Tightwad Hill

November 4, 2006, Cal Bears vs. UCLA

Tightwad Hill is the popular name for a hill above California Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. Tightwad Hill is so named as it affords a free view of the stadium's field. The California Golden Bears football team, as well as other teams, play their home games at Memorial Stadium.

Tightwad Hill is part of Charter Hill, the area behind campus that also encompasses the Big "C". Tightwad Hill rises steeply about 100 feet above the east rim of the stadium, to a relatively flat area where spectators perch. Tightwad Hill was created when Memorial Stadium was built in 1923, as Strawberry Canyon was excavated and the stadium built. The first time fans were seen on the hill for Cal games was in 1924. Since that time, U.C. Berkeley students, staff, faculty, and the general populace have enjoyed fall days on the Hill, cheering for the Cal Bears and enjoying the beautiful view of the U.C. campus, downtown Berkeley, and the central San Francisco Bay -- all absolutely free.

Tightwad Hill has spawned a unique system of anarchy. All are welcome, as long as red garments are not worn (red being the team color of Cal's archrival, Stanford University), and no single person or group holds extraordinary authority. Rather, people police their own behavior, and, in case of a dispute (such as refusal to remove a red shirt in the face of universal demand to do so), peacemakers emerge and generally the issue is resolved without violence.

To the right of the fans sitting on the hill is a giant cannon. The cannon is loaded and shot at the beginning of the game, when Cal scores, and when a Cal victory goes final. It shoots no actual cannonball, but instead small pieces of cardboard and a large puff of smoke; the sound of it being fired is heard throughout Memorial Stadium. Starting at the Big Game of 1963, the California Victory Cannon was traditionally brought by members of the UC Rally Committee to be fired inside the stadium. When the old Pac-8 Conference banned cannons from stadiums in 1972, the cannon was moved to its present perch on Tightwad Hill.

In 2006, the Regents of the University of California began considering a major renovation of Memorial Stadium. One plan proposed the construction of a new seating structure, the so-called "eastside seating structure" on the promenade on the east side of the stadium. If this is built, many believe it will block views of the field from Tightwad Hill, possibly eliminating this unusual and colorful tradition.

Facts

• Once, fans hauled two couches up the side of the hill for the season opener, and then left the furniture in place for each ensuing game. The couches weren't stolen or confiscated or even hijacked by other fans -- in fact, Tightwads Keith Salminen and Mike Davie brought a cable wire roller they made into a table to complete the living-room set. The couches are now long gone, but the table is still there, along with a bench that Keith built during the 2005 season. Keith plans to replace the '05 bench with a new one and add a 2nd bench in front of it before the start of the 2007 season.
• In a game against Pacific in 1991 Cal scored a total of 12 touchdowns, this was the only time that the cannon has ever run out of ammunition.
• The San Francisco Chronicle in A Look Back at Bay Area History in the November 5, 2006 edition reports that on Nov. 11, 1931, some 75,000 football fans filled Memorial Stadium in Berkeley to watch the West Coast Navy defeat the West Coast Army 17-0. Even Tightwad Hill, usually populated only for the Big Game or some other sellout, was jammed with a crowd.

External links

• Cal Alum's Goal-line Stand for View from Tightwad Hill - by Rick DelVecchio, San Francisco Chronicle, November 3, 2006
• The Official Tightwad Hill Website - Created by Tightwad Carpenter Keith Salminen
• 2006 Campaign to Save Tightwad Hill
• Memories of Tightwad Hill from MemoryArchive.