag of Davenport, where your loyal friends, acquaintances, and people that today automatically become your friends and acquaintances have gathered in a huddle of black, white, and maroon - but Blue above all.

A word about D'port: We had the best flag waving. I have a friend in Saybrook who can attest to this. I got to take a turn waving the D'port flag, and it was great, though most of the credit goes to the boys. The Calhounies behind us were kind of annoyed because they were trying to see The Game and all they could se was the D'port flag. Hee hee. And we burst into so many rounds of our we-don't-need-no-stinkin'-cheer that people in the Silliman section in front turned around to look at how cool we were. (Though on a Harry Potter tangent, the YDN seems to think we're Slytherin. In the words of David Shieh, "It's so true, though.")

But back to the point. The Game is about having Fun and being Happy. Since Harvard doesn't know about Fun and Happy, they foolishly think The Game is about football. Which is why they decided it would be cool to come from behind and beat us. This was mean. If we had begun The Game behind and finished behind, we would have just kept on having Fun the whole time. But Harvard in its infinte Unfunness decided to make all of us, just for a minute, think it was about football. So we payed attention. We got SUPER into it. We talked about how we were totally going to win. We lost. Poo on you, Harvard. That's not Fun. That's crushing. Fortunately, I'm a Dodger fan, so I had a high tolerance for such disappointments.

But I had a great time today. We all did. Why? Maybe if you are from Harvard you wouldn't understand this: The Game is about feeling the D'port pride and the Yale spirit. Because no matter how much we insult Pierson, we're all Elis when the Crimson Cantabs (...need I say more?) show up claiming they're the best just because they've been around longer and live in a real city and have beaten us four years in a row. Um, no. News flash to Harvard: You're only better at football. You've got a misogynistic president, a ridiculous mascot, an evil color, lame parties, and annoying accents. And a ridiculous mascot. And most of all, school on Monday.

Signing out, from the Have'. Happy Thanksgiving break to Yale and to all a good night.