2004 Harvard–Yale prank

At the annual Harvard–Yale football game on November 20, 2004, Yale students, costumed as a Harvard "pep squad", distributed placards to Harvard fans for a card stunt. When the fans raised the placards together, they read "We Suck".

The practical joke was conceived of and coordinated by Michael Kai and David Aulicino, two Yale students in the class of 2005, and was executed with the help of 20 classmates disguised as the "Harvard Pep Squad". The perpetrators handed crimson-and-white placards to fans in the central area of the Harvard side of the stadium—mostly Harvard alumni, with a few faculty, students, and others. The group told the crowd that, by lifting the placards, they would spell "Go Harvard".^[1]^[2]^[3]

Most Harvard students were sitting in a section off to the side of the alumni area where the prank was executed, and they left the stands unaware of the prank; however, players on the field did see the placards.^[4]

Response

Initially, many at Harvard denied that the prank had happened.^[5] In response, Yale students registered the domain name "harvardsucks.org" (as well as "yalesucks.com" in a preemptive move) and posted a video detailing their efforts.^[6] Chuck Sullivan, Harvard's director of athletic communications, said, "[It was] all in good fun."^[7] In an interview with The Harvard Crimson, the prank's organizers claimed that members of the Harvard Band were complicit with the Yale pranksters.^[8] This was a further hoax designed to “toss salt in the wound”, as stated by Kai.

Sometime in 2021, the domain name "harvardsucks.org" expired, and was not renewed. As of 2023, "harvardsucks.org" and consequently, "yalesucks.com", both direct to a "Domain not claimed" screen.

Media and Internet coverage

The prank was covered by newspapers, radio programs, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, MSNBC, and several other TV shows. Several magazines have listed the prank among the greatest in college history.^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13] A satirical article in Maxim says that Yale perpetrated "the greatest prank this side of the Mason–Dixon line since the Boston Tea Party ... and caused dozens of stoic, blue-blooded Harvard men to spit port wine all over their smoking jackets." Sports Illustrated featured the prank with "some of the best attempts to get the other guy's goat". ESPN and ESPN2 featured the prank in a 15-minute documentary on the rivalry.

Similar pranks

This prank echoes many similar stunts, most notably the Great Rose Bowl Hoax of 1961. In that Rose Bowl game between the University of Washington and the University of Minnesota, Caltech students had manipulated several of the card stunts led by Washington cheerleaders, the last of which caused the letters in "Caltech" to be spelled out.

In 2024, two YouTubers pranked Paris Saint-Germain F.C. fans by putting an Olympique de Marseille tifo in the stands of the Parc des Princes during a Coupe de France game. PSG fans lifted the tifo.^[14]

References

^ Ruggeri, Amanda (November 29, 2004). "Elis outsmart Harvard with prank at Game". Yale Daily News. Archived from the original on January 15, 2010. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
^ "Elis outsmart Harvard with prank at Game". Yale Daily News. November 29, 2004.
^ "Photo from 'Elis outsmart Harvard with prank at Game'". Yale Daily News. November 29, 2004.
^ ESPN documentary on the Harvard-Yale rivalry, featuring the "We Suck" prank, December, 2005.
^ Kelly, M. Aidan (December 2, 2004). "Yale's Brief Shining Moment". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
^ "Video of the incident". Archived from the original on April 2, 2006. Retrieved March 16, 2006.
^ New York Sun, December 1, 2004
^ New Haven Register
^ "From Hermes to bonsai kittens". The Economist. December 24, 2005. pp. 82–83.
^ "Pranks for the Memories". Sports Illustrated. December 12, 2005. p. 36.
^ "Ivy Beleaguered". Maxim. February 2005. pp. 20–21. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
^ "Harvard Gets Pranked!". FHM. March 2005. p. 30.
^ "Sportsmanship HARVARD SUCKS". PCFormat. March 2005. p. 30.
^ "VIDEO. Football : "Humiliation totale du PSG, du jamais vu en France..." Une tribune du Parc des Princes piégée par un tifo de l'OM". ladepeche.fr (in French). Retrieved March 14, 2024.

External links

www.harvardsucks.org Archived April 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, website maintained by the pranksters

[YDwatch-N-1] Ruggeri, Amanda (November 29, 2004). "Elis outsmart Harvard with prank at Game". Yale Daily News. Archived from the original on January 15, 2010. Retrieved January 21, 2010.

[2] "Elis outsmart Harvard with prank at Game". Yale Daily News. November 29, 2004.

[3] "Photo from 'Elis outsmart Harvard with prank at Game'". Yale Daily News. November 29, 2004.

[4] ESPN documentary on the Harvard-Yale rivalry, featuring the "We Suck" prank, December, 2005.

[5] Kelly, M. Aidan (December 2, 2004). "Yale's Brief Shining Moment". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved September 10, 2007.

[6] "Video of the incident". Archived from the original on April 2, 2006. Retrieved March 16, 2006.

[7] New York Sun, December 1, 2004

[8] New Haven Register

[9] "From Hermes to bonsai kittens". The Economist. December 24, 2005. pp. 82–83.

[10] "Pranks for the Memories". Sports Illustrated. December 12, 2005. p. 36.

[11] "Ivy Beleaguered". Maxim. February 2005. pp. 20–21. Retrieved September 10, 2007.

[12] "Harvard Gets Pranked!". FHM. March 2005. p. 30.

[13] "Sportsmanship HARVARD SUCKS". PCFormat. March 2005. p. 30.

[14] "VIDEO. Football : "Humiliation totale du PSG, du jamais vu en France..." Une tribune du Parc des Princes piégée par un tifo de l'OM". ladepeche.fr (in French). Retrieved March 14, 2024.

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v t e Harvard Crimson football
Venues	Boston Baseball Grounds (1877–1881) Holmes Field (1881–1882, 1888) Jarvis Field (1883–1893) Soldier's Field (1894–1903) Harvard Stadium (1903–present)
Bowls and rivalries	1920 Rose Bowl Dartmouth Penn Princeton Yale
Culture and lore	"Ten Thousand Men of Harvard" 1874 McGill game 1921 Centre game 1968 Yale game (Harvard Beats Yale 29–29) 2004 Harvard–Yale prank
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Yale Bulldogs football
Venues	Hamilton Park (1872–1883) Yale Field (1884–1914, 1916) Yale Bowl (1914–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Harvard Princeton Lehigh: Yank Townsend Trophy
Culture & lore	1910 Vanderbilt game 1927 Georgia game 1968 Harvard game (Harvard Beats Yale 29–29) 2004 Harvard–Yale prank Handsome Dan "Boola Boola" Pigskin Parade Huddle
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

Response

Media and Internet coverage

Similar pranks

See also

References

External links