Turkeys roasting in the oven, a cold snap in the air, and thousands of fans cheering on their favorite team at the Turkey Bowl: this is what Thanksgiving in Baltimore looks like. Ever since its debut in 1920, the Turkey Bowl has been an important game for all the Calvert Hall and Loyola Blakefield students, two rivaling schools.

The Turkey Bowl started as one competitive game on Thanksgiving, but has turned into so much more. Pep rallies, homecomings, and Turkey Bowl apparel are all ways the schools try to rile their students up, but, trust me, they don’t need that much help.

When current students think of Turkey Bowl, they think of almost a guaranteed win for Calvert Hall, as for the past 10 out of 11 games, Calvert Hall has beaten Loyola. However, Loyola does have the better overall record with 49 wins to Calvert Hall’s 41. Before the game this year, many students were unsure of which team would win with Loyola going 8-1 this season and Calvert Hall going 8-3. With all that said, Calvert Hall did pull out a victory of 33-10 this year at the 100^th Turkey Bowl.

While sitting outside in the freezing cold and watching a high school football game instead of baking, cooking, or watching the Macy’s Parade may not sound that appealing, once you get to the game, even if you know your team is going to lose, you forget about everything else happening that day. You are surrounded by school spirit and excitement, and you find yourself cheering on your team (Roll Dons). You end up wanting to be at the game because of all the students’ spirit. Students will deck themselves out in school colors, put on wigs, or even paint themselves to show their support, and it sure is a sight to see.

While I’m sure the turkey might have tasted a little better later that day with a victory for Loyola (all personal preference, but still), the Turkey Bowl even got me, a non-football fan, into the spirit, and I’m sure it did the same for many others. I guess we have to wait until next year to see who will take the 101^st Turkey Bowl.