NOSEBOWL
It has been called the "biggest rivalry in fraternity sports at UF". But it is much bigger than that. "The biggest intramural rivalry anywhere." Still bigger. "Comparable to Florida-Florida State". Bigger than that. Simply the best, most intense football game that has ever been played on the planet.
To its participants, nothing meant more than going out and representing your fraternity for that one day in your life. You only get the chance to play in one Nosebowl (unless of course, you are Tony Storch, who played in two), and you have to make it count. A Pilam pledge has to uphold the high standards of the Fraternity in terms of both athletics and character. Nosebowl becomes a defining moments in a person's life.
Nosebowl, originally called the "Pledge Game", started in 1950. At least we started playing Tep in 1950. In the two years prior to 1950, we played another fraternity. I believe it was AEPi. Although no one seems to have a clear memory of those two games. In any case, we won both games in '48 and '49 and started the pledge series with Tep in 1950. The game would go on uninterrupted for 48 years (see all the scores here). We lost the 1950 game, although I have been told by some that we won that game. In any case, Jay Rossin tells me we lost, and one cannot argue with a three time Coach.
The game has always been the centerpiece of the Pilam pledge program It was used to bind the pledges together as they worked towards a common cause. Nosebowl was also the source of endless talk among the brotherhood. Who were the best teams, the best players, coaches, etc. What would have happened if we ran this play instead of that? Every pledge team, or at least most, are sure that their team was the best.
But who was the best?
The 1986 team put 47 points on the board in regulation, the most ever. The 1984 team also scored 47, but that was in overtime. The 1985 team was a powerhouse but ran into a cold and windy second half rain that held their scoring to only 25. The 1979 team put 26 points on the board, and allowed 0. The game was also 10 minutes shorter in 1979, having been lengthened in the early '80s. And the 1997 team won by 27 points, and held a 34-0 lead with 2 plays left in the game. But many Nosebowl historians like the 1953 team, which won 35-0.
What about the best Nosebowl to watch. My favorite was 1984. Pilam won 47-41 in overtime. But there were many other nailbiters including 1988, 1977, 1976 and 1955.
When it was all said and done, Pilam led the series 28 to 20.
To read more, go to the Flashback section and click to the various Nosebowl or Pledge Game pages, or read Eliot Kleinberg's commentary. To see all the scores and Coaches, click here.