Petering Out

After the football games on Saturday, I went into my closet. And closed the door. I didn't come out until Monday when I had to go back to class. It was that bad. Not the football game--that was fine, very impressive in fact. But the fact that I aborted in my first round of Ivy predictions. A three-for-eight performance just isn't something to tear out and paste in your scrapbook.

And so I closeted myself in my Kirkland House garret and wondered how it all went wrong. After all, who would pick Lafayette over Penn? Or UConn over Yale? Or Harvard over UMass? And so I am forced to eat crow.

I do not like crow much. In fact I do not like it at all. So I spent my quiet weekend in the closet trying to contrive a way not to eat crow when I emerged on Monday to face my friends.

I think I've found it. Sure I picked Harvard to lose. So did a lot of other people. Sure I picked Penn and Yale to win. But who would have thought that the tinker-toy squads from UConn and Lafayette would capture the Connecticut and Pennsylvania "titles." And I did hit the Dartmouth upset, after all.

But my big defense against eating crow can be summed up in two words: Jimmy Stoeckel.

I have been a Jimmy Stoeckel fan ever since my sophomore year when Stoeckel started against Dartmouth with five minutes notice and threw 20 completions in 37 attempts for 230 yards and a touchdown.

Which is why I picked him to be a standout Saturday. Stoeckel always stands out on a football field. Not for his physique--he is an ordinary 5 ft. 11 in., 175 pounds. And it is not for his talent--he is not an outstanding long passer or an authoritative runner. But what stands out about Stoeckel is the way he takes charge of a situation.

When the pepperhot playcaller from Miami steps on the field, the Crimson offense takes on new life. The Dartmouth performance two years ago stands out as an indication of Stoeckel's response to pressure situations. He is a leader and what Harvard's inexperienced footballers need this year is a leader if they are to mount a threat in the Ivies.

But despite the fact that every time Stoeckel has gotten into the action he has performed well, he has ridden the bench for two years. Eric Crone, the inconsistent and often-ridiculous quarterback for the Crimson the last three seasons, held the top spot and Restic, despite the mediocre performances put together by Crone-led Harvard teams, stuck with the Zone with an Ehrlichman like loyalty.

This year Eric Crone is gone. And Stoeckel fans like myself may at last get to see the plucky senior quarterback work. It is not surprising that Stoeckel threw for 191 yards and three touchdowns Saturday. He has always responded to challenges.

I'm still not convinced that Harvard will play as well as it did Saturday over the course of the season. One game is a tough measuring stick, and, besides, non-Ivy contests don't prove much anyway. But no matter how the season turns out, Stoeckel's performance Saturday saved me from my closet.