Football

Denison will host Randolph-Macon in the program's 1000th game on Sept. 1

Last week, Major league Baseball's Texas Rangers defeated the Baltimore Orioles 30-3. The last time a major league baseball team had scored 30 runs in a single contest was 1897 when the Chicago Colts put 36 runs on the board against the Louisville Colonels.

Generally speaking, sports fans are history buffs. Knowing that what the Rangers accomplished is something had hadn't been done since President McKinley was in office is what makes it special.

On Saturday, Denison University will kick off its 117th season of college football and Randolph-Macon will be the opponent in the program's 1,000th game.

Because of the game's nice round number, this, not unlike the Rangers 30-run game, is a milestone that allows sports fans to do what they love to do most, reflect.

Trapped in those 999 DU football games over the past 118 years are stories of victory and defeat, lifelong friendships and young people on the cusp of making a difference in our world. Six wars have been fought, including our current conflict in Iraq. An entire season (1943) was wiped out because of World War II.

In the early 1900s DU clashed with some of the nation's elite. They opened the 1930 season at "The Big House" versus the University of Michigan. In 1929 they took on Navy. They have a 2-12-2 all-time record against Ohio State and Division I names such as West Virginia, Marshall, Ohio University, Cincinnati and Toledo pepper the school's all-time results.

Kickoff for Denison's 1000th game will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 1. Be there to witness another chapter in the storied history of Denison football.