While there is no confirmation as to when the Walk actually started, some say it dates back to the early 50s when the football program’s locker room was located at Encina Gym (now the Arrillaga Center for Sports and Recreation). Dressed in full uniform and prepared for action, the team would make its way across Campus Drive to Stanford Stadium.

The Walk evolved over time and in the 60s and 70s the pre-game procession to Stanford Stadium began to draw enthusiastic fans that stood watch along Sam MacDonald Road and in Chuck Taylor Grove.

Some fans also have recollection of a post-game walk where regardless of the outcome, the team would mingle with fans and sign autographs for kids as they trekked back to Encina Gym.

Today, the pageantry of the team Walk starts at the Arrillaga Family Sports Center. Led by the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB), the team Walk begins approximately 80 minutes before kickoff.

Join other Stanford football fans by meeting along Sam MacDonald Road just 80-minutes before kickoff and root for the Cardinal in this time-honored tradition.

Stanford and San Jose State honored the late Bill Walsh on Saturday, September 15, 2007 when the two teams faced off at Stanford Stadium. The game, which was renamed "The Bill Walsh Legacy Game," is just one way in which both Universities honored the legendary coach. "A Tribute to Bill Walsh" included many activities and remembrances that recognized Walsh's contributions to both Stanford and San Jose State.

"We are very excited to honor our friend, mentor, and colleague, Bill Walsh," said Bob Bowlsby, the Jaquish & Kenninger Director of Athletics at Stanford. "Coach Walsh had a profoundly positive influence on sports in the Bay Area and across the nation. He also inspired a generation of coaches and athletes to achieve at the highest levels."

"Bill truly transcended the game of football. His style of coaching and play was revolutionary, but his principles of leadership are everlasting," said San Jose State Athletic Director Tom Bowen. "On behalf of San Jose State University, we are honored to be part of this very special dedication in celebration of Bill's tremendous legacy."

In addition to renaming the game in Walsh's honor, there was a moment of silence during pre-game festivities, followed by a video tribute. At halftime, Walsh's wife, Geri, and members of the Walsh family, in an on-field ceremony, joined Bowlsby and Bowen.

Both Stanford and San Jose State were wearing "BW" decals on their helmets throughout the 2007 year. Cardinal coaches were also wearing a "BW" patch on their shirts and Cardinal players had a "BW" patch on their game jerseys. San Jose State coaches had "BW" patch on their game shirts.

Stanford also honored Walsh with the Bill Walsh Leadership program and the The Bill Walsh Award. The leadership program includes all aspects of Stanford's staff development program, a student-athlete mentorship program and an overall quality improvement program, all of which fall under the umbrella of the Bill Walsh Leadership Program.

What Stanford and Cal began on March 10, 1892, in San Francisco is now one of the greatest rivalries in college football.  The Big Game – Stanford's annual war on the gridiron with the University of California – has now entered its third century.

The first Big Game was held before an overflow crowd of 20000.  Stanford manager Herbert Hoover, later to become the 31st President of the United States, printed 10000 tickets for the 15000-seat Haight Street baseball grounds in San Francisco.  However, as the crowd filled the stadium, Hoover ran out of tickets and was forced to collect coins at the gate and put them in empty wash tubs and boxes.  When the team captains were on the field and the referee asked for the ball, there was one small problem.  No one remembered to bring the ball.  After the game, Hoover and the Cal manager counted $30000 in receipts - enough to finance the team for the next season.  The Big Game was born.

Stanford leads the all-time series 54-44-11, and has won seven of the last 12 and 11 of the last 18 despite Cal's five consecutive victo-ries.  But, it has been a series that has been very close with just 35 points (1735-1700) separating the two teams.  The Big Game is tied for the 10th longest rivalry in college football history.

The Big Game has been a series where "anything can happen, and usually does."  Five Big Games have been decided on the final play, including the first overtime contest in 2000.

The 1982 game will forever be known as one of the classic contests in college football history, thanks to "The Play".  Stanford had taken a 20-19 lead on a 34-yard field goal by Mark Harmon with just four seconds to play.  On the ensuing kickoff, Cal scored a touchdown on an incredible five-lateral, 57-yard return that ended when the Bears' Kevin Moen bowled over Gary Tyrell, a trombonist in the Stanford band, and went into the end zone for a controversial game-winning touchdown.

