Shama: The Jug, Pig, Axe, Bell, & Now…?

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BleedGopher

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From Shama:

"The Jug, Pig, Axe, Bell, & Now…?

With Nebraska and Minnesota renewing a football rivalry this fall that began in 1900, Sports Headliners suggests a trophy be created that the Cornhuskers and Gophers compete for each season.

Nebraska, the newest member of the Big Ten Conference, plays a Big Ten football schedule for the first time in 2011. The Cornhuskers will join the Gophers and four other schools in the Legends Division. Six other league schools will form the Leaders Division.

Minnesota and Nebraska last met in 1990. The Gophers lead the all-time series 29-20-2, but the Cornhuskers have won 14 consecutive games. Minnesota last won a game in 1960, the school’s most recent national championship season.

The Gophers have played more nonconference football games against Nebraska than any other school, and it’s not even close. Minnesota and Iowa State have met in 26 games.

The Cornhuskers and Gophers have envied football histories. The two schools can claim 11 national championships, six at Minnesota and five for Nebraska. Those titles were won by four coaches, Minnesota’s Bernie Bierman and Murray Warmath, and Nebraska’s Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne.

The Gophers already have four rivalry trophies. The newest is the Governor’s Victory Bell established by the governors of Minnesota and Pennsylvania in 1993 for the Minnesota-Penn State rivalry. The other trophies are the Little Brown Jug (1909), Floyd of Rosedale (1939) and Paul Bunyan’s Axe (1950). The Gophers compete against Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin for those trophies."

http://www.shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!
 

Novel idea. I wonder how long Shama was sitting on this gem?
 

No more trophies, don't force the rivalry. Learn from the Governor's Bell!
 

Ski U Master said:
No more trophies, don't force the rivalry. Learn from the Governor's Bell!
Click to expand...

Thank-you, I completely agree. Hell, I think we should drop the Bell. Besides, if we started a traveling trophy with Nebraska we would see it about as often as the Jug and what fun is that? Just being honest.
 

No more, please. The Bell was a mistake. Still I'm glad we've won it a few times. I remember in '94 thinking we're never gonna beat these guys ever. Five years later Arland Bruce makes a miraculous catch and the biggest win in 15 years was in the books.
 


Any more trophies is lame. The only way this should even be considered is if the Bell is thrown in the Mississippi and never spoken of again. What good is a 'trophy game' if 50% of B1G games are played for one?
 

Just so you guys know.. The Bell =/= whatever potential trophy the UofN vs UofM would play for. With the Huskers there's at least some history. That wouldn't be manufactured rivalry like the PSU/MN one is. And who knows.. Maybe we give the Huskers fits?

I'm all for a trophy with the Huskers, but only if we dropped the Bell for good.
 

The Corn Trout

Trophy carved in wood called The Corn Trout—one side carved as a Walleye (Minnesota’s state fish) while the other carved as a channel catfish (Nebraska’s state fish)
 

Speaking of the Bell:

A disabled gentleman with no arms rang the church bell for Sunday services using the front of his head. One day he fell and was killed. News reporters asked his name, and a guy said, "I don't know his name but his face sure rings a bell."

His look alike twin brother took over for him. Same outcome, fell and was killed. News reporters wanted to know his name, and the reporters were told, "Don't know his name, but he is a dead ringer for his brother."
 



I'd be OK with retiring the Bell. People dream about the jug, the axe and the pig. Not the Bell. Beating Penn State is great, but it's just beating a good team. If you're playing for the pig, it doesn't matter if either team has won a game, the pig is part of something special. The bell, no.

A trophy doesn't make a rivalry. It can enhance one, it can keep it going. Lets rekindle the rivalry with Nebraska first.
 

Let the rivalry renew itself first. There's no point in forcing it. If after a few years it looks like the rivalry has been renewed, then maybe talk about a trophy.
 

This is a stupid, pointless idea that in no way, shape or form makes the Minnesota/Nebraska series better or more relevant...which pretty much guarantees that little Joel Maturi is eagerly waiting to announce that the Gophers and Huskers will be playing for a trophy in October.
 

JoeDirt said:
Thank-you, I completely agree. Hell, I think we should drop the Bell. Besides, if we started a traveling trophy with Nebraska we would see it about as often as the Jug and what fun is that? Just being honest.
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This is a big reason why Minnesota football sucks. Don't expect to win, be "realistic". If the fanbase doesn't demand to compete with Nebraska, the program never will.
 



If we're going to consider Shama's stupid ass idea which of course will turn into Maturi's, how about a trophy resembling a pig ringing a bell while playing jug music with an axe stuck in his head. To make it even more meaningful, we could switch things up a bit... Instead of the winning team taking it, the losing team's A.D. has to pick it up, do a couple of laps around the stadium with it, and then place it prominently on his desk until the other team's A.D. "loses" it back. This way, Joel is almost certain to always have a trophy of some sort.
 

I heard NU wanted to be in the same division as Minnesota. I don't know why they would care but that is what I heard.
 

Ski U Master said:
No more trophies, don't force the rivalry. Learn from the Governor's Bell!
Click to expand...

I get what you are saying. Just realize that the trophy was established after absolutely zero history between ourselves and PSU. That would be far from the case if we were to try some trophy with Nebraska. Also, with nearly zero fanbase overlap, the rivalry was doomed from the start. That also wouldn't be the case in a rivalry with Nebraska.

That being said, there is a considerable chance for the trophy to seem forced.

If we have a trophy, I say it should be Lois Feldman.... and the loser has to keep her.
 

People hate on the psu rivalry.... But it's been more even than the Michigan and Wisconsin rivalries recently.... And most Penn state fans see the 99 game as the end of the good ole days of psu football.
 

Rosemountian said:
People hate on the psu rivalry.... But it's been more even than the Michigan and Wisconsin rivalries recently.... And most Penn state fans see the 99 game as the end of the good ole days of psu football.
Click to expand...
The problem is that PSU and the Gophers aren't really rivals. They might have been in 50 years had the conference not been split up. There's got to be a little history there. Look at the NFL. Are the Rams and Seahawks rivals now because they're both in the NFC West? For me, a rivalry is built on frequency and common ground.
 

I think it's silly at this point. There is history but most of it is ancient. If you had asked me who the Gopher's most played non-conference team was before NE joined the B1G I don't know that I ever would have guessed NE. Next year there is a newness factor to them, but after that I don't see myself hating them like IA, WI or MI. And I would definitely be in favor of retiring the bell the next time we play PSU. I'd rather have a trophy with Northwestern than PSU.

Wait until we upset them NE in Lincoln, then we can "borrow" something from the stadium and tell them they have to beat us to get it back. Otherwise if we just make up a trophy this year, even if the series is even it just won't be meaningful. There has to be emotion behind the rivalry before there is a real rivalry.
 

As I think about it, the trophy should be a Loon and Wren fighting over a stalk of Corn and it should say 'Big Ten Wins' on it.
 

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