This past Saturday, November 12th, was the 68th annusal Cortaca Jug, or in other words the 7nth year in a row the Bombers sadly lost to SUNY Cortland. This may not have been the ideal situation for us Ithaca College students, but at least we had a good time cheering on our team in the stands and at home. The Ithaca students who went to the game were rowdy, and the fans at home were even rowdier with one of their signs featured on “I’m Shacked”s instagram and a huge party to go with it on Prospect Street.
I was lucky enough to attend the highly anticipated game with a bunch of my friends by taking a huge party bus that provided us transportation to and from the stadium. We started the Cortaca party as early as 9 am and got to the game about a half an hour before kickoff at 12 pm. While our hopes were high for a win from the Bombers, we were sadly disappointed in the end. At least we have our stories from the game, and the players have the memories from the rest of the season.
The students that attended the game were rather civil with each other, mostly because the police and security working the game made sure to keep the two fan sections apart. No one from Cortland was allowed on the Ithaca side, and vice versa. This was probably a good idea considering any chance the two student sections came near each other there were plenty of insults.
This Cortaca also marked the last game ever for Coach Mike Welch after 23 seasons of coaching, with a final overall record of 169-78. The Bombers may have lost the game, but they lost an even more significant component to their team. Cortaca was an overall great experience, and we can’t wait to see what next year’s football season will bring.
We’ll get ‘em next year.