I got three.

First, I was NOT there for it. I had been attending Cal games with my father since about 1970. But that year was my senior year in HS and we (BH Jazz Band) were playing in the Sonoma HS Jazz Festival. Well, lead tenor that I was I had to go.

Our Bass Trombone player, however, was not so undedicated. He arrived late (after the prelims, before the finals) and as townies we were all interested in what had happened.

He told us and we of course did not believe him. Long before cell phones and internet we had no way to call him on hs BS.

Of course we got back that night and saw the highlights.


Two, my dad and little brother did attend. My mom to this day remembers them both running into the house, not saying a word, turning on the TV and watching with open mouthes because they could not believe their own eyes (and because we are bears fans believing that it must have been overturned)

Three. Showing my daughter a youtube with Joe's call (and of course the SONY HD ad as well) and having her watch it over and over again and, when asked why, "Because I hate trombone players and I double hate Furd Trombone players"

I was at the game, but my wife was home listening on the radio. Listening to Strakey scream over the radio, she could not tell what happened. She thought the big one happened and here husband was in a crumbling stadium.

I was sick with the flu so stayed home and listened to the game. So I heard Starkey's call live. It was exciting to say the least, you knew something incredible was happening, the only problem was not knowing just what the hell happened for several minutes.

I was there with my father. It was the 1st and only time we sat on the West side under the press box. All other games we attended we sat either behind the Cal band or were absorbed into the student section. It was, as we all know, an incredible football game that we still remember fondly and still shake our heads over happily. The only downer for me was that I had to go to work afterwards in San Francisco. (I worked for a large hotel in Valet Parking of all things back then). My co-workers also were very disbelieving of what happened at the game until of course they also saw highlights on TV later. I think this is also where elway said that Cal ruined his final game? LOL Go Bears!

I was present. Age 28. Marital status: Single. Physical condition: Well lit. Seat: West side, 40 yard line 10 or 15 rows from field. Feelings: Depressed. Couldn't believe Ole Horse Face beat us. What I saw: I figured the officials had blown the whistle and our guys were just having fun continuing play. Personal Best: First and last time I ever ran onto a field after a game.

I have never sat on the 50 yard line, on the west side of Memorial, except at that game.

82gradDLSdad said:

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I have never sat on the 50 yard line, on the west side of Memorial, except at that game.

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35 years later I'm in Row 46 in the North End Zone.

bearister said:

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82gradDLSdad said:

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I have never sat on the 50 yard line, on the west side of Memorial, except at that game.

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35 years later I'm in Row 46 in the North End Zone.

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I've probably walked past you many times. We've been in the north end zone since they stopped letting us buy season tickets in the old blue zone.

82gradDLSdad said:

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bearister said:

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82gradDLSdad said:

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I have never sat on the 50 yard line, on the west side of Memorial, except at that game.

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35 years later I'm in Row 46 in the North End Zone.

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I've probably walked past you many times. We've been in the north end zone since they stopped letting us buy season tickets in the old blue zone.

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Have you ever seen that tall muscular very distinguished looking man with a beautiful full head of gray hair that usually has 3 or 4 knock out gorgeous women in their mid 30's laughing heartily at his jokes and fawning all over him? I'm 3 seats to the left of that guy, one row down.

It was my junior year at Cal, my little sister was a freshman on the Stanford side--she was dating their halfback/Elway's best friend which I pretended made me gag a liitle when she told me.

The night before at the bonfire rally at the Greek we practiced a new cheer--a wave, but from front to back. During the game we did it a few times front to back in the student section then started yelling "side to side" and started from one side to the next--it continued to the next section and even the Stanford section joined in and it started circling the stadium--I believe the first time a true, non-lead wave was ever performed.

The ending everyone knows--but the feeling of dejection after Stanford came back from 4th and 39 to kick the go ahead fieldgoal--Cal had once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory--one friend got up and started walking out. We dejectedly got up for the kick off, waving our blue and gold....

Dwight Garner was too bow-legged for his knees to be down.

The next week I picked up my sister from Stanford and we drove down to L.A. for Thanksgiving, arguing about the Play the whole way--this continued over the Thanksgiving dinner table....

Remembering all this has taken on a very different feel since 10 years ago when my sister died from a brain tumor. Really miss her.

