Following Stanford’s 27-15 Big Game loss to Cal on The Farm, CardinalSportsReport.com learned of minor damage that happened to Stanford property prior to the game:
A couple of flags were stolen that fly in front of the ticket office outside the stadium, the flag poles which raise those flags suffered minor damage, and one of the goalposts on Stanford’s practice field was also damaged. The goalpost I actually noticed the day after the game as I was walking past Stanford’s practice field. I thought maybe it was damaged by Cal fans after the game, but it turns out it was damaged prior to the game.
As far as who is behind this, from what I have learned, individuals who are part of the Cal community are responsible. From what I was told, security footage actually caught the flags being stolen, leading to police confronting people from Berkeley who they identified from the footage. I have also been told that Stanford has demanded some form of written apology from Cal and that they get compensated for the cost of the damage. In an even more lighthearted prank, I was also told that blue and gold dye was poured into the fountains that ran red water, turning them purple or orange pending on which dye was put into the water. Nothing damaged at all from that.
Obviously, it’s clear that some pre-Big Game mischief occurred here. Cal fans/students looking to have a little bit of fun prior to the game. I'm happy to hear that Berkeley is maintaining a bit of their mischievous spirit! This kind of stuff has happened before and from what I’ve learned, what happened this year was actually quite mild compared to past years. There used to be issues of stuff getting spray painted, but it’s been a good while since they’ve had to deal with that, thankfully.
Overall, I think a little bit of mischief like this in rivalry games is fun. Nobody got hurt and nothing of serious importance was damaged (no offense to flag poles and goal posts). No reason to make a big deal out of this.
At the same time, if Stanford has indeed asked for some form of written apology and/or wants to be compensated for the damage, even if it’s as minor as I’ve been told that it is, Cal should help them out. After all, Stanford looked out for Cal during conference realignment, prioritizing that they stick together. As they now head to the ACC together, it certainly would be a nice gesture for Cal to give Stanford a little assist on this.
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook & X (Twitter): @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, Instagram, & X (Twitter): @slamdunk406
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
