47,000 and counting...

[CornellFan]

Thus far, the counter reads 47,000 tickets sold, up 4,000 from yesterday.  Cornell sold out its allotment.  Very impressive thus far.  While, a sell-out will be tough-- 55,000 looks like a good possibility.  A special treat for us Cornell fans who rarely see our teams play on such big stages.

http://www.lax4baltimore.org/

[Tom Pasniewski 98]

Whether it's 47K, 55K or a full 70K, it's going to be a lot of people.  My brief search on certain Cornell sporting events did not produce the answer so I'll toss it out there.  Anybody know the largest crowd ever to witness a Cornell sporting event?

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote Tom Pasniewski 98]Anybody know the largest crowd ever to witness a Cornell sporting event?[/quote]
Likely a football game at Michigan or Oho State.  Maybe the 23-14 win at Columbus in 1939?

[Chris '03]

[quote Al DeFlorio][quote Tom Pasniewski 98]Anybody know the largest crowd ever to witness a Cornell sporting event?[/quote]
Likely a football game at Michigan or Oho State.  Maybe the 23-14 win at Columbus in 1939?[/quote]

The ever reliable wikipedia says Ohio Stadium didn't draw more than 20-30k until after WWII.

The stadium itself did not regularly sell out until after WWII, in the 20s and 30s most games only drew in 20,000 or 30,000 fans, with many more attending the annual game against Michigan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Stadium#Opening

A game at Michigan might be a good bet based on these numbers:
http://bentley.umich.edu/stadium/stadtext/mattend.htm

Edit: CU media guide says the largest home crowd was 35,300 for the 1951 game vs. Michigan.The 1952 game at Michigan drew 48,614 according to this site: http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1952fbt.htm. That was the biggest crowd of any CU/UM game. I'll keep hunting around.

[Chris '03]

I'm having trouble finding any opponents with stadium capacity over 50k. Harvard used to qualify and Yale still does.

Princeton averaged 39k in the 30s, 1924, the year the crescent opened in Ithaca, Harvard averaged 41k. (From Mark Bernstein's, Football: The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession).

Yale Bowl average attendance has never topped 35k in any decade
(YU media guide).

The 1952 Michigan game may be a good bet for biggest crowd.

[Tom Pasniewski 98]

Thanks.  I know Harvard-Yale in the day drew as much as 77,000 but I doubt Cornell-Yale did.  My point was to see if this would be the largest crowd ever and I also wonder if a Cornell athlete representing Cornell at a sporting event had participated in front of such a large crowd.  Or if Seibald, McMonagle and company would now have the distinction of being those athletes.

[Al DeFlorio]

According to Bob Kane in his book, Good Sports, the 1949 Cornell-Penn football game at Franklin Field--won by Cornell, 29-21--was attended by 76,000.

[Chris '03]

[quote Al DeFlorio]According to Bob Kane in his book, Good Sports, the 1949 Cornell-Penn football game at Franklin Field--won by Cornell, 29-21--was attended by 76,000.[/quote]

Well done, Al. I'm looking at the New York Times recap from 11/25/49 of that Thanksgiving Day game now saying 75,000 were at the game. I'd attach it but it's beyond the file size limit.

[nshapiro]

Didn't Cornell play football at Stanford in 1991?

I am pretty sure that stadium holds 75000, but I don't know if Stanford sells out regularly

[Tom Pasniewski 98]

[quote Al DeFlorio]According to Bob Kane in his book, Good Sports, the 1949 Cornell-Penn football game at Franklin Field--won by Cornell, 29-21--was attended by 76,000.[/quote]

A fine book that belongs in every Cornell sports fan's library.  I just didn't have time to look through my copy.  As always, thanks Al.


[quote nshapiro]Didn't Cornell play football at Stanford in 1991?

I am pretty sure that stadium holds 75000, but I don't know if Stanford sells out regularly[/quote]

That was actually the first game that came to mind as a possibility but I couldn't find stats.

[KeithK]

[quote nshapiro]Didn't Cornell play football at Stanford in 1991?

I am pretty sure that stadium holds 75000, but I don't know if Stanford sells out regularly[/quote]
It was Stanford's Homecoming game, which might have helped to boost attendance.  But they were playing Cornell, which couldn't help but depress attendance. (I know there are a lot of alums in the Bay Area but still...)

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote Chris '03]I'm looking at the New York Times recap from 11/25/49 of that Thanksgiving Day game now saying 75,000 were at the game. I'd attach it but it's beyond the file size limit.[/quote]
That in itself says a lot about how Ivy League football has changed in 50+ years.  Today, you'd find barely a paragraph in the grey lady.

[imafrshmn]

[quote Al DeFlorio][quote Chris '03]I'm looking at the New York Times recap from 11/25/49 of that Thanksgiving Day game now saying 75,000 were at the game. I'd attach it but it's beyond the file size limit.[/quote]
That in itself says a lot about how Ivy League football has changed in 50+ years.  Today, you'd find barely a paragraph in the grey lady.[/quote]

Here's a quote from that NY Times article:

So carried away were the enraptured Cornellians by the exploits of their heroes in scoring two touchdowns and a field goal in the final quarter that they rushed down from the stands and toppled the goal posts in record time while the game was still in progress.  When the final whistle sounded, the members of the victorious team lifted Lefty James [the head coach at the time] to their shoulders and bore him off to the dressing room in triumph.

[jtwcornell91]

I was at that game, and I don't recall much about the size of the crowd.  It was fun, though.

[KeithK]

[quote jtwcornell91]I was at that game, and I don't recall much about the size of the crowd.  It was fun, though.[/quote]
Ah the joys of flat view.  I'd just read the NY Times clip about the '49 game and my first thought was "Who the hell is that old?" :-)