“History is written by the victors” is a phrase often used amongst historians to describe the social-Darwinist tinges of history. There is a competition of ideas, stories, narratives and values that pervade any telling of history. Nevertheless, today, I make a case for the opposite. This week in history, history was written by someone else.
The Pearlman Cup is an annual flag-football game between two of the University of Connecticut’s Tier-III organizations, The Daily Campus and UConn Student Television (UCTV). It’s a fierce rivalry, and this week in history on Oct. 20, 2024, for the 11th year in a row, The Daily Campus fell just short of winning the title. While other articles covering the subject will be out this week in the Sports section, I made some personal history after participating in the event myself and have some history-related thoughts to layout as well.
Before I dive into the history that was made on Sunday, I want to bring up something I often think about with this column: This Week in History is a time capsule.
Whether it be preserved in UConn’s archives — which has practically every physical issue of the paper ever made — or stored on The Daily Campus’ website servers forever, the words you read now will live far beyond my time here at UConn and will quite likely lurk on a page somewhere far after my time on Earth concludes.
So, every word I write in this paper is a time capsule, a little cross-section of the calm afternoon on which I sit at a computer screen and type my thoughts on some history every week. In the future, I’ll likely look back on my writing and notice the ups and downs; ups being the days when I write a ton of in-depth history, and downs being the days when I slow down and focus on a small event or write a brief piece. This isn’t unique to me. If you write or contribute in some way to The Daily Campus, you’re added to a long history of writers from every year at UConn since 1896.
So, to all future readers of this time capsule — yes, we did lose the Pearlman Cup this week. But, for the first time in my own history, I played a flag football game. I’m not very good at it, but the camaraderie between teammates from The DC and the energy of our singular practice session was palpable and is what inspired me to — despite the weakness in my knees — sit at a computer and write this down. While on the surface we were a highly competitive, victory-hungry football squad, in reality, everyone on The DC team was having some of the best moments of their lives by just being there. I’d like to preserve that in this time capsule.
From the high energy at our singular practice only two days before the game, The Daily Campus geared up for a challenge together, and that — regardless of the outcome — was something special. In one sense, it’s almost a bit out of a comedy skit that a bunch of newspaper writers who spend time typing up articles now find themselves in one of the most physical sports against a team of people who frequently hold heavy camera equipment. It’s like the episode of “The Office” where Michael Scott and the Dunder Mifflin team play the warehouse workers in a game of basketball. Despite the unexpected role of a journalist to play football, the sportsmanship and effort put in by the team was immense. Lots of cheering, yelling, substituting-in and teamwork were seen on the field. If that isn’t worth recording in the history books, then nothing is.
So, for those reading this at the DC at an undisclosed time from now, as you gear up for the next Pearlman Cup battle, just remember that, win or lose, you’re making history. Keep spirits high, keep the energy flowing and recognize that history isn’t written by the winners. It’s written by those who write.
See you next week for another issue of This Week in History!