That is a very touching story, calumnus. She was lucky to have you as a brother. Sorry for your loss of her.

bearister said:

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82gradDLSdad said:

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bearister said:

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82gradDLSdad said:

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I have never sat on the 50 yard line, on the west side of Memorial, except at that game.

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35 years later I'm in Row 46 in the North End Zone.

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I've probably walked past you many times. We've been in the north end zone since they stopped letting us buy season tickets in the old blue zone.

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Have you ever seen that tall muscular very distinguished looking man with a beautiful full head of gray hair that usually has 3 or 4 knock out gorgeous women in their mid 30's laughing heartily at his jokes and fawning all over him? I'm 3 seats to the left of that guy, one row down.

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That's me!

I was sitting in the north east corner, about 2/3rds of the way up. I can remember just standing there dejected at the field goal which went through right in front of us. I can picture that but I can't remember just what happened next. It was a mess at the other end of the stadium, and I might not have been paying full attention. Funny, you'd think something like that would leave me with more distinct memories, but I really don't have any. I do have someone else's story, however. A former co-worker (we had just moved back to my hometown that year) was with his dad, who was the chief of the campus police. They left the stadium when the field goal was made, figuring the game was over and not wanting to watch Stanford celebrate. They were outside the stadium when they heard a huge roar. Yeah, they missed it. Wonder how many Cal fans were like them. "Daddy, did you see The Play?" "No, we left after Stanford went ahead because we thought nothing could happen."

I had graduated in June. One brother was at his third big game. My youngest brother was at his first. We were in the student section. How Elway brought them back was horrible. Then the cannon. Then running past the ROTC guys on to the field. And the fake newspaper on Monday was a perfect ending.

I was a Junior in High School and thinking about future college choices. My sister was graduating from Cal in the Spring and knew it would be her last Big Game. She said to my parents, "Why don't you guys come up for Big Game?" We all realized what a great opportunity it would be and appropriate to attend my big sis's last Big Game with her. It would be my first live Cal game ever. (Kinda strange I hadn't attended a Cal game by then; my Dad had sold programs at Cal games while in High School, so it's kinda weird we hadn't gone to one as a family up until then.)

Anyway, our seats were on the south east side (how fortunate that would be) and I remember it being such a bright, warm day. I remember all that Blue & Gold around us as we cheered on the Bears. Now although this was my first Cal game in person, I had grown up listening to Starkey call games on the radio. Much more, I had grown up listening to my parents bemoan yet another Cal loss grasped from the jaws of victory. Not really; the Bears had been down for what seemed like so long. No Rose Bowl since '59...

Anyway, an exciting game had apparently ended just as every cynical Cal fan had predicted: with Furd making a last-minute field goal to secure the win. Dammit, they did it AGAIN! (And yes, I was already a Cal cynic by then - at such a young and impressionable age!!) Only a few precious seconds left, but what could possibly change the outcome? The Bears would have to go a MILE to just get within field goal range. And eight measly seconds. No way; they're done. But wait, didn't Dad ALWAYS say to us kids, "The Bear does not quit. The Bear does not die?" Why yes he did!

And then the kickoff happened. Much of what happened next was a blur. Lots of Blue & Gold jumping around me in the stands as the insane Play progressed. It was hard to see what was actually happening, since we were low in the stadium and looking into the sun. But whatever was happening KEPT happening and the mass of players kept moving southward. My most vivid memory includes making out a few Blue Cal helmets bobbing up and down through the crowd and toward the SOUTH END ZONE! HOLY CRAP, what the hell just happened? Did a Cal player actually run into the end zone? Could it be? No way! OH MY ****ING GOD! DID THEY ACTUALLY SCORE? WHAT THE **** WAS THE BAND DOING ON THE FIELD?!!! THE BEARS HAVE WON!!!!!

Well, holy crap, it looks like they not only scored, but the refs weren't going to bring it back (again, the cynical Cal fan). The scoreboard remained with Cal the victor. Totally and completely unbelievable ending to the Big Game! What an end for Elway at Stanfurd!!!

As we walked out of the stadium, still filled with adrenaline and elation, my parents said, "Well kid, we think you just saw the best Cal game you'll ever see!" My first one!

