1998 Big Game Program: Stanford Wins Defensive Struggle

… after the previous year, when Cal fans stormed the field at Stanford and tore down the goalposts (after losing!), the theatrics at the end of this game bordered on ridiculous.

Cal was favored, but somehow Stanford pulled off an improbable victory. Stanford fans rushed the field at Memorial Stadium to celebrate prettymuch the only good thing about the season; it was a terrible team, but at least we beat Cal. For some reason the Cal students rushed the field as well and started throwing things at the Stanford fans. I had friends that came back with water bottles (to be expected), pieces of turf (that the Cal students had torn up from their own field!) and… shoes. Yep, that’s right, the weenies even took the shoes off their own feet to throw them at the Stanford fans.

These actions led to what I consider to be one of the lowest points in Stanford’s athletic history - the next year they deployed riot police around the stadium in the middle of the third quarter to keep the fans from rushing the field at the end of the game. Sigh… leave it to Cal fans to spoil all of the fun…

I’m glad things seem to have calmed down the last few years - rivalries are one thing, but the vitriol on display back then was ridiculous.