I still remember my Dad (Cal fan) going from pissed off beyond measure to the most exuberant I've ever seen him as a result of this game.

A TRUE classic. I will always remember "OH, THE BAND IS OUT ON THE FIELD!".

I still got tears in my eyes to re-watch the ending after all these years.

Joe Starkey will call his final Big Game between Cal and Stanford on the 40th anniversary of 'The Play' this Saturday from Berkeley's California Memorial Stadium.

I was there...BUT...I didn't see THE PLAY. It's sad but true. I am a1969 graduate of Cal. I lived in Ohio in 1982. I came back to northern California to visit my parents who lived about 15 miles from Cal. The morning of the BIg Game I decided to go into Berkeley to the game although I had no ticket. I was able to get a seat, but it was in the Stanford side. I still enjoyed the game but I was demoralized when Stanford went ahead with 4 seconds to go. I had parked far from the stadium and was expecting bad traffic, so I decided to leave at that moment and head back to my car, a decision I will always regret. I was just outside of the stadium when I heard the cannon go off....a signal that Cal had scored!!! WHAT??? I ran back into the stadium to witness the utter pandemonium of the Cal rooting section swarming the field and celebrating the Cal victory. Obviously I was totally stunned. Somehow, CAL HAD WON!! It was only when I got to my folk's home and turned on the TV that I saw what had happened. What many regard as the wildest college football game ending ever, and I missed it.

Here in DC, the Cal and Stanford alumni clubs get together for a Big Game broadcast and party. The 1982 game had such lows and highs that it took days for us to come back down emotionally. And I could listen to Joe Starkey's call forever!Too bad this year's game starts so late - 10:30 pm EST. Wifey and I will be there in Arlington to watch as much as we can.Go Bears!

So amazing! I can never get enough of those final seconds.

Moral of the story: don't come prematurely.

Greatest Pac-12 game of all time. Coming from a CO fan.

That's true...he was a TENOR SAX player and tenor is the only one that gets respect! The way things are now,somebody would try to file some kind of lawsuit for some crazy reason! This is perhaps the play for all the ages and in 2014 they probably would spend eight hours trying to review this!

Best ending ever in football history

Let's get one thing straight. The sax was the first instrument to go down after Moen crosses the goal line. The sax was first THEN the trombone. Why is it no one talks to the sax player? One of college football's biggest oversights. Not even Joe Starkey caught that one.

That Moen was great here in the interview... Smiling like crazy when saying how his guy's knee wasn't on the ground. He knew it was. Today replay would've ended the game in Stanford's favor. No matter. And the announcer never used the word 'lateral' during that whole crazyyyy sequence.. until the play was over. That's all there were, were nutty laterals! 1:29:37

I was at the Game!!, I remember it didn’t have a ticket , but I was asking if anyone had an extra one , this family said yes, I think I paid 11.00 face value, I was sitting on the 40 yard line, not realizing I was about to see one of the greatest college games ever, there was so many great plays, in that game by both teams…Elway -his last college game, it turned out- was freaking amazing , his 4th and 17 pass to Emile harry from his own 10 yard line was unbelievable, that set up the field goal for Stanford to go ahead, and then we all know what happened after they kicked off, Anyway I could go on and on, I just remember it was pure bedlam at the end, I was standing there, with my hands on top of my head, looking around like everyone else, did I just see what I thought I saw, lol….I will never forget it

“THE BEARS THE BEARS HAVE WON”-Joe Starkley

The ultimate irony is that the Leland Stanford *JUNIOR UNIVERSITY MARCHING BAND* deserves the game ball for helping Cal win.

I've always wondered why the announcer says "stanford band nowhere in sigjt" when theres a miricle play until I finally figured it out

I was there!

Don't know why....all three of my favourite All Time Golden Bears have suffered in ways that leaves me both sorrowful and wondering.Tuggle, Ford and thanks God to a much lesser degree, Rivera.

The important thing to remember is that this made John elway cry for years to come. Waaaaahhh stupid refs ruined my last game at Stanford.

Joe Starkey's announcing this game is legendary. What is terrible is when you listen to the Stanford home announcer. Absolutely horrible. How he got that job, I will never know.

The greatest! Go Cal! xoxo The Clarences

1:27:50 - 'Best ending to an 82 foot College Football game I have ever seen.' Randy or Jason Sklar on Cheap Seats

Cal football team had some future NFL players in this game as well

22:37 - 'College Football 82 Feet. Great work graphics department' - Sklar Brothers on Cheap Seats

Gale Gilbert was a heck of a QB! Then you had Ron Rivera and Gary Plummer who both played pro football, as did Gilbert!

