Harvard Yale Rivalry

Harvard Yale Rivalry November 20 The Game will be this Saturday and it will be a historic one for more than one reason (photo credit: Henry Trotter). This Saturdays college football docket features one of the oldest rivalries in the game with a head-to-head matchup of Harvard University and Yale University. Harvard opened the Yale Bowl in 1914, one hundred years ago (although there were games between the two rivals before this year). But this Saturdays matchup isnt only significant because its the 100-year anniversary. Its also significant because this Saturdays matchup will be the first time in this historic games history that two African American captains will shake hands at  the 50-yard line for the coin toss. Harvard, captained by Norm Hayes, and Yale, captained by Deon Randall, didnt exactly have African American captains back around the time of the First World War. But, for the first, time both schools do now. And that is pretty cool! According to an article on the Harvard-Yale rivalry  in Sportz Edge, This will be the 131st game in the series. During that span of years to play 130 times, both Harvard and Yale became racially integrated, in the classrooms and on the playing fields. It was a gradual and slow process.  Achieving the football captaincy at Harvard and Yale has always been a major hurdle. Both teams ,steeped in tradition, elect just a single man to be their captain. That reduces the odds of being elected. Arthur Daley  of  The New York Times  wrote on a few occasions that being elected as the Harvard captain was akin to, or even more of an achievement, than becoming president of the United States. That could also have applied to Yale.  Since they began playing football, there have been three black captains at Harvard, and four at Yale. But until this year they had never coincided. Now, Hayes and Randall linked. Ivy Coach salutes Harvard University and Yale University and their respective captains, Norm Hayes and Deon Randall, on this historic moment for two of Americas prestigious Ivy League universities  and most storied football foes.