Cal Big Game bonfire tradition doused UC BERKELEY

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Cal's most hallowed Big Game tradition is blowin' in the wind.

The UC Berkeley rally committee announced last week that it has canceled the Big Game bonfire rally - a tradition since 1892 - because of a conflict at the Greek Theatre with a Bob Dylan concert.

The scheduling snafu arose because the Pac-12 Conference moved the Cal-Stanford football game from its usual spot in late November to Oct. 20 due to TV contracts. But the Greek Theatre, the traditional site of the bonfire rally the night before the game, was already booked for the Dylan show.

The rally committee scrambled to reserve Edwards Track for the event. The rally will have pyrotechnics, fight songs, cheerleaders and "All Hail Blue and Gold," but no bonfire.

"Hopefully, it'll still be amazing. It won't be a Big Game bonfire rally, but we're going to try to embody all the same Cal spirit," said junior Kalina Kwong, head of the rally committee. "We're trying to make the best of it."

Old Blues are not happy. Some call it the final straw in what they see as a gradual but relentless stripping of beloved traditions for the sake of money.

Nov. 18, 1949 (Cal 33, Stanford 14): The Stanford Indian is burned in Berkeley during a pre-game campfire. The caption states "something new in cigar lighters." Nov. 18, 1949 (Cal 33, Stanford 14): The Stanford Indian is burned in Berkeley during a pre-game campfire. The caption states "something new in cigar lighters." Photo: Duke Downey, The Chronicle Photo: Duke Downey, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Cal Big Game bonfire tradition doused 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

"It didn't matter this has been happening for more than 100 years. Tradition gets a backseat to finances," said Nad Permaul, a former Cal professor, administrator, and alumni association head and a Big Game attendee since 1967. "I understand the complexities of the modern campus, but I am deeply disappointed."

Ken Montgomery, a Cal yell leader in the 1990s who's participated in the past 35 Big Game bonfire rallies, was somewhat less charitable.

"It's one time of the year the students, alumni, athletes, faculty and community get together for a great Cal event where there's no advertising, no corporate stuff," he said. "You don't screw that up."

The advertising and corporate stuff brings Cal a lot of money, though. The TV contracts that forced the Big Game date switch this year will bring the athletic department an extra $4 million a year for the duration of the 12-year contract, said Athletic Director Sandy Barbour.

That money will be spent on Cal's 29 varsity teams, which rely heavily on football and basketball revenue for coaches' salaries, scholarships, uniforms, equipment, travel expenses and other costs. The athletic department has been particularly strapped the past few years, coming close to eliminating baseball, gymnastics and rugby.

The last time

Barbour assured Cal fans that this would be the last time for at least a decade that the Big Game would be tampered with.

"I can tell our faithful this: We at Cal and Stanford are both fighting this vigorously," she said. "The No. 1 thing we need to protect, as a conference, is our rivalry traditions. This is not going to happen again next year. Next year, it'll be someone else's turn."

Conference scheduling was extraordinarily complex this year because of the recent addition of two new teams, plus an abundance of Thursday night games scheduled for television. Nonetheless, every school in the conference retained its major rivalry games on the usual dates except Cal and Stanford.

"Trust me, the Pac-12 commissioner is now fully aware of the importance of the Big Game," Barbour said. "Cal and Stanford fans both have made their concerns very well known, apparently in person."

Pac-12 staff did not return calls seeking comment.

Cal's bonfire rally actually dates from before the Big Game, Permaul said. In the 1880s and 1890s, students used any excuse to light stuff on fire, and bonfires were a regular part of campus life.

So, naturally, the highly anticipated match with Stanford in March 1892 merited an extra big bonfire.

When the underdog Stanford pulled out a 14-10 upset, the Big Game was born, and pregame bonfires at both schools became cherished traditions. Stanford, however, hasn't had a bonfire in nearly 20 years. At Cal, the bonfire rally has followed the same format for decades, if not a century.

About 10,000 people cram into the Greek Theatre, where a several-stories-high bonfire rages from center stage.

Everyone shouts the Axe cheer ("Give 'em the Axe, the Axe, the Axe. ... Right in the neck, the neck, the neck ..."), the Cal Band plays classics like "The Stanford Jonah," the football team trots onstage, and the coach and chancellor speak on the importance of sportsmanship, integrity and beating Stanford.

Toward the end, as the fire dwindles, someone tells the story of Andy Smith, the Cal coach in the 1920s who before dying at age 42 coached the Bears for 10 seasons and led them to two straight Rose Bowls, a feat that has eluded Cal since the Eisenhower administration.

'All Hail Blue and Gold'

Then, as darkness falls, everyone lights candles and sings "All Hail Blue and Gold," with nary a dry eye in the house.

Every now and then, the bonfire rally has been suspended. No Big Games were played during World War I and II, and, in 1991, the university canceled the bonfire out of respect for victims of the Oakland hills fire.

The Big Game will not be the same without the bonfire, Kwong said.

"When I was a freshman, I remember when the fire died down and everyone lit candles. ... That was the moment I realized I loved this university and I belonged here," she said.