Why I Do Not Like Football

From an MIT Press release today they list the history of Football on Campus:

• 1881: The MIT football team, nicknamed the Techmen, defeats Exeter College, 2-0.
• 1885: MIT trounces Amherst, 80-0, to tie Williams College for the Northeastern Intercollegiate Football Association (NIFA) league title. In perhaps the first playoff game in college football history, MIT loses to Williams, 18-10.
• 1886: MIT loses to Yale, 96-0.
• 1887-1888: MIT wins back-to-back NIFA league titles.
• 1890:  With two games left, the football season is cancelled due to injuries.
• 1901: MIT President Henry S. Pritchett holds a controversial student vote that eliminates the football program by a two-vote margin (119-117).
• 1940: A non-varsity Junior-Senior team forms, plays four games, and Virginia Jewell is crowned “MIT Football Queen” before a football dance.
• 1941: The non-varsity team disbands after two seasons.
• 1966: A student survey indicates a desire for intercollegiate football, but the MIT Athletic Board votes unanimously against adding an MIT team.
• 1978: The MIT football club forms and joins the National Club Football Conference (NCFC), thanks to the efforts of players including Walt Crosby ’81, Bruce Wrobel ’79, and Gary Spletter ’79.
• 1978, cont.: The Rochester Institute of Technology drops their football program, and the MIT club purchases their football equipment and uniforms for $2,000. The team wears orange and white jerseys during the 1978 season.
• 1978, cont.: A crowd of 2,000 attends the club’s only home game. The Engineers loses to Siena College, 30-14, and an Ugliest Man on Campus contest is held at halftime. The team finishes the season 0-6.
• 1987: The NCFC disbands. The club becomes a varsity program and joins the NCAA Division III.
• 1988: The Engineers win their first varsity game of the modern era, beating Stonehill, 29-7.
• 2013: The team wins a then-record six games and post back-to-back winning seasons (5-4 in 2012) for the first time in 124 years.
• 2014: The Engineers finish the regular season 9-0 and win their first NEFC title. The team will play in the NCAA Division III Football Championship tournament on November 22.

The 78 season I recall, having walked across campus and seeing the "team" and the "cheerleaders". Now just where the "cheerleaders" came from was anyone's guess, but perhaps they were better at chemistry than cheerleading. Well they won with a perfect season and they did not play a single JV High School team to accomplish this. Not Harvard or Yale but not bad.