Strippers ejected from football game This Saturday, Saybrook College students escalated the war over the Yale Precision Marching Band's refusal to play "The Stripper" after the third quarter of football games. Three students, Kevin Irwin '99, Eric Peterson '99, and Dan Fingerman '00, stripped to boxer shorts at the end of the third quarter of Yale-Columbia game and ran almost completely around the football field before police officers ejected them from the Yale Bowl. Witnesses reported that as police led the trio off the field, the crowd's encouragement for them turned into boos against the police and University Band Director Thomas Duffy. "The Strip's not going to die because just one man wants it to," Fingerman said. The police brought the three to the administrative trailer and questioned them before threatening them with arrest if they tried to return to the stadium that day. "They weren't terribly bright people," Irwin said of the policemen. "After spending 15 minutes staring at our ID's, confiscating our Saybrook flag, and looking at our Saybrook boxer shorts, they asked us what college we were in." Members of the trio questioned the justice of their ejection. "It was completely positive and pro-Saybrook," Fingerman said. "There was no anti-anything." Peterson said the group decided beforehand not to interfere with the on-field activities. "Everything we did, we did consciously trying not to disrupt the game, the band, or incite the crowd," Peterson said. "I thoroughly believe we did none of those things." Duffy disagreed. "I was surprised and disappointed, especially because so many people put so much work into [the band's performance]," he said. "They disrupted our show. It's hard enough to hear over the P.A. system." During the first quarter, the Columbia band acceded to Saybrugians' requests and played "The Stripper," riling YPMB members. "The Saybrook Strip has gotten too much publicity already," YPMB member Rod Mobley '99 said. "It was our decision not to play it. Saybrook found somebody to play it. Both sides should be happy." The streakers attributed their actions to a desire to increase college loyalty. "Yale makes their colleges into a big draw, but Duffy's trying to undermine college spirit," Irwin said. Duffy denied the charge and said the YPMB refused to play "The Stripper" for its own reasons. "The band needs to create traditions that bring members into the band," Duffy said. "The Saybrook Strip doesn't have anything to do with [that]." There was no shortage of spirit in the Saybrook section of the Yale Bowl, as students howled and jeered at the band. Mike Buckstein '99, who came up with the idea for the streak, evoked one of Yale's more illustrious alumni to illustrate the strength of his allegiance. "In the immortal words of Nathan Hale, 'I regret that I have but one life to give for Saybrook,'" he said. "We have just begun to fight."
[ed. note: Mr. Buckstein is correct in attributing the first misquote to Nathan Hale, but his second misquote is that of John Paul Jones, Naval hero and, later, wicked Zep bass player.]
