Rutgers fans are very quick to remind you that their school hosted and won the first college football game. As well they should. It's an important distinction in this beautiful thing we call college football. The 1869 game between what is now Princeton and Rutgers was the first recorded instance of a football game being played between two universities. Fast forward to 2008, and college football is a time honored tradition in this country. Actually, you don't have to go to 2008. Depending on who your root for, college and football have gone together like Rum and Coke for decades. Which brings me to my point. Workers discovered the remains of a tavern while clearing land around Rutgers Stadium.
While construction workers were excavating the future site of Rutgers University's new football stadium, they unearthed the remains of a tavern and artifacts that are dated back to the 18th-century. Thousands of ceramics, cutlery and bottles were found and said to have been from the Raritan Landing settlement. The tavern that excavators discovered is the legendary Rising Sun Tavern, which was the first building where academic classes were held.That's right Rutgers students! The next time your parents question why you don't return their calls until the next day, just tell them you were out honoring a Rutgers tradition.....again! Man, classes being taught in a tavern is enough to make me want to go back to school!
Before I get too carried away, I in no way want to suggest that Rutgers students should use this post as an excuse for binge drinking. Or that Rutgers fans have more of a drinking problem than the rest of us. But if we're looking for that missing link between college students and alcohol, we may have just found the origin.
