Cal-stanford set for an even-numbered Big Game rivalry today
The even-numbered years seem to produce the odd Big Games.
That was the case in 1982, when Cal pulled off The Play that brought lasting infamy to the Stanford band and provided the Bears a once-in-a-lifetime lastsecond victory.
Stanford got revenge in 1990, scoring nine points in the final 12 seconds to win.
Just two years ago, in 2018, the Big Game was postponed
(for the first time since JFK’S assassination) for two weeks because the Bay Area was choking on smoky air from the Camp Fire in Paradise.
And here we are again, an evennumbered year and a Big Game at Cal. But 2020, consumed by a
COVID-19 pandemic, creates its own set of bizarre circumstances.
Cal and Stanford will kick off Friday at 1:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium, with no fans on hand to watch and no wins yet for either team this season.
“It’s different just because of the unique nature of this season but it doesn’t minimize the Big Game to our team, our fans,” said Cal coach Justin Wilcox, whose Bears are 0-2 and have had a game canceled due to Covid.
“We appreciate it for all that it is, regardless of the circumstances.”
Stanford coach David Shaw, whose Cardinal also is 0-2 and has had a game canceled due to Covid, said once his team began preparing to face Cal it felt like Big Game week. But he understands this will be tough on fans.
“I feel awful for them,” he said, including his wife and family in that group. “This is a sport that was made to be seen by other people. There’s an energy that’s brought in the stadium, home or away, there’s the initial reactions from the crowd, and even when you’re locked in there’s moments where you do hear it and it gives you energy, whether they’re rooting for you or against you.”
Still, it might not be entirely accurate to suggest there has never been a Big Game as complicated or unusual as this one.
In 1918, the planet was in calamitous shape on multiple fronts. World War I was coming to an end and a global flu pandemic raged on, eventually taking the lives of 50 million worldwide.