Cornell-Harvard hockey rivalry
Encyclopedia
Sports rivalry
A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes. This pressure of competition is felt by players, coaches, and management, but is perhaps felt strongest by the fans. The intensity of the rivalry varies from a friendly competition on one end to serious violence on the...
between the Big Red of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
and the Crimson of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
dating back to 1910.
Not including playoff meetings, the teams play twice each season, once at Cornell's Lynah Rink
Lynah Rink
Lynah Rink is a 4,267-seat hockey arena at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, that opened in 1957. Named after James Lynah, Class of 1905, who was the director of Cornell athletics from 1935-1943, it is home to the Big Red men's and women's ice hockey teams.Lynah has been home to hockey greats...
in Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
and once at Harvard's Bright Hockey Center
Bright Hockey Center
The Alexander C. Bright Hockey Center is a 2,850-seat ice-hockey arena in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to the Harvard University Crimson men's and women's ice hockey teams. It is named for Alec Bright '19, a former hockey player. Known as Lynah East for Cornell's dominance in...
in Allston, Massachusetts (just across the Charles River
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
from Harvard's Cambridge, MA campus). Since the first time they played, the overall series record is 71-59-7 in favor of Cornell as of November 12, 2011.
The rivalry is so important to Cornell in particular that head coach Mike Schafer listed defeating the Crimson (who were then unbeaten in their last 20 regular-season games against the Big Red) as one of his three goals for his first season in 1995-1996. Schafer's record against Harvard as a coach is 31-13-2 as of November 12, 2011.
Harvard at Cornell
On January 6, 1973, a Harvard fan threw a dead chicken at Cornell goalie Dave Elenbaas. The chicken was a crack at Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life SciencesCornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
The New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is a statutory college at Cornell University, a private university located in Ithaca, New York...
. Later that month, Cornell fans threw dead fish on the ice, purportedly as a reference to Boston's seafood industry. Harvard fans retaliated during the same game by tying a live chicken to Cornell's goal post. Despite countermeasures by university officials, Cornell fans still continue to throw fish prior to, or occasionally during, the Harvard game at Lynah.
In an interview with the Cornell Daily Sun, published on November 8, 2006, William Ruskin of Cornell's class of ’74 disputed this version of history. He said that after hearing about Harvard's original 1973 chicken prank, he and his friends decided to get some revenge, and started planning. "'Contrary to what was in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
this week, there was no intention at the time to have any symbolism of the New England fishing industry,' Ruskin said. 'We merely wanted to put something disgusting in their net … [and] getting a big smelly fish seemed like the best thing we could do.'"
The tradition continued in February 1977, when between the second and third periods in a game at Lynah Rink, a chicken was tied to the Harvard goal post.
Cornell at Harvard
Due to relatively large numbers of Cornell fans traveling to away games, the significance of the rivalry on the Cornell side, and generally low attendance at Harvard hockey games, contests at Bright have sometimes been played in front of predominantly pro-Cornell crowds. This led to the idea of Cornell-at-Harvard games as de facto home games for Cornell, and earned Bright (and by extension the Cornell-Harvard game played there) the nickname of "Lynah East." With the increasing success of Harvard's hockey program since 2002, the size and participation of the Harvard contingent has increased and the crowd has become more balanced.Love Story
A Cornell-Harvard hockey game plays an important role in the first half of the novelLove Story (novel)
Love Story is a 1970 romance novel by American writer Erich Segal. The book's origins were in that of a screenplay Segal wrote and was subsequently approved for production by Paramount Pictures. Paramount requested that Segal adapt the story into novel form as a preview of sorts for the film. The...
and film Love Story
Love Story (1970 film)
Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story...
, whose protagonist, Oliver Barrett, is a Harvard undergraduate and member of the Crimson hockey team, and whose author, Erich Segal
Erich Segal
Erich Wolf Segal was an American author, screenwriter, and educator. He was best-known for writing the novel Love Story , a best-seller, and writing the motion picture of the same name, which was a major hit....
, is a Harvard alumnus
Alumnus
An alumnus , according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a graduate of a school, college, or university." An alumnus can also be a former member, employee, contributor or inmate as well as a former student. In addition, an alumna is "a female graduate or former student of a school, college,...
. In the movie, Harvard's hockey team loses to Cornell's. Although exterior post-game shots were filmed on the Cornell campus, they showed characters exiting Barton Hall
Barton Hall
Barton Hall is an on-campus field house on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is the site of the school's indoor track facilities, ROTC offices and classes, and Cornell Police. It's also the location of the band room, used by the Cornell Big Red Marching Band and the Cornell...
, the old armory where Cornell played basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
at the time, rather than Lynah Rink
Lynah Rink
Lynah Rink is a 4,267-seat hockey arena at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, that opened in 1957. Named after James Lynah, Class of 1905, who was the director of Cornell athletics from 1935-1943, it is home to the Big Red men's and women's ice hockey teams.Lynah has been home to hockey greats...
.
In commemoration of Cornell's victory in that fictional game, the Cornell Big Red Pep Band
Cornell Big Red Pep Band
The Cornell Big Red Pep Band is Cornell University's student-run pep band that performs primarily at Cornell Men's ice hockey, with frequent appearances at Women's ice hockey, Men's and Women's lacrosse and basketball, and occasional appearances at a diverse array of other events, such as...
plays the theme from Love Story
(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story
" Love Story" is a popular song published in 1970, with music by Francis Lai and lyrics by Carl Sigman. The song was first introduced as an instrumental theme in the 1970 film Love Story. The lyrics were added after the theme music became popular.-Covers:The song has been covered many times...
when Harvard takes the ice before the first two periods of each game.
See also
- Lynah RinkLynah RinkLynah Rink is a 4,267-seat hockey arena at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, that opened in 1957. Named after James Lynah, Class of 1905, who was the director of Cornell athletics from 1935-1943, it is home to the Big Red men's and women's ice hockey teams.Lynah has been home to hockey greats...
(Cornell) - Bright Hockey CenterBright Hockey CenterThe Alexander C. Bright Hockey Center is a 2,850-seat ice-hockey arena in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to the Harvard University Crimson men's and women's ice hockey teams. It is named for Alec Bright '19, a former hockey player. Known as Lynah East for Cornell's dominance in...
(Harvard) - Harvard-Yale RegattaHarvard-Yale RegattaThe Harvard-Yale Boat Race or Harvard–Yale Regatta is an annual rowing race between Yale University and Harvard University. First contested in 1852, annually since 1859 except during major wars fought by the United States, The Race is America's oldest collegiate athletic competition, predating The...
(rowing) - The Game (Harvard vs. Yale, football)