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CHAPTER X
THE football season lasted from the first of October to the latter part of November, and during those weeks little was talked about, or even thought about, on the campus but football. There were undergraduates who knew the personnel of virtually every football team in the country, the teams that had played against each other, their relative merits, the various scores, the outstanding players of each position. Half the stu¬ dents at Sanford regularly made out “All Amer¬ ican” teams, and each man was more than willing to debate the quality of his team against that of any other. Night after night the students gathered in groups in dormitory rooms and fraternity houses, discussing football, football, football; even religion and sex, the favorite topics for “bull sessions,” could not compete with football, especially when some one mentioned Raleigh College. Raleigh was Sanford’s ancient rival; to defeat her was of cosmic importance.

There was a game every Saturday. About half the time the team played at home; the other games were played on the rivals’ fields. No matter how far away the team traveled, the college traveled Rh