In 1924, Stanford rallied from a 20-6 deficit to tie Cal's Wonder Team, 20-20.  In the 50th Big Game in 1947, winless Stanford (0-8) led the 8-1 Bears, 18-14, before Cal scored on an 80-yard touchdown pass with less than three minutes remaining in the game.

The 1959 classic featured the Bears holding on to win 20-17 despite an NCAA-record performance by Stanford quarterback Dick Nor-man, who threw for 401 yards on 34-of-39 passing.  Vince Ferragamo's eight-yard TD pass to Steve Sweeney on the game's final play gave Cal a 24-21 Big Game win in 1972.  Two years later, Stanford won 22-20 when Mike Langford connected on a 50-yard field goal on the game's final play.

In 1976, Cal's Markey Crane fumbled the ball on his own two-yard line with 1:31 left in the game and his team on top, 24-19.  Stanford's Ron Inge scored the game-winning TD moments later to give the Cardinal a 27-24 win.  Tuan Van Le blocked a 20-yard field goal in the 1988 Big Game to preserve a 19-19 tie.

Stanford's answer to The Play occurred in 1990 when the Cardinal scored nine points in the final 12 seconds to pull out an improbable 27-25 victory.  QB Jason Palumbis connected with WR Ed McCaffrey on a 19-yard TD with 12 seconds on the clock, lifting the Cardinal to within a point of Cal at 25-24.  A two-point conversion, however, failed and the Bears celebrated a certain victory.  But, Stanford recovered the ensuing onside kick and Cal was penalized 15 yards on the first play, setting the Cardinal up at the Bears' 22-yard line.  Stanford PK John Hopkins came on to hit a 37-yard field goal as time ran out and Stanford began celebrating its 27-25 win.

In 1999, Stanford clinched its first Rose Bowl trip in 28 years with a resounding 31-13 victory before more than 80000 fans at Stanford Stadium.  In 2000, the teams made history by playing the first-ever overtime game in the series.  The Cardinal won the contest in the first overtime on a 25-yard pass from Randy Fasani to Casey Moore for a 36-30 final score and third straight victory in Berkeley.

To the winner of The Big Game goes the Stanford Axe, which first made its appearance at a Stanford-Cal baseball game on April 13, 1899.  The Axe was used by Stanford students at the baseball game to decapitate a straw man dressed in blue and gold.  Cal students grabbed the Axe during a post-game brawl.  To better conceal the Axe, the handle was cut off and the remaining blade was safely brought back to Berkeley.  Two law professors from each school ruled that the Axe was a prize by reason of conquest and, therefore, would remain in Berkeley.

The Immortal Twenty-One, a group of Stanford students, added to Big Game lore by stealing the Axe at Cal's annual Axe Rally on April 3, 1930.  The Axe, which had been in a bank vault for 31 years, was now in possession of the Immortal Twenty-One.  When the famous group of students returned to campus, the celebration began.  Classes were canceled for two days and the University presented each member of the Immortal Twenty-One with a block "S" letter.

After three years of negotiating, the presidents of both student bodies agreed that the Axe would be a trophy given to the winner of The Big Game.

The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB)

The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB) was formed in 1963, following the reorganization of the Music Department and dismissal of Band Director Jules Schucat. The Music Department reacted to Schucat’s dismissal by hiring Dr. Arthur P. Barnes as Band Director whose philosophy was to give the students management of the band. It was then that the LSJUMB student-run organization was formed. 
While LSJUMB is not a traditional marching band (they scatter rather than march in formation), their intention is still the same: to entertain. One of 10 known scatter bands in Division I schools, the LSJUMB arranges their own music and performs songs based on a select theme.
“All Right Now” (Free, 1970) is the signature song of the LSJUMB. It made its debut on January 1, 1972, as part of the Rose Bowl’s halftime show.

 “All Right Now” (Free, 1970)

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-whoa

There she stood in the street
smilin' from her head to her feet;

I said, "Hey, what is this?
Now maybe, baby,
maybe she's in need of a kiss."

I said, "Hey, what's your name?
Maybe we can see things the same.

"Now don't you wait, or hesitate.
Let's move before they raise the parking rate."

All right now, baby, it's a-all right now.
All right now, baby, it's a-all right now.

(Let me tell you now)

I took her home to my place,
Watchin' every move on her face;

She said, "Look, what's your game?
Are you tryin' to put me to shame?"

