America 1979

Chapter 91 San Francisco Derby

October 24, Saturday afternoon.

From noon onwards, spectators who came by car arrived at this year's Bay Area Derby. By three o'clock, Stanford University's football stadium was already in full swing, and they would never hear the words of the people around them unless they shouted at the top of their voices.

In addition to the tens of thousands of spectators who have already entered the stadium, a large number of people are still queuing up to check tickets, receive support props and team uniforms.At the main entrances, rows of National Guardsmen are standing by, and farther away, state police and county police are leaning against the police cars in twos and threes, looking around and chatting with their partners non-stop.Charity organizations that donate food and street performers who take the opportunity to perform are indispensable. Because there is no school gate, hippies and homeless caravans also rush to join in the fun.

The derby day is naturally sunny. San Francisco has a Mediterranean climate, and it becomes mild and rainy in November. It is a good choice to play the hottest game before it.

But because of this, the audience who entered the venue and those who did not enter the venue were basically sweating and their faces were flushed.The players and coaches staying in the lounge are much better, at least Bill feels comfortable.

"Okay kids, let's change into our armor and get ready to go to war!"

Team manager Jerry Burns clapped his hands, letting the varsity members who lay on the red leather benches hear him.

In order not to cause an uproar caused by the early appearance, all players were asked to stay in the football stadium after lunch.

But this is not an excessive requirement. The rugby stadium is outrageously rich. It not only has living areas, lounges, swimming pools, movie rooms, fitness equipment areas, but also basketball courts and indoor rugby fields. All of them are free for the school team. Member use.

Bill stood up, patted Adam, who was sleeping nearby, and walked toward the locker room with the offensive freshmen.

"Has our game always been this lively?" Bill felt that he had seen the world, but he still didn't expect the popularity of today's game to be so high.

Tennessee's Martin Kent answers Bill's question: "Our Cardinals-Bruins derby is one of the two most-watched regular-season games in the Parker Ten. Last year we got our ax back. , this year the head coach of the Golden Bears threatened to win back."

The Cardinals is another name for the Red and White team, and some media people also refer to the Stanford men's football team as the Red Tree Team and the Redwood Team.

Bill nodded, probably understanding what to watch in this year's San Francisco Derby.

The strength of the Red and White team is naturally stronger than that of the Golden Bears, but both belong to the Parker Ten League, so naturally there is no difference in quality. If the Golden Bears risk their main players being injured and rush forward, it is really possible to beat the Red and White teams. White team, take back the axe.

The red and white team has always been able to be invited to the bowl game. The Parker Ten League and another league called the Big Ten share the "Rose Bowl". The Rose Bowl is one of the six major bowl games.Although this is a collegiate game, the top four of the Big Six are also the most watched football games outside of the NFL Super Bowl.

Therefore, the red and white team's response has become the biggest suspense today. Whether to maintain stability to keep the team at its peak so that it can play a record of being invited to the Rose Bowl in the regular season, or to fight hard against the rival Golden Bears to defend The glory of the team, keeping his own ax is yet to be seen.Before the last minute of the fourth quarter, everything on the court could be reversed.

In the locker room, after the players put on their equipment and jerseys, the head coach Paul Viking made a brief speech, confirming today's style of play and scoring goals.Then, the captain of the quarterback led his teammates into the channel into the field and began to form a circle for the opening encouragement.

"It's time to show our attitude in the game!"

Captain John Wirth's words reached the ears of every teammate.

When Bill first joined the football team, he felt that the quarterback Howard he met, and later Charlie were all eloquent people. At least they had a system of rhetoric in terms of uniting teammates and inspiring people.When he learned more, he realized that these were all clichés prepared by his predecessors, and he only needed to change the place names and the characteristics of his own team.

Words are only part of the blood, and the action of frying peas is the soul of this set of forward shaking.After shouting together several times, the freshmen followed their old teammates and rushed in.

The advantage of the home field was immediately reflected. As soon as the red and white players appeared, the decibels in the football field rose again.In the auditorium, there were red and white support uniforms for most of the time. In the first and second steps of the southern half, die-hard fans even used red to spell out the redwood tree of the Stanford school emblem.

But the Golden Bears in the away game did not give up. In the northern half, they also used gold and navy blue support clothes to spell out a bear.

"Go, bears!"

The die-hard fans of the Golden Bears shouted their team's slogan in unison. Under the leadership of the mascot, the UCB school team appeared in the eyes of the audience.

Adam, who followed the team in small steps, asked his roommate, "Where is our mascot? Why is the slogan not uniform?"

"I don't know about the slogan. The mascot is very simple. Our ax is in the hands of the old players in front, so it doesn't look conspicuous."

Bill replied, pointing to the two old teammates running ahead carrying a framed axe.

