Howard Versus Harvard Football Game In Cambridge

My husband is an alumnus of Howard University and this weekend for the first time they traveled up North to take on Harvard University at Harvard Stadium. My husband played basketball at Howard and while he said he enjoyed his time there greatly he did mention on multiple occasions while we drove in how bad the football and athletic programs, in general, have always been.

With that being said, it wasn’t much of a surprise they were already losing 14-3 by the time we arrived only a few minutes into the game. The score continued to trend in a negative direction for Howard, and by halftime, they were down 43-3. My husband and the crowd certainly didn’t appreciate the butt-kicking but didn’t seem like it was the first time they have seen it out of Howard’s football team.

Apart from the abuse they received on the football field, the entire mood and optimism shifted as halftime approached and the Showtime marching band got ready to take the stage. Howard is an HBCU (historically black college and university) and there marching band is simply legendary. I have to preface for the past few weeks, Beyonce’s album Homecoming has been my shower jams. Beyonce was backed by an HBCU band for her Coachella show, and it’s without a doubt one of my favorite performance.

When the Showtime band came out you would have thought Howard was the team winning 43-3. The Howard crowd all pridefully stood up and stayed on their feet while the band amazed the crowd with there talents. I had to remind myself I wasn’t back in the shower busting moves off my Bluetooth speaker to the Beyonce album and keep things at a moderate level to not embarrass my husband! The band’s wildly impressive skills became even more apparent when Harvard‘s band came out and totally bored the crowd. It was hard to even say that both groups were labeled as marching bands, as one controlled the crowd and the other put them to sleep.

After halftime, we left the stadium, of course, I pressed my hubby to capture some pictures as Harvard Stadium was so rich in character and old-world charm. It was built in 1903 and has the feel of a Roman Collesium with the massive stone columns. My husband later showed me a famous performance by Bob Marley back in 1979 at Harvard Stadium on YouTube and it didn’t look a bit different in 2019.

Overall apart from the loss (which came as no surprise), it was great to spend a day out alone with my husband. It was impressive even with the butt-kicking on the field that the Howard fan’s strong school pride was unmoved. My husband speaks very highly of the type of hustle every student that graduates from HU are instilled with and that the steady stream of losses they take on the football field don’t even begin to match the many wins’ there alumni have racked up in the game of life.