An October Saturday at Whittier Field

I am now four days away from something that I have been looking forward to for the last ten months!  Bowdoin’s 2016 season and their 125th year of football started last week at Middlebury (a beautiful venue in the Green Mountains of Vermont), but to me the true season opener happens this week at Whittier Field.  The game will probably not be competitive because the defending 3-time NESCAC champion, Amherst, is coming to town – but to me that doesn’t make one bit of difference.

Ever since my first game at Bowdoin fourteen years ago, I have faithfully attended most of the games with one or more of my family members no matter the weather or the opponent.  Although I must admit, the Colby game every other year does take on its own special meaning due to the history of the teams in both years and family.

Speaking of history, the Polar Bears have now been playing on Whittier Field for 120 years.  To put that into perspective, here are some events that occurred in 1896 – the year the field opened:  Utah was admitted as the 45th state, William Jennings Bryan gave his Cross of Gold speech to get the Democratic presidential nomination, only to be defeated by William McKinley, and John Philip Sousa composed “Stars and Stripes Forever”.

A few years later in 1903, a grandstand was built thanks to a donation from a Bowdoin Alumnus, General Thomas H. Hubbard (class of 1857), who served in the Union Army during the Civil War.  This structure was state of the art as it also contained locker rooms and showers.  By today’s standard, it isn’t going to necessarily impress or entice scholar-athletes, but nevertheless it is a part of the historical significance of Whittier Field.

And, we can’t talk about Bowdoin football without mentioning the Bowdoin Pines – a symbol of the college going back to the early 1800’s.  There are but a few “mast pines” that are still in existence today, but this college campus seems to have a whole forest of them.  A simple stroll under these magnificent pines at halftime was (and is) always exciting for a dad and his daughters.

Lastly, there is no better place to be than here to feel like you are a part of the game.  Standing along the track just a few feet away from the field will do that.  In fact, I once had to grab my girls, who were sitting just on the grass, and move them so that they would not get run over by a player going out of bounds.  It’s like going to a baseball game and always watching for foul balls headed in your direction.

There are other benefits as well.  On more than one occasion I have talked with or laughed with a player and/or an official.  We have heard the head coach word for word yell at his players or more frequently at the referee.  E.J. Mills (Amherst Head Coach), though he has mellowed, has been one of the more entertaining personalities that I (or my daughters) have heard.  And the tailgating is always close at hand, as you can walk a short distance from the field and be back at your vehicle for a quick halftime break.

For all these reasons, my family and I will be gathering once again this Saturday on an autumn day to enjoy all the sights and sounds of a Bowdoin football game. Whittier field might not be the newest field, or have superior facilities, or even the latest amenities such as a jumbotron (new to Trinity this year), but there is no better place to watch a football game and truly feel like you are a part of this great pastime.

See you at the game – I’ll be the one with a grin that competes with the cat that ate the canary!