The 15th of November, 2009 will go down in history as the third consecutive Glee Club win against the YPMB in the annual football showdown. Members from all years and sections of the 149th Glee Club (except for sopranos) destroyed the Yale Precision Marching Band in football, 5 – 2, in what was the shortest and perhaps most deadly rampage in the age-old conflict between forces of Glee and forces of YPMB.
Led by the 2009 YGC-YPMB Football Captains Sarah Dewey, Dan Schechner, Derek Tam and Rachel Wilf, the team never let the YPMB lead. Quarterbacks Rob Williams and Peter Clune overcame the challenge of low-lying branches to deliver beautifully spiraling footballs arcing through the air and landing in the receiver’s hands.
A special shout-out to the YGC Alto Section, whose members (Miriam, Elaine, Phyllis, and Mary as well as Captains Sarah Dewey and Rachel Wilf) marched, marched on down the field, and who had to sing soprano at our closing rendition of BCY as there were...no sopranos. Elaine also caught a beautiful pass in the end zone for the final touchdown, securing the win (the captains had previously agreed to play to 5 touchdowns or 4:00pm, a new agreement since last year the game lasted past sunset).
The sons of Eli spanned both tenor and bass sections, with Sam, Atid, Jacob, Dylan, and Danny receiving, blocking, and occasionally leading cheers from the sidelines, including one of “we have talent.” Later, chants of “put the girls in” from the Glee Club side could be heard, and the captains used the unusual strategy of putting every Glee Club woman (i.e. alto) present on the field. Because the offensive team was in charge of deciding the ratio of men to women on the field, the Glee Club’s choice of two men and five women proved fatal to the YPMB, who switched the ratio whenever they had a chance.
At rehearsal the next day, Jeff explained, “for my first years here, the Glee Club never won this game.” We lost so much, he said, that is had become a joke. But no longer! With our three-peat win we have shown that our mastery of the football medley in rehearsal translates to a mastery of the game on the field.
