It's never too late to reflect on the weekend's festivities, so Schmidley and I decided to stretch the limits of what can be deemed a sports column. While you're reading this in a post-Homecoming haze, think of your fondest memory from the past few days. Perhaps it involves playing one too many games of pong or finding the right person on a sweat-filled dance floor, but as your Homecoming hangover begins to wear off, you'd probably give one of two answers: bonfire or football.
The sports nut in me wants to say football, but as a certain fraternity brother of mine recently told me, I know nothing about sports, so I'll go with the bonfire. Nevertheless, let that sink in for a second and you'll realize it is the right choice. I know that football is a huge part of homecoming, but is football what brings us all together for the weekend? Then again, do thousands of alumni really flock to Hanover from around the country just to see a pile of wood burn? Well, here's where it gets complicated.
The truth of the matter is that the bonfire is more than a fire. It is an icon that all of Dartmouth and the community can look towards and feel a part of something unifying. More than that, it is the true start to the Dartmouth year. Commencement is nice and all, but it doesn't exude "old traditions" the way the bonfire does. Excuse me, the way Dartmouth Night does. After seeing my fourth bonfire and my fourth homecoming football game, I know what I remember more. I remember running around the fire as a freshman questioning why I was wasting my time with this tradition and yet feeling oddly drawn to it. I remember attending in subsequent years and feeling more detached from the actual festivities, and yet, more drawn to them at the same time. For the first time this year, I made sure to hear the pre-bonfire speeches. I made sure to see the fire get lit. I made sure to take pictures. And I made sure to enjoy my last bonfire as a student.
I also made sure to go to the football game the next day. And so did most people who had attended the bonfire the night before. But the scene at the football game was far less remarkable. The night before, thousands of us braved the rain -- and are probably suffering from its effects right now -- to see the bonfire. Would that many do the same to watch football? Thankfully, the weather cooperated with us this year, but you can be sure that if the weather had been poor, the vast majority of people at the game would have stayed home. Now, maybe that's just a recent development brought on by the overwhelming apathy of current students towards our football program. Most only make it to the Homecoming game, and that in itself devalues the Homecoming football experience. They're only coming to heckle freshman, hoping someone will rush the field and provide some much-needed entertainment. Nobody was living and dying with our actual performance on the field, except for maybe Dartmouth football players.
Homecoming is one of the three best weekends of the year, nobody will argue with that. After all, who doesn't enjoy four straight days of constant drinking and far too little sleep? But it's also one of the best weekends of the year because it reminds us of how special Dartmouth can be. Look at how happy the alumni are to return. No, not the younger alums who are just happy to get away from their desks for a few days to relearn a mediocre spin serve. Rather, look to the older alumni who come back to reconnect with their classmates, with Dartmouth and with Hanover, not to recreate a lost part of their lives, but to celebrate an eternal flame that has never left them.