The Stanford ax originally belonged to the red and white team, but by chance (stolen by UCB students) it was taken out as a symbol of the winners of the two teams.Even if it's won by the Golden Bears, legally it's Stanford stuff.

After the opening game, the two teams officially began to fight. The court was full of vigor, and the audience continued to move. Various special slogans that fans of both sides could understand echoed back and forth. Under the explanation of the old teammates, Bill and the freshmen really learned a lot.

When a deadly enemy meets, they will naturally vent their anger and fight. From Mr. Ferrari's point of view, the red and white team is also working hard. In the two quarters of the first half, the Golden Bears scored a touchdown first, but the red and white team Clinging to the score, they ended the first half with a score of 21-[-].

After a quick half-court change, manager Jerry Burns suddenly called the freshmen together.

"You go to the auditorium and walk around. The fans in the first few rows are our big customers. A family spends tens of thousands of dollars a year for us to play. It's time to let them know our sincerity."

He asked the freshmen to line up, and took advantage of the midfield to meet with the core diehard fans and get acquainted first.

"We must complete the task." After being photographed in a row according to the offensive, defensive and special teams, the freshmen ran in small steps to meet the patrons.

In order to make as much money as possible, the first few rows of seats are directly sold for the whole season, and many of them are packaged for the whole family. People who watch a single game can hardly get the front row seats. This is why Oliver and Nicholas Kay Oddly, the main reason for not being able to get front row tickets.

"Running back, your ass is so up."

"What a cool tight end this year!"

"Why is the quarterback so depressed? Is the team not giving you medicine?"

Die-hard fans will not be polite to new players, they have long been spiritual shareholders, and when the meeting begins, the whole family will go out and touch the new players, sometimes uttering some vulgar words.

When passing through the student area, Bill and the others were much less harassed.

"Hey bro, thanks for the ticket."

Oliver and another lad held up 17-year-old bad movie king Nicholas Coppola and made him reach for Bill's fist.

"It's just a small matter, we can keep in touch in the future."

On Wednesday night he promised to find a way to get some inside tickets, but kept his word.As soon as the almighty Robbins Miller was found on Thursday, the deputy head of the accounting team arranged for him an internal student ticket, but Bill alone did not have the quota that Oliver needed, so Mr. Ferrari pulled Martin and Sherlock Friends, successfully won five tickets with four hundred dollars.

Afterwards, he called Oliver to pick up the tickets, and the bad film king who had run away from home also followed. After getting the tickets, Nicholas signed a check for one thousand dollars to Bill on the spot, expressing his recognition as a friend.

In Bill's impression, Nicolas Cage is a very worthwhile person, because he never cheats his friends, on the contrary, he is always cheated by his friends.

After turning more than half a circle, the freshmen returned to the rest area on the field, and the guard of honor for the halftime performance was also withdrawn, and the second half of the game began in an instant.

They all had the hope of winning, so the red and white team and the Golden Bear team naturally had a deadly fight. About 7 minutes into the third quarter, their own tight end and the enemy's strong guard had a head-to-head confrontation. Although there was no bloodshed, but Both players were carried down.

The second tight end, like the man who was just carried away, is of the opener type. After more than ten minutes on the court, the head coach replaced him with Bill, who was still at the peak of his energy.

"Show me your strength of 29 bench presses!"

Head coach Paul Vikings cheers on No. 88.

"I see."

The stadium is a public place, and some words cannot be said clearly, so when practicing on weekdays, the coaches and the players agreed that only the team can understand encrypted words.

A tough bench press is the hallmark of an open tight end. If you don't understand the code, you may think that the coach is asking No. 88 to open the line for the running back or wide receiver.

But the real meaning is exactly the opposite.

At this time, the red and white team had the ball. After the center kicked off, quarterback John Werter did not make a shot immediately, so the three players of the Golden Bears, including cornerback and freeback, immediately entangled in rushing from the strong side. The tight end and wide receiver coming over, they even skip the tight end who has been charging, and go straight to the wide receiver who is about to get the ball.

This hit Yevgeny's trick.

Bill, who had already passed the third line of interception, got the football with a slight jump. Because there was no obstruction from the Golden Bears, he could even adjust his posture to catch the ball.

Then, No. 88 rushed directly with the ball. After the touchdown, Bill deliberately found the broadcast footage on the sidelines and looked back with a smile.

Naturally, the audience exploded on the spot, the red and white districts were overjoyed, and collectively thanked God for the gift, while the golden and blue districts cursed at the opposite side for a sour bitch who didn't talk about martial arts.

17-year-old Nicolas Cage looked at No. 88 celebrating in the end zone and said to Oliver: "Is this Bill a tight end? How can he run fast and catch the ball?"

PS: Today is divided into two [-]-word chapters, so as not to have a difficult delivery in the last chapter, please ask for a recommendation ticket and a monthly ticket.

(End of this chapter)