Over the last week, a couple of different threads referred to the microphone prank a Cal fan pulled at the Stanford game in 1997. Just in case anyone missed it, I'm pasting below what someone posted on our site a couple of years ago. I do not vouch for the authenticity of this post, I merely repost it here in its entirety:


"While I was at the Big Game a buddy told me there was a thread about a little job I pulled back in '97 down on the farm.

My name is Theodore Barnwell Kelly and I'm the one who pulled the the radio prank back at the 100th Big Game.

I'm pleased to read that many of you enjoyed it. To clear up one small issue, the actual statement that made it on the air was "Penalty, Unsportsmanlike arrogance, Stanfurd Sucks"
There were two more words that were cut off but if any of you have a video tape of the game the full message did appear earlier in the game as well, except that it was hidden by other sounds at the time and not noticed by the crowd in general.

The main source of error in the reporting of the message was Joe Eskenazi's November 26, 1997 story "Damn Near Exclusive Coverage of the Mad-Wild Prankster," in which he reported the words as being "Excessive arrogance." Given that I designed the prank to resemble a Referee's call, it's easy to see why "Unsportsmanlike Arrogance" makes more sense and if you happen to have it on tape, that is what you will hear. In other regards, Eskenazi's reportage was correct although he spared his readers most of the technical data that I supplied to him.

So if I may add my own brief recollection to those posted here. My memory is of how after flipping the switch and starting the transmission, I could clearly hear my voice literally booming out over the stanfurd PA. Hours and hours of effort were bearing fruit and the fruit was being thrown in stanfurd's face. It was the 100th Big Game and it was at stanfurd. Chelsea Clinton was there, and tons of stanfurd alums were there for, and they all heard their school get punked when "Stanfurd Sucks!" blared out on the PA. The damage was done. the perfect stanfurd love fest had been soiled. The roar that emanated from our fans, despite being on the losing end of the score, was a sound I'll never forget. Nor will I forget the looks of dismay and puzzlement that appeared on the faces of the stanfurd fans. stanfurd had been had and there was no denying it.

I still bear a small scar from that day. One that I got helping to tear down the chain link fence after the stanfurd fans taunted us with chants of "Cal's our @#%$!" We all know what happened after that as Cal became the first visiting team ever to tear down a goalpost after suffering a loss.

I doubt that I'll ever top that prank, but then again you never know."

chalcidbear;842595933 said:

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The main source of error in the reporting of the message was Joe Eskenazi's November 26, 1997 story "Damn Near Exclusive Coverage of the Mad-Wild Prankster," in which he reported the words as being "Excessive arrogance." Given that I designed the prank to resemble a Referee's call, it's easy to see why "Unsportsmanlike Arrogance" makes more sense and if you happen to have it on tape, that is what you will hear. In other regards, Eskenazi's reportage was correct although he spared his readers most of the technical data that I supplied to him.

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Ha! I knew Joe pretty well at the Daily Cal.

Incidentally, he wrote this great profile of one of the most powerful people in San Francisco a few months back.
http://modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/rose-pak-regrets

Barnwell is at least a spry 127 since he knocked up a Southern belle and fled across the country before founding a Cal fraternity chapter. In addition to the microphone stunt, he's also pictured with a board favorite following a later Big Game.

As a follow-up - does anyone here have more details about this prank? I vaguely remember that it involved the prankster being snuck into the stadium in the trunk of a car, but I can't remember any other details.

chalcidbear;842595933 said:

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Over the last week, a couple of different threads referred to the microphone prank a Cal fan pulled at the Stanford game in 1997. Just in case anyone missed it, I'm pasting below what someone posted on our site a couple of years ago. I do not vouch for the authenticity of this post, I merely repost it here in its entirety:


"While I was at the Big Game a buddy told me there was a thread about a little job I pulled back in '97 down on the farm.

My name is Theodore Barnwell Kelly and I'm the one who pulled the the radio prank back at the 100th Big Game.

I'm pleased to read that many of you enjoyed it. To clear up one small issue, the actual statement that made it on the air was "Penalty, Unsportsmanlike arrogance, Stanfurd Sucks"
There were two more words that were cut off but if any of you have a video tape of the game the full message did appear earlier in the game as well, except that it was hidden by other sounds at the time and not noticed by the crowd in general.

