The 140th Harvard-Yale Game: Fandom Tiny Mic Edition

“The Game” is celebrating its 140th year. We tiny-mic’d some Crimson supporters. 

A woman interviews a Harvard student with a "tiny mic" about her plans for the Harvard-Yale game this year

Harvard students around campus prepare for this weekend's 140th Harvard-Yale Game with merchandise and celebrations| photo credit harvard magazine

The Harvard-Yale football game, a tradition more than a century old, stands as one of the most storied rivalries in American collegiate sports. At its core, this annual clash between the Ivy League giants transcends athletic competition.

The Game is a living chronicle of academic prestige, social identity, and American history. Harvard’s football program began in 1873, with the first match between Harvard and Yale two years later in 1875. The rivalry grew within the turmoil of post-Civil War America, when college football was still finding its legs—and the contest itself was played with an energy that often mirrored the aspirations of a rapidly modernizing nation.

Over time, the match—alternating between the towering concrete Harvard Stadium, built in 1903, and the Yale Bowl—has become a pre-Thanksgiving tradition that is not just about football, but the passion of the American college experience.

In the words of Margaret-Ann Simonetta ’19, M.A. ’24, a doctoral candidate specializing in fandom, anthropology, and cultural studies, The Game is a “prime example of the power behind fandoms and their strong-bonded communities.” As Simonetta says, “Experiencing The Game is more than just cheering on the Harvard Crimson, it’s a chance for fans to live through the imagination and creativity that Harvard brings out of its students and alumni. Those embodied experiences create long-lasting collective memories, thereby fueling the fandom year-after-year and adding to the allure that is Crimson Football. The spirit encompassing fans at The Game is electric, and that energy derives directly from the fandom and its core purpose — to live as one Crimson community.”

Today, Harvard-Yale retains not only its feisty supporters, but also the reassuring timelessness of an unbreakable tradition, in a world of rapid change.

Oh, and: Go Crimson!

Read more articles by Olivia Farrar

You might also like

Harvard Football: Harvard 41, Brown 7

The Crimson assertively avenge last year’s loss to their Ivy rival.

Harvard Football: Harvard 59, Stetson 7

In season opener, the Crimson dispatch the overmatched Hatters.

Harvard Football Team Starts Off an Ivy League Favorite

The 152nd Crimson season kicks off Saturday against Stetson.

Most popular

Harvard’s Finances In a Challenging Year

The fiscal 2024 report details narrowing margins, but stronger endowment returns.

Harvard Art Historian Jennifer Roberts Teaches the Value of Immersive Attention

Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention

Harvard Football: Harvard 59, Holy Cross 24

Another week, another blowout, this one against an in-state rival

Explore More From Current Issue

John Goldberg

Harvard In the News

University layoffs, professors in court, and a new Law School dean

Man, standing in small group of people outside the courthouse, holding a sign that reads "HANDS OFF HARVARD" in red letters

Harvard’s Summer In Court

What Columbia’s settlement means for the University

Two people moving large abstract painting with blue V-shaped design in museum courtyard.

A Harvard Art Museums Painting Gets a Bath

Water and sunlight help restore a modern American classic.