Can you believe that it’s been 40 years??!! FORTY!!!!!🎉

Cal coach Joe Kapp lost the 1969 Super Bowl with the Vikings, also coached tn the CFL and Arena Football. He is the only QB to play in the Super Bowl, Gray Cup, and the Rose Bowl. He is presently battling Alzheimer's disease.

COMMENTATORS: BARRY TOMPKINS JOHN BEASLEY TV NETWORK: USA NETWORK DATE: 20 NOVEMBER 1982

at 1:25:12. "Only a miracle can save the Bears"- Joe Starkey

Stanford can have the next 1,000 wins in the Big Game. To me, however, the 1982 Big Game is the only one that matters.

The greatest! Go Bears! xoxo The Clarences (robert, erin & leslie)

Squib kick was a bad idea. Boot it or kick it out of bounds. That 15 yard penalty changed the distance in which a squib is effective.

From 1:24:42 on is the best part.

Last lateral was clearly an illegal forward lateral! Slow down video to 0.25x speed. See the ball released outside the 27 yard line, and caught at the 25 yard line. It’s NOT a close call. 1:26:49 Here’s the highest resolution video available (watch from the 16-19 second time stamp): kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fq2PlMmitJbKc2g.html

His knee was not down. Multiple forensic examinations have proven so. The referee made it official. And that's the name of that tune....sans trombone.

How many future NFL players are in this game? Five come to mind: Elway, Veris, Plummer, Rivera, Camp.

Best part of the game: when Bear smash the ball 🏈 in rascal trombone!!! Hahaha

The game was on USA Network... lol

Standford so petty lol. All that money and not a drop of class. Change the score to make them the winner when they have the axe lmao

If not for the blocking that was provided by the Stanford Band, the last two laterals would have been broken up.

I live in the mid-west but I think rivalries from less competitive teams are actually better. Because for them, this game is IT! The winner of Auburn/Alabama, Ohio/Michigan or even USC/UCLA often have a bigger game after it (Bowl game, conference championship, playoff etc) Cal/Stanford or Lehigh /Lafayette are better because this last game is their season.

+Allan Radman, D.C. It's probably because Moen plowed right into the trombone guy, but only clipped the sax player.

Did Kevin Moen keep that ball? If so, how much is it worth?

Possible by rule the ref could have called an interference penalty on stanford Then awarded the touchdown to cal, if he had fallen down short of the goal line!

@ 1:27:34 AND THE BEARS THE BEARS HAVE WON THE BEARS HAVE WON

Why wasn't there a penalty for the band being on the field.?

35 yard kick to win it......

Pepperidge Farm remembers the West Coast offense. 🙂

1:26:27 This is why you're here.

I can imagine how the turnover of the Stanford Axe went. Maybe the Stanford students should have lateraled it around to keep it from Cal.

College Football is the greatest sport in the United States.

They miss a lot of calls in that stadium;In 1999,they missed a holding call against Deltha O'Neill -it happened right in front of me-breaking open Cal's game against Rutgers when the Scarlet Knights were about to gain the upper hand.

"College Football Eighty-Two Feet."

The players tried to take the field The marching band refused to yield

Whatever happened to the football 🏈?

The guy knee was down on the 3rd lateral.That play would of been called back if there was instant replay in todays game.But it was a great finish.You would have to have balls to call that play back ,back then.

Final "Set in Old Memorial Stadium Concrete Forever" 1982 Big Game Score: CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS 25, leland stanfurd junior college BAND 20.... enuf said all you stanfurd crybabes!!!... LOL....GO BEARS!!!...Beat stanfurd again.... Reply ·

Why would Elway call timeout with 8 seconds left? You call timeout with 3-4 seconds left so the FG is the final play of the game. If Stanford players and coaches had average football IQs the great play would've never happened.

Dummy Cal play by play announcer Joe Starkey asks "Why didn't Stanford let clock run down to 4 seconds before kicking...why did they stop it at 8?" Is this guy serious? Stanford did this because kick was to take place on 3rd down and if there was a botched snap....they would have another down and time to re-kick FG. Where do they find these dopes?

The Socialist Bowl

The greatest! Go Cal! xoxo The Clarences