Williams Takes on Amherst in Homecoming Game
 |
The game rotates annually between Wesleyan and Amherst; this year, it's the Lord Jeffs' turn to cross the Berkshires Hills to meet the Ephs on Weston Field.
The Williams-Amherst rivalry goes back more than two centuries way. It all started in 1821, when a dissatisfied Williams president raided the library, rounded up students and faculty, and took off to found Amherst. That's why the Lord Jeffs are known in Williamstown as "The Defectors."
Since then, Williams and Amherst have found plenty of outlets for competition, especially in Division III football. It's been called the "biggest little game in America."
There have been legendary games, like the 1995 homecoming at which Amherst broke Williams' nine-year winning streak by tying 0-0 or 1997, when Amherst entered the game having allowed just 22 points all year but Williams led at the half 24-14, or 2001, the only game both teams were undefeated going into the contest.
But "it is here that the nomenclature 'student-athlete' is no oxymoron," wrote sports critic Larry Dorman. "It is really the essence of what college athletic competition can be. It is Division III, but it is first rate. Football is not a business here. It might be a very important piece of the fabric that is woven into the whole way of life at Williams ... but it is only a piece."
Williams football games are punctuated by quirky traditions. The college's fight song, "Yard by Yard," is meant to be sung by cheering fans as the players "march on the field." But almost no one knows all the words. On the sidelines, Williams' Mucho Macho Moo-Cow Military Marching Band plays offbeat music in what The New York Times called "a delightful departure from the usual fare."
Then there's "The Walk." After a win, Williams football players sing "Yard by Yard" as they march along Spring Street from Weston Field to St. Pierre's Barbershop. Sometimes they shave their heads.
Senior football players traditionally introduce themselves to the Williams College Sideline Quarterback Club, a group of alumni and friends of the college. At one luncheon in 1995, Williams assistant coach Renzie Lamb told the group: "If you wish to be happy for an hour, get intoxicated. If you wish to be happy for three days, get married. If you wish to be happy for eight days, kill your pig and eat it. If you wish to be happy forever, beat Amherst."