Icing on the cake was leaving the stadium for my sister's after-party on Panoramic. She and all her cool college friends were there and we reveled in the victory and savored the thrill for hours thereafter. What a game! What a day!

I still cannot stop smiling when remembering this wonderful experience. How lucky to have my first Cal game ever be the '82 Big Game. My former Avatar is a pic of one of my two original '82 Big Game shirts. Unfortunately, I wore my gold "5LTB The Play" shirt into the ground and ended up throwing it away. Still need to pick up a replacement one of these days.

Thanks Mom, Dad and Sis for the once-in-a-lifetime experience and making me a lifelong Cal fan and alumnus. I am SO lucky to have been able to attend the 1982 Big Game.

Oh BTW, that's when my college choices were reduced to one: C-A-L!!!

I was there.

After the furds went ahead with seconds left, I just sat in my seat with my equally dejected parents. We
had a loud mouthed group of furds really amping it up on us Cal fans. They knew they were going to win.

After the Play and determination that Cal won, I started to head for the group of furdies to give them the what
for, but before I could, my dad surprised me by gabbing me to run down to the field like everyone around us.

I couldn't believe that I was following my father down the stairs. It was pure crazy as we jumped onto the field.
I was still behind my father, but as we were running to god knows where, I noticed a lot of the fans around us
were looking at my father. Then, all of sudden, I watched my father being hoisted up into the air on the
shoulders of these fans. I stopped and stared by the Cal team benches.

That's when it occurred to me that my father was dressed like the Cal coaches. Apparently the students had
mistook him for one of Cal's coaches. I lost him in the crowd as he was being patted on the back by passing
Bear fans. My father ate this experience up as he was carried around the field.

I was there in the student section. Also my first and only time rushing the field. I had the presence of mind to save my ticket, note the score on the back and that there were five laterals to win. I also saved the Daily Cal, the real one, and have them framed together. I met Joe Kapp at the Minnesota pre-game breakfast in 2009 and he autographed the ticket. Funny he wouldn't sign it unless someone could come up with a blue Sharpie.

That's me in the red shirt at the 1:56 mark...I should've known better. But we were all on acid back then. This was in the days when you didn't need a 4.4 GPA to get rejected from UC Berkeley.

I sat next to Condoleezza Rice. She was so upset that she told me that if she ever came into a position of power, she will work as hard as possible to ensure that Cal will lose the Big Game as much as possible.

I was a freshman in 1982.
I sat in the student section, pretty high up.
I touched the axe.
The end.

What I remember most was how the entire stadium, divided into Furd & Cal sections, would instantly flip between rabid jubilation and silent dejection. When The Play happened, a Furd guy, who was just a couple of seats away & was screaming at us, went into shocked silence as we started our own screaming at him, literally in his face.

After I caught my breath in the next minute I thought that we were in danger of a full scale riot breaking out. No doubt the refs decided to let the play stand out of fear of getting lynched if they called it back.

Thankfully we're back on track to becoming a decent program. Regardless of how that progresses, we own The Play, and nothing can take that away from us.

Cal Strong was born on Nov. 20, 1982, just a few hours before The Play.

Cal Strong realize he a little biased, but this fairly strong!

Cal Strong! said:

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Cal Strong was born on Nov. 20, 1982, just a few hours before The Play.

Cal Strong realize he a little biased, but this fairly strong!

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The Ricksen twins were born on that day, 51 years earlier.

Waiting for GaryT's contribution to this thread....

Last game I played in. What a way to go out! I was standing in front of the scrum when the ball shot out from RR and saw the rest of The Play unfold. We stormed the field, not thinking it would actually end in our favor. We would always have the story of what could have been. Ended up right next to the refs as they discussed it. They looked at each other and asked was there a penalty? Did you throw a flag? Did he score? etc...They looked at each other and slowly raised their hands for a TD...it was like being at ground zero for a bomb blast...The stadium erupted, I think the cannon went off, it was crazy. Also, the refs used to dress in our locker room. I remember Paul Wiggin and Elway coming in begging the refs to do something, anything...the rest is history.

