Big Ten Countdown: 93 - The Dangers of Forcing a Rivalry
by Aaron Musfeldt on Mar 30, 2011 8:00 AM CDT
in Husker Fans Guide to the Big Ten
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PrintYesterday's story discussed how Nebraska and Penn State can build a rivalry and play for an annual trophy. Other stories on this site have also talked about an Iowa-Nebraska prize. In 19(93), Penn State athletics started play in the Big Ten Conference. To commemorate this historic event, two trophies were crafted as annual rivalry trophies. One was the Governor's Victory Bell (Penn State - Minnesota) and the other was the Land Grant Trophy (Penn State - Michigan State).
Background info on the Victory Bell is pretty sparse. Doing some research, there seems to be a very neutral to unfavorable opinion of the bell. The facebook page shows zero people like it. There are eight trophy games in NCAA football that are titled (in some form or another) "Victory Bell". It's almost like the governor's of the two states decided at the last minute to make a trophy for Penn State's first game.
"Hey it's your first Big Ten game! You have nothing in common and no ties to Minnesota but guess what! You get to play for um, let's see. *Looks around* A bell! Yes we will call it a 'Victory' Bell!"
"Sir, that name is already taken and there are a fair amount of rivalries that already play for a Victory Bell," Minion Number One says.
"Well then, let's call it thee, umm Governor's Victory Bell! Yes, that will do nicely! Because it's more that just a regular victory bell it will be better than all the others! It has nothing to do with me being a governor. Nothing at all! Congratulations Penn State and welcome to the Big Ten!"
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I'm sure this wasn't how it all went down, but it sure seems like it. Don't get me wrong. It's not a terrible trophy and I'm sure there's a few people that love it, but it just seems that it was just thrown together without any thought. If you are going to play for it for 100 years, take some time to be creative and come up with something unique.
This leads us to the Land Grant Trophy. At least some thought was put into it's design. Someone realized that the two schools were the first two land grant universities in the country so they put 1 and 1 together. That's about where the creative aspect ended. You can read all about the story of designing the trophy here. It's an epic tale full of loss, revenge, conspiracy, seduction and honor. But, like the Governor's Victory Bell, it still was missing that creative uniqueness that great trophies have.
Unlike the Victory Bell, though, fans tend to have a strong opinion of this trophy and it's usually negative, or very negative. Remember when Colorado was designated our rival at the end of the year? Well, Michigan State was given that distinction for Penn State (or visa versa depending on your perspective). It was another, "Uh, okaaaay," moment and people fought back. About the only thing the two schools had in common was the Land Grant distinction. Imagine playing Purdue as our annual regular season finale. I'm sure it would be a blood feud just as it is with Iowa-Purdue now. As great of a school as they are, we have no history with Purdue, similar to the Michigan State-PSU marriage.
Forcing rivalries can be bad. Some might even argue that Nebraska-Iowa and Nebraska-Penn State are being forced. Let them develop over time. That is the only way they become strong. Time does create rivalries, but they also need a link. We all have read about the Purdue-Iowa rivalry. It is one of the best in the nation because they have played each other over 80 times and they are linked together by their hatred of the state of Illinois. That's a serious bond there. Oklahoma and Nebraska were linked because of conference championships. Colorado and Nebraska were linked because Colorado hated Nebraska. It was a one-way road. It didn't work.
Though people seem to hate the forced rivalries, when they go away, some realize what they have and lost. Now that it isn't an annual series, I think some people may miss the Land Grant game. Some might even say that people will miss the Colorado-Nebraska game, but that seems silly to me. Right? Are you worried about forced rivalries in the Big Ten with Nebraska?
Tomorrow: Nebraska's Victory Bell
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I really don't think Iowa will be forced
I’ve heard a lot more Iowa jokes by Nebraskans over the years than Colorado or Kansas jokes, and with an increasingly concentrated mass of Husker fans in the Omaha area, that Iowa animosity is only going to get stronger. Just give us one controversial incident or heated game, and the rivalry will be off and running.
Penn State is a little more iffy – I think it’s going to have to be determined by the play on the field. If the two teams play a lot of close, well-played, classic games, we’ll have ourselves a rivalry. If not, it’ll be just another game.
I agree that Iowa-Nebraska won't be forced.
Within five years, the only thing we’ll all wonder is why it took so long to be rejuvenated. Anyone who’s lived in Iowa (particularly anywhere west of Des Moines) or in Nebraska can tell you that there’s genuine emotion between the fanbases of both schools. I grew up in western Iowa and despite the fact that Iowa and Nebraska have barely played each other during the last three decades, I’m every bit as excited about this game as I am any of the games with teams Iowa has been playing every year for the last three decades. (Except Purdue of course. My hatred for them has the power of a million exploding suns.) I think this rivalry is an incredibly natural fit and it will be great for both programs.
