If tradition is any indicator, the showdown between Dartmouth's Big Green football team and this year's opponent, the Yale Bulldogs, will energize the campus and create a stir of spirited activity.
The game "is what the whole weekend is about," Julie Tallman '99 said. "Everything else, like the bonfire, is just to get everyone psyched up for the game the next day."
Tallman added, "the rest of the festivities are fun, but the weekend would never be as great without the game."
Jonathan Farnham '99 said, "For Dartmouth, I think the football game is the biggest thing," emphasizing that it attracts many alumni.
Karen Ho '99 agreed, saying, "I think the game is an important part of Homecoming ... all my friends are probably going."
Perhaps Andrew Martin '00 singled out the biggest part of this weekend when he said, "I think the importance of Homecoming is that it's a day off for students to have fun together," citing "the festive atmosphere" it creates.
As for the 'big game,' he said, "I am not a big football fan, but I am going to go anyway ... I think most all freshmen will go."
Go Big Green
This year's game will pit Dartmouth against an Ivy League foe, Yale, as opposed to last year's opponent, Colgate.
The College's Athletic Director Dick Jaeger wrote in an e-mail message, "We always hope the Alumni Office will pick an Ivy game for Homecoming because of the added spirit and incentive involved on the part of the team and the fans."
Senior Associate Director of Alumni Relations Dave Orr previously told the Dartmouth that contracts for play with other collegiate football teams are made far in advance.
"The College's football schedule is already set until the year 2012," he said.
Many football players are looking forward to this weekend's game, as a celebration of Dartmouth tradition.
"The game is the biggest part of the week" for me, Brad Jefferson '98 said. "I have friends and family coming in from Seattle for the weekend to see it."
Jefferson added, "It kind of seems that everything is focused towards the football game ... all the seniors at Dartmouth Night are up in front of Dartmouth Hall, and it is a special time for them."
Senior Defensive End David Oliver said, "as a football player this weekend, I think [the Homecoming game] is the one game of the year that you know that a lot of ex-football players and alumni are coming back to watch us."
"There is a heightened expectation, and that adds to the excitement," he added.
Brian Larsen '97 wrote in an e-mail message, "It's a big game, not only because it is Homecoming, but it is also our first league game in four weeks, and Yale is a very good football team."
He added that "we are all very excited for the game," and that the showdown is the most important part of his weekend, since "it's not every day you get a chance to play in this kind of game."
As for the outcome of this weekend's game against the Bulldogs, many players are positive the match will be a good one.
"I think Yale is going to come in fired up and ready to play us, but I think the team is really ready to play in the Ivy League again," Oliver said.
"The team is really psyched," Jefferson said. "Dartmouth and Yale are both undefeated in the Ivy League."
Larsen wrote that "it should be a tough physical game, and I think we match up very well up front, so now we just have to go and play hard and execute our assignments."
Conscientious Objectors
Not all students share such enthusiasm for the game.
"The football game isn't very important to me," Heather Bach '97 said. She said she thinks the bonfire is the most important event of Homecoming.
While [the game] is certainly part of the Dartmouth spirit," Ho said, "I think that there are a lot of other traditions that are almost equally as important."
Jaeger wrote in an e-mail message that while "both historically and presently, the football game certainly is one of the main features of Homecoming," he is "certainly disappointed in student attendance."
Student attendance is "not as enthusiastic or as all-inclusive as it used to be," he added.
Dartmouth Athletic Ticket Office Manager Miriam Durkee said "a good percentage of students do show up," but "a majority are alumni and local people."
"It's fair to estimate maybe 13 to 15 thousand for Saturday's matchup," she added. "For other games, there are between 6 and 8,000.
Despite traditions of green jerseys and painted faces, many freshmen equate the bonfire, not the football game, with the centerpiece of this weekend's activities.
"I love football, but football goes on every other weekend," Shilpa Lamba '00. "The bonfire [and the activities geared for the zeros] are what make Homecoming special."
But "I think probably for the rest of the school and the alums, the game is the center of attention," Lamba added.
Megan Cummins '00 said, "I think the bonfire is going to be more fun, so I think it is more important."
"In terms of being a freshman, I think the bonfire is more important because we build it, and supposedly we are going to run around it," Michael Koss '00.
"The game is more for the alumni," he added.
Although no longer a freshman himself, Alton Lo '99 said, "I wouldn't say [the football game] is the biggest part of Homecoming ... I would think the freshman bonfire is."
One freshman felt the two events to be parallel in importance. "Since I am a zero, I think the bonfire is just as important as the football game," Michael Rand '00 said.