I was in Section T (row 39) w/ wife; I remember saying, "OMG, it's still live!" just before the last lateral to Moen (my wife had lost sight of the ball after the scrum w/ Garner). Best part: we had dinner that night with a couple of Furdies. Being a kind host, I didn't rub it in (well, actually I did...a lot).

I was at home listening to the game on the radio in So Cal - after all the laterals and Starkey screaming at the end of The Play, the radio switched to another program without anyone telling the listeners whether the touvhdown was allowed. That night I tuned into the CBS weekend news which had a tape of THe Play. It was only then that I knew Cal had won. Later that night or the next day an obscure network (USA Netwrok?) replayed the whole game and I taped it on my VCR
Years later my youngest sister married a Stanford grad who had played on the tennis teams there. He told me he had attended the game but left after Stanford kicked the winning field goal. He was outside the Stadium and heard all the cheers, but admitted that he didn't see the last play. That's when I knew she had married an honest man - 500,000 people have claimed that they were at that game and saw The Play - he was there and admits he missed The Play.

Great thread! Love reading these stories from Old Blues.

I was there, in the North end zone about 2/3 of the way up. I was as dejected as anyone else after Stanford's field goal. I took off my binoculars and bent down to put them in my bag, uttering a short expletive. My wife said, "I heard that." I looked up to see all the commotion on the field, then the scoreboard changed. I yelled to my wife, "Omigod, we won! We won!" We had house guests who the best man at our wedding and his then-wife, whose cousin had played for Stanford. They weren't at the game. When we got home I turned on the TV and watched the reruns until she asked us to turn it off.

I still have my $10 ticket to prove that I was there. I knew that of the 60-some thousand that were at the game, all 500,000 of them would later claim to have been there. A former colleague of mine, who had been a Cal cheerleader, left in disgust after the Stanford field goal. He admits he left early, and never has again. Me either.

JSC 76 said:

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Waiting for GaryT's contribution to this thread....

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I got nothin', man.

GaryT said:

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JSC 76 said:

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Waiting for GaryT's contribution to this thread....

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I got nothin', man.

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Beg to differ Gary. You got a lot. You are part of history. The rest of these stories don't hold a candle to yours.

Over the years, the play was shown so many times on TV that I found the images were imprinting on my brain and obscuring my memory, which was from the east side where I sat that day. I had to quit watching it. Also, I have poster, "100 Years of Blue and Gold" that they gave out that year, I think it was at the Big Game but not certain. Does anybody else have that poster?

HearstMining said:

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Over the years, the play was shown so many times on TV that I found the images were imprinting on my brain and obscuring my memory, which was from the east side where I sat that day.

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Same for a lot of us. I remember the 4th and 17 and thinking Elway is going to get it because I went to a few Stanford games while in high school and knew how good he was. I remember when they made the field goal, a lot of Cal fans started streaming for the exits. I remember not realizing at first that we got the ball all the way to the end zone because the band was obscuring my view. But my visual memories are overwhelmed by the TV footage.

HearstMining said:

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Also, I have poster, "100 Years of Blue and Gold" that they gave out that year, I think it was at the Big Game but not certain. Does anybody else have that poster?

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I don't remember a poster, but I do still have these items:

Mama Bear was old even then! We were in our seats, GG, Row 59, beautiful day at CMS, filled to the brim, Big Game traditions still intact. My heart broke when Stanford kicked the possible winning field goal. I stood, readying my stoic posture to meet Stanford friends. I saw every bit of the next magic seconds playing out, waiting, waiting for the referees to throw a flag. Saw Kevin Moen crash into the end zone, taking out Gary T. one of the brave Stanford musical defenders. I seriously doubted we legitimately scored. It took awhile for the thrill to sink in. The Play, after all these years remains legendary, and a reminder the Bear Does Not Quit!

To think the Cal Strong Babe was just getting started. LOL!

Ok, I wrote this before on Cyberbears....my daughter was born on October 23, 1982 and we were able to take her to the Big Game.. wrote in her baby book that she brought the Bears luck that day....when she was turning 18 I wanted to get her a play T shirt...well guess who came forward.... none other than Gary T... turns out Gary is quite the guy, and even comes occasionally to Cal games when Stanford is out of town as he loves college football...she is now a Cal graduate and will be coming with me as I attend my 42nd Big Game. Go Bears!