The Cornell Big Red

I've come to regard seeing a live college football game as a pleasing annual autumn ritual, as inevitable as the holidays that come before and after it. Note that I said "game". More than one would probably try my patience, but the once is enough to remind me of certain nostalgic sights and sounds going all the way back to my childhood. I like the biting cold, the marching bands, the cheerleaders, stuffing my face with food, drinking things from thermoses....and occasionally checking in on the game. My kids live in Ithaca with their mom, so for the past several seasons, I have gone with them to see the Cornell Big Red play. Last weekend we were there to watch them get trounced by Dartmouth. I left my memory stick at home, so here are a couple of shots by photographer Cashel.

Cornell reportedly has the last remaining marching band in the Ivy League. I can't say they're always in tune, but they do seem to have a great deal of infectious fun.

Oh, yes, and some football players