BenchPress: Historic Homecoming
While Brown football has a lot of history, this weekend’s night game at Brown Stadium will be the first since the stadium was built in 1925, the year this photo of the team was taken.
BenchPress, your guide to all things Brown Athletics! I’m Sam Wickham, and I’ll be your ironically scrawny first year blogger. Together, we’ll check in on all the Bears teams as they fight on for the best school ever. Though my weight lifting skills are about equal to my blogging ones, I hope to get stronger as the year goes on (pun intended!). Go bears!
In about 24 hours, the Brown University football Bears will be hosting their first EVER night game at Brown Stadium versus Harvard, and I couldn’t be more excited. While I don’t follow football as closely as I do other sports, it’s hard to deny the buzz around campus in preparation for this Ivy League clash.
Needless to say, Brown and Harvard have some football history. Since their inaugural season in 1893, the Bears have faced the Crimson 109 times, with Harvard holding a 78-29-2 record over the Bears. Brown finished third in the Ivy standings last year behind second place Harvard, who defeated the Bears 24-21 at their meeting in Cambridge. With such history as an indicator, the Bears have major incentives to come out on top.
What most excites me most about the game, however, is not the league standings or the novelty of football under the lights. Sitting here on the green, University Hall bells chiming (literally as I write this sentence), I see the Brown community congregating in front of me. The usual mobs of students strolling to class are now accompanied by wandering alumni and their children, some of whom have flown in from across the country to catch this historic event. It amazes me how one sporting event can bring together so much of the Brown community, young and old alike. As this spry elderly man waddles by me with his Brown cap on, I realize that I too am now part of Brown history.
No matter the result, this Saturday’s football game will be one to remember. With students, alumni, and faculty all in the same house, it’s sure to be a fantastic atmosphere. As for me, I’ll be sure to don my Brown gear and get my face painting on. If I’m not hoarse after the game, I haven’t done my job! I’ll be sure to tell you all about the game in my next entry. Let’s go Bears!!
Please send me any comments or questions! I’d love to hear from you. If you’re curious about Brown athletics or how to get involved, shoot me an email at samuel_wickham@brown.edu. Getting emails is a highlight of my day, so bring ‘em on!
