University of Pennsylvania fans have a peculiar way of displaying school spirit at home games. They throw toast.
No one knows exactly when this behavior started, but it can be traced to the 1970s in response to a ban on alcohol at ancient Franklin Field. Students used to imbibe when the band played “Drink a Highball” at the end of the third quarter. The song, written by G. B. Brigham, closes: “Drink a highball and be jolly. Here’s a toast to dear old Penn!”
Greer Cheeseman, a former Penn student who was to direct the band in another lively rendition of “Drink a Highball” when the Quakers bid for at least a share of the Ivy League title as they hosted Cornell on Saturday, says he is among those who discovered a way to show spirit without spirits after less-than-jolly administrators adopted the no-highball policy.