Prime Time Would Not Exist Without the Orange and Purple

In the 1920’s, sports were constricted by the time the sunset, a prime-time game was at 2 pm, and a camera flash didn’t stand out, it blended in with the sun, but now we wait for the sun to set. The idea of sports at night under lights was once farfetched, at best a gimmick, but all that would change in 1929 as prime time was born, and Hobart Football was front and center.

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Apart from a town fair attraction where a high school played a college, no official Football game was played at night until Hobart traveled to Syracuse to face off in their yearly game in 1929. That year the yearly tradition would be anything but traditional.

The stands were overflowing and standing room was at a premium, as one of the largest crowds ever seen at Syracuse’s Archbold Stadium would witness the first night game in the east. The game was an experiment that went better than anyone could hope, as it would be described as “Flood Lights arranged to give Daylight Brilliance” (The Hobart Herald, 1929). Hobart football players such as captain center M. Polanski (’29), quarterback L.W. Wyman (’30), and full back L.F. Galbraith (’31) would become some of the first prime time athletes in American sports. The orange and purple became electrified.

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Once the game was announced to be played under lights, excitement spread throughout the campus. The excitement wasn’t limited to either college’s campus, people all around the northeast wanted to witness the game. Floodlights were arranged around the field, identical equipment to what was used at the Rose Bowl, and with over 25,000 people in attendance, the experiment was flawless, proving to many how successful night games can be. The game itself was not much to remember for Hobart, the bigger and more experienced Syracuse Orange would beat the smaller Statesman team.

The impact of the game would be seen immediately as a few weeks later, on November 6^th, 1929, professional football would play its first night game under electric light. The Providence Steam Rollers would take on the Chicago Cardinals under floodlights after having to reschedule a game during the day due to weather. Like Hobarts game, this would be a massive success.

Games like these would not become common at HWS for another 80 years. Over the decades, HWS’s athletic facilities have developed into one of the best in the nation, and lights would be installed in 2008. Major renovations took place in 2008 as a new field, track, stands, and lights would be installed at Boswell field.

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Friday night lights and primetime games are synonymous with American sports culture. We have all been there or seen it on tv, your local high school faces off against their rival on a fall Friday night. Tensions are high, student sections practically pouring over, and most of the town is gathered around the fence, all under big lights beaming down and illuminating the field. A night like that would not exist without electric lights being used for athletics. Currently, HWS athletes get to experience playing night games in front of some of the biggest crowds seen on campus. Everyone wants to be a prime-time athlete, but the title of the first prime-time athletes belongs to the 1929 Statesmen.

Work Cited

“Hobart Herald. (Geneva, N.Y.) 1879-1942, October 04, 1929, Page 3, Image 3.” Hobart Herald. (Geneva, N.Y.) 1879-1942, October 04, 1929, Page 3, Image 3 - NYS Historic Newspapers, Hobart College., 4 Oct. 1929, https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/np00050002/1929-10-04/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=09%2F01%2F1929&city=&date2=10%2F31%2F1929&searchType=advanced&SearchType=prox5&sequence=0&lccn=np00050002&index=0&words=Syracuse+SYRACUSE&proxdistance=5&county=&to_year=1929&rows=20&ortext=&from_year=1929&proxtext=syracuse&phrasetext=&andtext=&dateFilterType=range&page=1.

“Hobart Herald. (Geneva, N.Y.) 1879-1942, September 27, 1929, Page 1, Image 1, Page 3.” Hobart Herald. (Geneva, N.Y.) 1879-1942, September 27, 1929, Page 1, Image 1 - NYS Historic Newspapers, Hobart College., 27 Sept. 1929, https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/np00050002/1929-09-27/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=09%2F01%2F1929&city=&date2=10%2F31%2F1929&searchType=advanced&SearchType=prox5&sequence=0&lccn=np00050002&index=2&words=Syracuse+SYRACUSE&proxdistance=5&county=&to_year=1929&rows=20&ortext=&from_year=1929&proxtext=syracuse&phrasetext=&andtext=&dateFilterType=range&page=1.

“The Echo 1931.” Hobart and William Smith Colleges Archives and Special Collections, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 2016, https://hwslibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16757coll4/id/11129/rec/68.

Wilco, Daniel. “The Story of the First-Ever Night Football Game, in 1892.” NCAA.com, NCAA, 1 July 2020, https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2019-09-18/story-first-ever-night-football-game-1892.

“NFL's First Night Game: Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site.” Pro Football Hall Of Fame , Pro Football Hall Of Fame , 1 Jan. 2005, https://www.profootballhof.com/news/2005/01/news-nfl-s-first-night-game/.