COVID-19 was a global pandemic and in the fall of 2020 it meant playing the 123rd Big Game in an empty Memorial Stadium
As the Pac-12 Conference era comes to a close after more than a century, we count down the Top 50 moments involving Cal athletics.On the day after Thanksgiving in 2020, while settling into my seat in the press box at Memorial Stadium to watch Cal play Stanford, I gazed out the window to empty grandstands. Obviously, the pandemic had wreaked much greater harm elsewhere. But on this afternoon, in this venue, COVID-19 claimed one more victim: Normalcy in the 123rd Big Game.
This was at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fans were not invited. No parents, no bands, no cheerleaders, no halftime show, no view from Tightwad Hill, no Stanford Tree, no Oski. Cal held a virtual Big Game rally the night before the game, replacing the traditional bonfire at the Greek Theater.
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