Harvard Beats Yale 29-29

Harvard Beats Yale 29-29, named after the infamous headline on the Harvard Crimson paper, is a basic but thorough documentary. There is the original game footage, supplemented by commentary from players – including Tommy Lee Jones who played Guard for Harvard – and some simple photos and cartoons by a pre-Doonesbury Gary Trudeau who was enrolled at Yale.  The beauty of the documentary is how the directory Kevin Rafferty used simple storytelling to transport the viewer to a game which was played over forty years ago.

Firstly, Rafferty establishes the context of the game. Vietnam and civil rights were issues which had polarized each campus, especially Cambridge. Despite occasional chaos and opposing viewpoints, football games proved to be a unifying experience for students, teachers, and the community. There is a personal connection established with players on each team as they recount tales from their past:

• One Harvard player had served in Vietnam and yet developed profound friendships with teammates who had protested the war;
• The Harvard team essentially ignored their coach and led the team themselves;
• Tommy Lee Jones roomed with Al Gore and found him to be a very funny person. Al Gore was so mesmerized by the introduction of touch-tone telephones that he learnt to play “Dixie” on the keypad;
• Yale players recall one game where George W. Bush was arrested by Princeton police for drunkenly hanging on the goal posts after a game;
• The Yale quarterback had not lost a game since the seventh grade;
• Grant Hill’s father, Calvin, was a starting half-back for Yale.

Both teams were undefeated heading into the game for the first time since 1909 but Harvard was a massive underdog.  Yale established a large first half lead, 22-6 at half-time. There was an element of foreshadowing as the Yale cheerleading squad badly botched a stunt where one cheerleader would leap over several of his colleagues who were performing handstands, legs spread in a “Y” formation. Harvard had started very poorly but gradually clawed back into the game. Still, it was 29-13 with a minute to play. Obviously (based on the film’s title), Harvard scored two touchdowns and two two-point conversions. Fans flooded the field and the tie felt like a victory.