Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2006 09:00:42 EDT
Subject: Ancient Eight
To: thomas.beckett@yale.edu
CC: Rick.Levin@yale.edu
Tom — Vision, leadership and commitment have made possible the grand restoration of the Yale Bowl. An equally proud project would be the creation of an Ivy League Football Hall of Fame, the natural location of which would be New Haven, the birthplace of football as it is played today. Yale could donate the land and all eight Universities, as well as their football alumni, would contribute to design and construction costs. An Ivy League Hall of Fame Foundation would underwrite the maintenance costs. Admission would be free to all comers, with an opportunity for upkeep donations. The natural location would be on Central Avenue across from the Bowl, perhaps where the Armory is now situated. (Polo is not an apt symbol for modern, egalitarian Yale.) With the dominance of NFL and scholarship programs, there is a danger that the rich traditions of football at Yale and its brother institutions will continue to slowly fade into the twilight. The Ancient Eight should never become the Forgotten Eight. Something akin to a trust obligation, to both past and future generations, calls on us to be guardians of that history. So many great athletes and national leaders are woven into its fabric. One vision is of a grand opening of The Ivy League Hall of Fame in the fall of 2016, with an undefeated Yale team playing across the street, coached perhaps by Bill Belichick.
Richard Banbury, ‘ 60, ’63L