Likewise, I think the Nebraska-Penn State rivalry won’t feel too forced because there are so many similarities between the fanbases, the programs’ histories, the legendary coaches, etc. There’s a lot of shared ground to work from there and it’s a lot more potent than just “hey, you two are both land-grant schools — fight it out” or whatever the specious reasoning was behind the Minnesota-Penn State “rivalry” (“you guys have both, uh, been playing football for a long, long time?”).
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda. Pandas are boring, stupid and boring. Bad panda!"
Just reading OMHR's name sends me into fits of rage
Must. Break. Something.
/Grabs Land Grant Trophy and smashes it
Ahhh, I feel better and did the world a service!
"I shoot, I score. He shoots, I score." - Dan Gable
by ClaybornSmash on Mar 30, 2011 9:35 AM CDT up reply actions
WHEN I THINK OF OMHR...
…it makes me sleepy.
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
by Kyle McCann't on Mar 30, 2011 10:40 AM CDT up reply actions
Penn State vs. anyone in the Big Ten
is a shaky litmus test. Despite the fact that Pennsylvania shares a border with the Big Ten states much the way Nebraska does, the history of Penn State football had been decidedly Eastern up until the point of their joining the conference. There was certainly occasional contact between PSU and Big Ten members but not on a level that would lead to natural formations of rivalries prior to membership. Pitt, Syracuse, Maryland and even Miami were likely to be reference points of Nittany Lions fans before any school in the Big Ten. Simply designating Minny and MSU as “rivals” was weird. This is not to say that rivalries haven’t developed. Had the league allowed things to proceed organically, PSU/Michigan, PSU/OSU and even PSU/Iowa would have started to fall into that category, and still do on some level, just sans trophy (which should also come about naturally).
Nebraska, despite being more Plains State than Midwestern, is instantly more similar to its newest bedfellows through culture and shared history than its predecessor. Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin are already likely to become quick rivals with Nebraska. The Huskers will also likely find fierce hatred for any number of other members schools through, you know, actually playing one another.
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
No one loves any of these trophies.
I promise. Great writeup, and yes a fake rivalry is a dangerous thing indeed.
To McCann’t point, the problem with the Big Ten is that there are already way too many rivalries to really be able to create anything new that can clear the bar.
This has been one of my main points...
…about Nebraska joining the Big Ten. Rivalries will naturally happen, and that naturally developed rivalry will be far suitable to the astroturf kind. (Hello Colorado.)
by Husker Mike on Mar 30, 2011 12:28 PM CDT up reply actions
Totally agree, but I think from a scheduling standpoint, in order to protect the actual rivalries, everyone has to have protected games. Some schools have plenty to pick from (Michigan, for example, or Wisconsin), others don’t (you know who goes here).
Now do those protected games have to have stupid trophies and fake hype around them? No, but ADs feel compelled to play that game anyway.
Iirc, the Land Grant Trophy was made
B/c Joe was friends with the HC of MSU at the time, George Peerles, and they were both Land Grant Schools, so the Big Ten slapped together a rivalry. Personally I never disliked (or liked) it, MSU fans are always pleasant (unlike their Ann Arbor counterparts). Wasn’t a terrible game, and any PSU fan will tell you they loved the 08’ game.
by ICEICETHATGUY13 on Mar 30, 2011 4:12 PM CDT reply actions
ok i had to go do it.....
I just liked the governors victory bell because it looked so lonely
JoePa – coaching PSU 140 Characters at a time
OK, I will confess... I like the Land Grant Trophy!
If it wasn’t so Ugly, it wouldn’t be notable.
The trophy doesn’t make the rivalry
tOSUs 3 biggest rivals are now tSUN, PSU, and Wisconsin – none have a trophy and Wisconsin isn’t even on most lists.
You never know who will become your rival
…maybe they go on an upset streak winning 4 out of 5 years and suddenly NW is the new rival for Corn Nation…
PSU fan base hit a problem with timing
tOSU became their main rival early on since the Bucks were the closest and had the most success against the kittens, but tOSU had its hands full with tSUN.
I don’t see Corn Nation encountering the same problem
The concept of declaring rivals before the 1st game was doomed to failure. PSU-Nebraska isn’t forced (there’s some history). Nebraska-Iowa is a natural. On the other hand, if tSUN surges and Nebraska views them as a primary rival, they would be in the same boat as PSU-OSU.
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