A GA/PC Day Retrospective
BY EDWIN PROBERT 1760, November 2003
围绕这项运动涌现出来的传统，是GA运动历史的一个缩影. The place of athletic activity has always been high at GA, because of the school's commitment to the dictum "sound mind, 健全的身体.“现代GA- pc日结合了GA运动的一些杰出元素:包容, 体育精神, 和连续性. In 1887, 当时乔治·哈特利·迪肯和他的学生们在橄榄球场上参加了第一款GA-PC游戏, he had no idea what would be the heritage of the event. It was just another game for them and him.
他们的热情很高:我们知道，玩这个游戏一定会让肾上腺素激增. We know the equipment was rudimentary, the play was tactile, the competition rough, and the score was GA 20, PC 6. 比分告诉我们，对于GA的观众来说，这场比赛是多么令人兴奋，而对于GA的球队来说，更是令人兴奋. That GA-PC rivalry that has gone on for over 120 years.
第一场比赛 was really but today its descendant is now known as American 足球. In those early days, 客队和他们的支持者乘火车来到GA球场，只是为了在他们的名单上再打一场比赛. 在最初的50年左右的时间里，GA-PC足球游戏只是一款直截了当的游戏. In the first phase of the rivalry, GA通常是实力更强的球队，因为学校拥有出色的校园设施，并且与日耳曼敦板球俱乐部(Germantown Cricket Club)有密切的合作. This GCC connection was a fine asset.
Then in the 1930's, 威廉·佩恩特许学校(William Penn Charter School)正好搬进了GA的管辖范围，距离校舍巷(School House Lane)只有几个街区. 此外, almost in coordination with PC's move, 许多家庭从中心城搬到了日耳曼镇周边的郊区. What was once a predictable school competition, having to do with games, was now an invited rivalry having to do with proximity and comparison. The once urban schools now had facilities that outshone GA. What once had been solely GA's catchment area was now shared turf. The presence of Penn Charter certainly underscored GA's lack of land. PC的塔楼不仅刺穿了天空，也可能刺穿了其竞争对手通用汽车的自尊. The GA-PC football game thus took on a new perspective and intensity.
从大萧条时期一直到二战后的头几年, 足球世界主要由大学和学校的比赛主导. Professional football had yet to come into its own. 那些喜欢这项运动的人追随自己喜欢的大学和学校球队. The Friday afternoon Inter-Ac games allowed the players' families, 朋友, 和他们学校的校友或爱好者在周末开始前看一场比赛. The GA-PC game took the limelight because of the schools' proximity, the rising awareness of its lengthy traditions, and acknowledged level of competition. Just as sports are an extension of school's image, the big game represents the school's reputation and pride. During these mid-twentieth century years, the once powerful GA had an uphill struggle, not only in football but also in other sports. GA both was land poor and had fewer students than other Inter-Ac School.
尽管如此, the GA-PC game was taking on a life of its own, as spectator betting, alumni and team father-drinking and student hijinx, not to mention the time honored, post game destruction of the goal post, were all exhibited.
In time, the event became something like a homecoming activity. 校友 would return, each school had a special pep rally, but with typical Philadelphia upper class reserve, 没有返校节皇后节目，也没有游行乐队. However, the day had a major social event, the post-game cocktail party. 就像迅速发展的橄榄球比赛一样，这个党开始有了自己的生活. One GA Old Guard commented, “嗯, if we didn't win the game, and we usually didn't; we always won the cocktail party!这一巧妙的评论强调了GA-PC游戏从乔治·哈特利·迪肯(George Hartley Deacon)时代到“强大的基督教”时代的变化."
当GA搬到华盛顿堡时，GA和pc的竞争不再是地理上的接近. 确切地说，佐治亚大学拥有优秀的体育设施，现在是男女同校. The tide was changing. Yet, the big game remained a great alumni event! Under the headmastership of Mr. 清晨里, 两所学校都意识到需要改变:从成人社交转向学术体育精神. The focus needed to be on the players, the students, and their games.
Shortly there after, 赛后的派对被赛前的校友午餐所取代. 这两所学校都宣称他们的校园对尾随和穿着嬉皮服装是“干燥”的. 随着职业足球的兴起，学术书籍的制作逐渐枯竭. In recent times, larger changes have happened. 宾夕法尼亚大学特许学校变成了男女同校，并扩大了其房地产资产，以提供更多的竞争环境. 两所学校都开始采取立场，反对男生的“狂欢”，因为这种行为正在演变成学院预科生的流氓行为. Both schools on GA-PC Day field Girls and Boys Soccer, Girls and Boys Cross Country, 曲棍球, 女孩网球, Girls and Boys Water Polo and, 当然, 足球.
In recent years, the big game has become the big day. Leading up to the day, 每所学校都鼓励精神建设活动，从盛大的赛前动员大会到篝火晚会. Then in a genteel way, 管理人员向学生们宣读了关于饮酒和破坏财产的《vwin娱乐场官方》. On alternate years, each school is the host. 校友 return in increasing numbers to lunch under a big tent. Both schools now have spirit bands and cheerleaders. In 2000, both schools joined in mounting a student art show. All the fall sports team participate and prizes are awarded.
This brief retrospective of the GA-PC tradition offers telltales of GA's athletic history: the early halcyon days in uncrowded Germantown; the alliance with the Cricket Club; the increasing awareness of the paucity school's facilities; some of the unsavory aspects of scholastic competition; then GA's serendipitous move to Fort Washington and going co-ed.
What would George Hartley Deacon, 想想1887年第一场GA- pc橄榄球比赛的后代吧? How would he appraise the contemporary GA-PC Day? Well, he had a keen wit, imagination, and foresight. He knew the future could not be a continuance of his own day. 用他那个时代的一句话来回答这个问题:他会怎么想? "He'd be more pleased than punch."
