The Big Game

Yale vs Princeton, November 30, 1882

The Big Game

The biggest game of the 1882 season was the November 30 Yale - Princeton game at the Polo Grounds. This was a huge rivalry at the time, was the final game of the season, and was the only obstacle left in Yale’s quest for yet another perfect season.

And it seems that snow was in the forecast:

From The New York Times, November 30, 1882, page 8

Now, the idea that you could play a championship college football game immediately after a race is pretty crazy, but that’s the way things were in those days.

In fact, the snow had started coming down on Wednesday the 29th, which was the earliest snowfall in New York City in years:

From The New York Times, November 30, 1882, page 1; this is the first paragraph of a two page article on the snowfall and slippery conditions

The New York Times had an excellent front page article summarizing the game:

From The New York Times, December 1, 1882, pages 1 and 2

This is really where the romance of college football began. This writeup has everything you’d associate with the glory days of the sport: the bitter cold weather, the field that was swept clear after a snowstorm, the large and vocal crowd, the pushing for every inch, and the crowd mobbing the field after the key touchdown was scored.

And, really, that New York Times writeup has a lot to do with the romanticism of early football. Compare it to what The Sun wrote:

From The Sun (New York), December 1, 1882 page 3

This is also the first football game I’m aware of to receive considerable coverage around the United States. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, for example, featured a long article, though it was focused more on the championship race than the football game:

From St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 1, 1882, page 6

The Cincinnati Enquirer featured a telegram description of the match the very next day:

From The Cincinnati Enquirer, December 1, 1882, page 2

And The Daily Inter Ocean in Chicago featured a surprisingly long description of the game:

From The Daily Inter Ocean, December 1, 1882, page 5

In my opinion, this 1882 game was the spot where football ceased to be a passing fancy among Ivy League students and turned into a truly national sport.