Capture the “Flag” — Allie Skalnik ’26

When I first arrived at Stanford, I quickly realized just how far students will go in the name of creating their own fun. In the midst of exams and the lengthy laundry list of clubs most frosh acquire, there’s still fountain hopping, sneaking into the steam tunnels, climbing onto roofs and throwing caution to the wind (or shamelessly ogling) as hundreds of 20-somethings kiss in the quad. So why not apply that same energy to our Big Game festivities? Why stop at passing the ax back and forth? There’s nothing more fun than some good old (ethical, harmless) rule bending. I’m imagining an elaborate game of capture the flag where Stanford and Cal students try to steal things from each other throughout Big Game week, and the most glorious heist secures the title of Best School once and for all (or until next year’s heist starts the fun all over again).

Pranks — Daniel Xu ’29

One of my favorite pieces of Daily lore is the fake Cal paper we published after one of the most infamous moments in Stanford-Berkeley history: “The Play.” Yet today, the pranking has mostly died down. Bearial and Gaieties are two amazing in-house traditions, but there’s ample room for some more humor. A team of Yale students once tricked 2,000 Harvard students to spell out “WE SUCK” during the Yale-Harvard football game, and MIT quite literally flew out to Pasadena to steal Caltech’s beloved cannon. Even if Berkeley might not be quite up to the task, Stanford definitely has the brains to pull off at least a couple more legendary stunts. 

Making posters, banners or flags — Jacqueline Larsen ’29

It’s the day of Valpo Bowl — basically Big Game, but at my high school. The excitement in the air is palpable as our quad is abuzz with preparation. Our signature spectacle is the massive floats that we roll down the bleachers at halftime. The outcome of the game can often be a tossup, but our student section? Always on top. 

Sure, Stanford has struggled in recent years. But I want students to take at least one thing into our own hands. I imagine a tradition where a day or two before the Big Game, we sprawl across Meyer Green or Campus Drive and lawn-paint posters, stitch together massive banners, print out comically large cutouts of players’ faces. Win or lose, we will know our presence was felt. 

Cardinal-colored meals — Emerson Prentice ’29

What if, by the time Big Game came around, you had been eating purely red food for a week? You would be internally filled with Stanford’s spirit, literally. Your passion for the team would be coursing in your blood. 

I’m envisioning plates filled with beets, raspberries and red bell peppers. Bowls of tuna poke or pasta dyed red and coated in marinara sauce. For breakfast, perhaps Fruit Loops, but purely the red ones. Any and all red foods are welcome: you will only find a sea of red food at dining halls for a whole week, for every meal. This would be unorthodox and I could see this being slightly frustrating or limiting. But, this is certainly a small price to pay for the ultimate goal of school spirit, in preparation for the game. 

Mascot Duel — Anisha Pandey ’29

Football teams come and go, but mascots stay forever. What if the fate of the Axe wasn’t dependent on the scoreboard at the end of the game itself, but based on a wacky, utterly-chaotic halftime duel between the Tree and Oski the Bear? 

I can already see the entire stadium uniting, holding its breath as the mascots step into a makeshift arena, ready to go branch-to-paw in a boxing-style match (moderated, of course). Students would coach from the sidelines, watch every dodge and kick with anticipation, collectively groaning with each fall. It’s ridiculous, borderline unhinged, but which college tradition isn’t?

And of course, we all know which mascot’s more agile, crazier and objectively more hype. (Sorry, Oski.)

Tree Metamorphosis — Aiden Fel ’28

I can remember it as if it were yesterday. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I looked slyly at the cocoon that, months earlier, had formed in the corner of the “Cocoon Room.” When, in an instant, in a moment straight out of Kafka, I saw the cocoon split open, and a butterfly emerged! 

“That’s it,” I thought to myself. I knew what I had to do. 

The Big Game tradition should be that the Stanford Tree mascot metamorphoses during the Big Game into several smaller Stanford Saplings, just like a matryoshka doll. Also, we can feature one of the kids at Bing Nursery for the baby matryoshka sapling. I think most parents will let their kids do this because it’s fun and also a tradition… or at least, it should be!