Rivalry Week: The Backyard Brawl

The Backyard Brawl is an annual game between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the West Virginia Mountaineers. The "Backyard" part of the name refers to the fact that the schools are separated by about 80 miles. It is a heated match up and because of the success of the two schools, one of the most important games in the Big East every year.

You could point to a lot of things that breed the hate between the two fan groups. They wear similar colors. They started playing the game at the beginning of their programs. The schools are pretty close together. West Virginia is a coal mining state, while Pittsburgh is known for its steel production. There's a basis for rivalry on all of those points of contention.

The two teams first played in 1895, with West Virginia taking the first contest by the score of 8-0. Despite that, Pittsburgh leads the series 61-39-3, much of that due to a 15 game winning streak between  1929 and 1946. It wasn't much of a rivalry until West Virginia became respectable (great read, by the way):

"I think a definition of 'rivalry' is competition. And there wasn't any. Except for 1920 and 1922 and 1928, there were no more [West Virginia victories] until 1947. 

"Until West Virginia became respectable, it was two for one -- two trips to Pittsburgh for one in Morgantown." Shoot, from 1900 to 1929, it was 21 for two.

 In fact, Pitt didn't really care much about the West Virginia game in the beginning:

"When I was at Pitt," Cook added of a time when the Panthers held a 36-11-1 advantage, "West Virginia was just a game on the schedule." Penn State was the in-state rival, though somehow 21st-century Penn State map makers redrew the lines and turned themselves into a Midwestern-based league member and Pitt into foreign territory. Cook continued, "But at West Virginia, Pitt was always a big thing." 

"West Virginia would bring 15,000, 20,000 fans. They wanted to come to Pitt. 

"I tell you, The Pittsburgh Press circulation department used to root for West Virginia, because if West Virginia beat Pitt, on Sunday they sold 20,000 extra papers."

On the other hand, West Virginians were bred to hate the Panthers:

"Jack Fleming's house was above the old stadium," Cook continued. "He told me, when he was a child, Pitt would come out on the field, and he would sit on his mother's lap. His mother would point down at them. And his mother would say, 'Son, that's Pitt. You hate Pitt now. You hate Pitt tomorrow. You hate Pitt until the day you die. After that, you will hate Pitt for eternity.' "

Since the rivalry became more even, the game became more important. It has reached a new level since the teams both teams were full members of the Big East in 1991. The two schools have often been the best teams in the Big East, and rarely has a Backyard Brawl gone by without some significance for at least one of the schools.

Now, with Pitt's potential move to the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Backyard Brawl is in jeopardy. Just as the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry is in trouble, Pitt is trying to move to the ACC because of money. West Virginia appears to be headed to the Big XII because of a lack of competition and concern that the Big East's automatic BCS berth will be taken away. The Big East isn't the conference it was when it had Virginia Tech, Boston College, and Miami (Florida). The competition is weak and the conference has been preyed on by competing conferences for want-away schools.

With the schools potentially in different conferences and the demand for 9 game in conference seasons, the two schools may find themselves unable to find each other on their schedules. Both sides aren't happy about this, but Pitt defensive tackle, Chas Alexih, puts it best:

"I think that’s a tragedy if it ends," Alecxih said in a phone interview. "It’s one of the oldest rivalries in college football, one of the most intense. I think it’s a shame. ... I don't want to say this is a big thing we're thinking about, but if this were to be the last time we played on a consistent basis it would be great to say we won it."

This is another rivalry that will fall victim to conference realignment. With the demands of conference schedules and the increasing demand to have out of conference home games, it will be unlikely that these two play on a year to year basis. It's the disappointing reality of the current landscape of college sports. These are rivalries that shouldn't die. These are rivalries to preserve.

The lack of playing year to year will take away some of the rivalry, at least on the field. It will not take away the strong dislike of the fans though. That will live on. That might be worth holding onto. That might be what keeps this going.

There'll still be the competition, the hatred, the history, just the tradition will be missing.

Rivalry Week: Birth of a Rivalry?

With Nebraska entering the Big Ten this season, the Big Ten is banking on the beginning of a rivalry between Nebraska and Iowa. As two of the largest corn producing states, the hope is that the competition from the corn fields will move to the football stadiums. The Big Ten is taking this seriously, even coming up with a name for the game and providing a trophy.

