Throughout the world of sports, there are many great traditions. The Ohio State-Michigan game, Detroit Lion Thanksgiving football, the NBA on Christmas Day. For Lincoln and San Jose High Schools, the tradition is the Thanksgiving Day Big Bone game.
Started in 1945, when San Jose High School student Bob Schmidt found a massive cow leg in his father’s butcher shop and declared it the prize for the winning team, the Big Bone game has become a 70-year tradition between the schools, and has grown so big that it is now hosted at San Jose City College to accommodate the size of the crowd.
Of course, playing in this game every year comes at a price for the schools; in order to play, both teams must forgo any opportunities they may have had for a berth in the CCS playoffs. With such a steep price to play, it is no wonder that players on both sides have conflicting views of the game.
One such player is Lincoln’s sophomore wide receiver, Jacob Hoekstra.
“I don’t like giving up the playoffs,” said Hoekstra. “It is a big chance for some players to get into colleges and earn scholarships, because the playoff games attract more scouts.”
Despite the desire to go to the playoffs, Hoekstra still concedes that the tradition is something admirable, and that he is happy to be a part of it.
Other players, such as San Jose’s Shawn Oliveira, see the game more as a tradition whose duty it is for San Jose and Lincoln to carry out. “It [the Big Bone] is different. It’s not just CCS, it has more meaning to it,” says Oliveira.
As of late the tradition has become much more of a lopsided affair, with Lincoln now holding a 15-game winning streak in the contest after its 55-13 win on Thursday. Despite this, San Jose has high hopes to make the game more competitive again, especially after claiming the BVAL-West Valley title this year, with a better, more skilled unit than in previous years.
Thursday’s game may have ended in a 55-12 loss, but San Jose is determined to keep working and take the trophy home next year.
