Bulldogs were Undefeated in ’68
Remember: Bulldogs Were Ivy League Champs
Harvard Didn’t “Win” 29-29
To those of us who witnessed The Game in Harvard Stadium in November of 1969, the astonishment felt like a loss. But it wasn’t. The Bulldogs were undefeated that year. And they were Ivy Champs.
Sadly, they shared the laurels with the Cantabs, who later created a film with the cheeky title stolen from the Harvard Crimson: Harvard Beats Yale 29-29.
Let’s Go To the Film!
The film of That Game and the interviews with players on both sides is really enjoyable if you adjust for the bias from the Harvard production team! They played up the David-Beats-Goliath angle, even editing the interviews to make some of our players look venal.
That said, you’ll enjoy seeing the scenes and being reminded of that day:
Film: Harvard Beats Yale 29 – 29
If you don’t have the hour+ to watch the whole thing, here is the 2-minute trailer.
Wonderful film. When my son saw it at age 12 or so, he said to me, “You were really THERE?!” Yes, son, I was. Also, my wife and I appear in the thanks because we hosted the filmmaker, Kevin Rafferty (Harvard 1969) for his Chicago interviews. He was a lifelong friend of our classmate Derek Huntington (RIP), my best friend. Kevin’s whole family (male side) went to Yale and his big fierce rebellion was to go to Harvard. It actually did piss them off. (He once said the Huntingtons were the only Democrats his family knew.) He also made the film just to earn money, specifically for his daughter’s college tuition . . . at Yale.
Also, Scribners will bring out a book on the game by a Cantab, George Colt ’76, in October. (Interesting that, as Damon Runyon who wrote “Hold ’em, Yale!” might have said, the Yales don’t say much while the Harvards can’t shut up about it.)