The main source of error in the reporting of the message was Joe Eskenazi's November 26, 1997 story "Damn Near Exclusive Coverage of the Mad-Wild Prankster," in which he reported the words as being "Excessive arrogance." Given that I designed the prank to resemble a Referee's call, it's easy to see why "Unsportsmanlike Arrogance" makes more sense and if you happen to have it on tape, that is what you will hear. In other regards, Eskenazi's reportage was correct although he spared his readers most of the technical data that I supplied to him.

So if I may add my own brief recollection to those posted here. My memory is of how after flipping the switch and starting the transmission, I could clearly hear my voice literally booming out over the stanfurd PA. Hours and hours of effort were bearing fruit and the fruit was being thrown in stanfurd's face. It was the 100th Big Game and it was at stanfurd. Chelsea Clinton was there, and tons of stanfurd alums were there for, and they all heard their school get punked when "Stanfurd Sucks!" blared out on the PA. The damage was done. the perfect stanfurd love fest had been soiled. The roar that emanated from our fans, despite being on the losing end of the score, was a sound I'll never forget. Nor will I forget the looks of dismay and puzzlement that appeared on the faces of the stanfurd fans. stanfurd had been had and there was no denying it.

I still bear a small scar from that day. One that I got helping to tear down the chain link fence after the stanfurd fans taunted us with chants of "Cal's our @#%$!" We all know what happened after that as Cal became the first visiting team ever to tear down a goalpost after suffering a loss.

I doubt that I'll ever top that prank, but then again you never know."

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I was at that game, and "stanfurd sucks" came across loud and clear. I will never forget that. That was also the game where we tackled the tree on the field. We had a great comeback, but we fell short by a point.

I remember writing that.

I'm actually the guy that did it.

This play calling is just ....

Nonshutout!

I was at that game with a large family group. We all had our spirits picked up big time. Cal fans rampaged onto the field afterwards. We stuck around and watched the madness from high in the north end zone. Cal fans ripped apart the tree, too. It was incredible!!!

I have always told the story as unsportsmanlike arrogance, as told here. No disputes. I have posted about this on BI, and corrected someone as to the phraseology.

We need a full report on how the prank was pulled off. I've always wanted to know. Maybe I'll get as I continue to read.

TheodoreBarnwellKelly said:

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I remember writing that.

I'm actually the guy that did it.

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Oh boy.
So many questions!

I guess with age memories morph because I remember it differently.

I could have sworn he said "Excessive Arrogance". - In my head I hear "Personal Foul, Excessive Arrogance - Stanford Sucks".

Anybody else recall?

Additionally, there was a very detailed article years ago, where the prankster gave a very detailed account of his lead up to the actual prank. He discussed season tickets and going to Stanfurd games to observe and also to walk by the comms room to perhaps glean info and how he casually bumped into the "Comms guy". He even discussed the way he uncovered which system the Furd used at the time. The prankster said something like, "hey I run a youth football league (or high school) and we are having problems with our signals not being strong enough to hear the referees" or some excuse like that. The Comms guys was all too happy to tell him "oh we use this brand and model " maybe even the preferred frequencies etc. as well as some game day particulars and advice.

The prankster also detailed his decision to pre-record the message on a mini disc player so that he would not be heard saying the words of the prank. He also mentioned that he sat in or near the Stanford student section wearing a stanfurd hoodie so that he could hide the player in the pocket. He expressed the strong feelings of paranoia he felt, thinking surely someone would notice he was carrying the device or pushing the button. He was very worried he was going to get caught.

I have done some minor searching but I can't seem to find that rather lengthy article that was fascinating.

I suppose we may be referencing the same article but I sensed some inconsistencies and added my possible warped recollection.

Bottom line tho, was that it was hilarious and it felt really good being there.

Unsportsmanlike arrogance!

I've been recounting it that way for years. And the guy who claims to have said it agrees with my memory.

Thanks for recounting the article. I'd never heard ANY of that!
Amazing!!!