I said "Slow, don't go so fast,
don't you think that love can last?"

She said, "Love, Lord above,
now you're tryin' to trick me in love."

All right now, baby, it's a-all right now.
All right now, baby, it's a-all right now

Come Join the Band – Official Stanford Fight Song

Come join the band,
And give a cheer for Stanford red.
Throughout the land, our banners waving overhead.
Stanford for you,
Each loyal comrade brave and true.
With might and main,
Sings this refrain.
Forever and forever, Stanford Red.

The Alma Mater – “Hail Stanford Hail”

Where the rolling foothills rise
Up towards mountains higher,
Where at eve the Coast Range lies,
In the sunset fire,
Flushing deep and paling;
Here we raise our voices, hailing
Thee, our Alma Mater
From the Foothills to the bay,
It shall ring,
As we sing,
It shall ring and float away;
Hail, Stanford, hail!
Hail, Stanford, hail!

The Axe

The Stanford Axe is a trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Big Game between Stanford and Cal. The trophy consists of an axe-head mounted on a plaque with scores of past Big Games.
The Stanford axe was originally a standard 15-inch lumberman’s axe and made its first appearance on April 13, 1899 during a Stanford rally on the eve of a baseball game between the two universities. During that afternoon rally, a group of Stanford students introduced an instrument to decapitate a straw man dressed in blue and gold, much to the delight of the Stanford faithful who chanted, “Give ‘em the axe” during the proceedings.

The Axe made its second appearance two days later on April 15, at a Cal-Stanford baseball game played at 16th Street and Folsom in San Francisco. Led by Billy Erb, the Stanford yell leaders paraded the Axe and used it to chop up blue and gold ribbon after every good play by the Stanford team, while shouting the Axe yell. However, Stanford lost the game and the series, and the yell leaders debated if the Axe was a jinx and whether to dispose of it.

As the Stanford students discussed the Axe's fate, a group of Cal students seized it and ran off with the Axe. It in turn was passed from student to student, and a chase ensued through the streets of San Francisco, first followed by Stanford students and fans and second followed by the San Francisco police. During the chase, the Axe's handle was broken off.

Cal student Clint Miller, who was wearing an overcoat so he could easily conceal the ax head, was the last to handle the Axe. As he reached the Ferry Building, he noticed the police inspecting the pockets of every boarding male passenger. As luck would have it, Miller encountered an old girlfriend, Agnes. Posing as a couple, the two successfully boarded the narrow gauge ferry to Alameda/Oakland (to avoid the police searching those buying tickets to Berkeley) and from there Miller took the Axe back to Berkeley. Two days later, Cal held its first Axe Rally.

For the next 31 years, the Axe stayed in Berkeley as a prize of conquest. In 1930, twenty-one Stanford students plotted to take back the Axe from Cal. This group became known in Stanford lore as the Immortal 21; Cal partisans call them the Immoral 21.

Cal's protection of the Axe at the time was intense — it was kept in a Berkeley bank vault and brought out, in an armored car, only for spring baseball and Big Game rallies. The Stanford group decided that their best chance would be right after the spring Axe rally, held that year on April 3 at Cal's Greek Theatre.

After the rally, four Stanford students posing as photographers temporarily blinded Norm Horner, the Grand Custodian of the Axe, with camera flashes. In the subsequent scuffle, the Stanford students grabbed the Axe while several others disguised as Cal students tossed a tear gas (or smoke, depending on account) bomb at the Cal students who guarded it. The Axe was taken to one of three cars, which sped off in different directions. Several other Stanford students (disguised as Cal students) further delayed attempts to recover the Axe by organizing a search party away from the direction of the getaway cars. Although several of the raiders were caught, the Axe made it back to Stanford where it was paraded around the campus.

For three years after the raid on Berkeley the Stanford Axe lay in a Palo Alto bank vault while both universities decided what to do with it. In 1933, both sides agreed to designate the Axe as the annual trophy to be awarded to the Big Game's winner; in the event of a tie, it would be kept by the side already possessing the Axe.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stanford_Axe

The Axe Yell

Give 'em the axe, the axe, the axe!
Give 'em the axe, the axe, the axe!
Give 'em the axe, give 'em the axe,
Give 'em the axe, where?
Right in the neck, the neck, the neck!
Right in the neck, the neck, the neck!
Right in the neck, right in the neck,
Right in the neck! There!