Contra Costa Times: (Trivial) pursuit of the Axe

By Jay Heater

Former Cal tailback Lindsey Chapman still has a plastic bag full of turf from his huge Big Game at Stanford Stadium in 1993. "For me, it was a big moment," Chapman said. "I just wanted a piece of it." Do you know what Chapman did to tie a Big Game record? According to prevailing thought, a Cal or Stanford player can guarantee himself immortality by seizing the Big Game moment. Chapman did just that, rushing 28 times for 141 yards. However, that wasn't what put him in the Big Game record book.

Of the 107 Big Games played, Chapman and former Cal tailback Chuck Muncie are the only players who have scored four touchdowns in the Big Game. Muncie turned the trick in 1975, and even though his big day came 18 years before Chapman's outing, Muncie remains the easy part of that trivia question. Of the nine representatives of Cal and Stanford who took the Big Game Quiz, not one person knew that Chapman held the record, along with Muncie, for scoring 24 points in the Big Game. "I'm not surprised," said Chapman, an Oakland resident now working in research and development for Chevron in Richmond. "It's been a long time. "I think some of it might be what kind of person you were. If you don't toot your own horn, who is listening? The guys who go quietly about their job get lost in the shuffle." Unlike Muncie, who left his mark on the NFL as well as in college football, Chapman didn't play professionally. Cal coach Jeff Tedford, who crushed everyone who took the quiz by correctly answering 18 of the 20 questions, simply couldn't come up with the Chapman answer. Tedford's other miss involved a question about The Play.

Despite the tremendous coverage given Cal's famous 1982 kickoff return, few remember that Mark Harmon kicked the field goal to put Stanford ahead 20-19 with four seconds remaining. Tedford shouldn't feel bad, because no one answered that one right, either. Stanford's trio of players taking the quiz --nose tackle Babatunde Oshinowo, linebacker Timi Wusu and defensive end Julian Jenkins -- did slightly better than Cal's trio of fullback Chris Manderino, rover Donnie McCleskey and linebacker Ryan Foltz. Of a possible 60 correct answers, Stanford's team had 36 correct answers. Cal's trio correctly answered 31. Oshinowo took top player honors by answering 16 of 20 questions right. Manderino was Cal's best with 11 correct answers. In a battle of administrators, Stanford senior associate athletic director Darrin Nelson edged Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour 15-13. Of course, Nelson had the edge, having played at Stanford from 1977-81. Barbour has been on the scene at Cal only since September 2004. One question -- The first Big Game in 1892 was delayed because this was missing -- drew three wrong answers. All were the same -- the Axe. The actual missing item was the ball. The Stanford Axe became the Big Game trophy in 1933. Ironically, all three Cal players knew that the 1970 Heisman winner who failed to win that year's Big Game was Stanford quarterback Jim Plunkett. Two of Stanford's three players missed that one.