It will be called The Heroes Game:

The schools are taking this "Heroes" tag seriously. They plan to recognize one Iowa citizen and one Nebraskan for an extraordinary act prior to each year's game. Friends, neighbors or co-workers can nominate people for the heroes distinction, and those chosen will be honored on the field during the game and will have their name and hometown etched on the Heroes Game trophy. The schools also plan to use proceeds from the game to benefit the Iowa and Nebraska chapters of the American Red Cross.

So already they're creating a tradition for this trophy, and it's a great one. Having lived in the Midwest for the last five years, there seemed to be a greater sense of others. I have no doubt that this trophy will inspire some great deeds.

For Iowa, this is their third trophy game. I'm pretty sure every Big Ten team has at least a couple. For Nebraska, this might be something new. They sort of had one with Missouri, but it wasn't important. This could be important:

"I think we had a trophy with Missouri, but frankly I don't think I've ever seen the trophy and I don't know what it's called," Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne said. "This is new to us, and I think it's a good thing." 

"We have had a couple of what might be called rivalry games in Nebraska, and some of them were maybe not so healthy," Osborne said. "They were not of our choosing. Somebody decided we were their rival, and as a result it got a little bit nasty at times. I never did understand that. ... 

"[Iowa and Nebraska] come from similar states, with high-level character, good work ethics, a lot of agriculture and good family values. So I think it will be very good."

 A lot of those similarities begin with the reliance on corn. These are blue collar states where agriculture is integral to their economies. Along with Illinois and Minnesota, these states account for over 50 percent of the country's corn production. Iowa is the leading producer and Nebraska is the third largest. They're a little corn crazy, and that could extend to the game.

They do have some history. Iowa went into Nebraska in 1980, where the Cornhuskers thoroughly kicked the Hawkeyes' asses 57-0. The following year, a motivated Hawkeyes team got revenge, defeating the Cornhuskers 10-7. That game marks a historical basis for a rivalry to build:

Traditions don’t just happen. They have to start somewhere. They have to be earned. 

As Iowa prepares to play Nebraska this Friday, the first game in which both schools are members of the Big Ten, it’s a good time to remember the 30th anniversary of another Iowa-Nebraska game.

 For this rivalry to really take off, the players have to buy into it. The potential intensity in the stands and between the schools is for naught if the players don't play with the same intensity. Luckily, it seems that the intensity and the competitive spirit will be there. Iowa cornerback and Nebraska native, Shaun Prater, had this to say:

"I always used to hear stories," Prater said. "One team used to claim that the other team was cheating, they were watching their practices. It's a rivalry that's going to be a good one. We're pretty close to one another. Nebraska joining the Big Ten, I think it was a great idea. 

"I'm looking forward to playing those guys."

Likewise, Tim Marlowe, a Nebraska receiver, who might be on the opposite Prater, is looking forward to the game:

“We play for us, we play for our team, we play for our coaches, our families, the state of Nebraska,” Marlowe said. “We have a lot of pride. We still have a chance to win 10 games. We have a great Iowa team coming in. We hope to beat them, get to a good bowl game and hopefully end the year 10-3.”

This has the potential to be a very spirited game. These two schools come from very spirited states and I expect that they'll be competing against each other in many different ways. This game has the potential to build into a tremendous rivalry. All the aspects you need are there: the tradition, the history, the intensity. This could be the start of something great.

Rivalry Week: An Introduction

Throughout this week, I'd like to write about the different rivalries, a little bit of the history as well as the current state of the rivalry.

Rivalries are what make sports great, and college rivalries are amongst the most intense in all of sport. These rivalries transcend sport. The hatred between schools is often a product of societal differences. The schools compete for students, for states, for pride. Sport is just another venue through which this battle can be waged.

You'll often hear that sport is not war. You walk into a college stadium during rivalry week and tell me that it's not war. You walk around campus in opposing colors on Game Day and tell me there's not a bitter hatred.

In a week full of rivalries, it's important to know how these rivalries arose and why they are so celebrated. They're important to the schools and they're integral to what makes college sports great. Their stories deserve to be chronicled.

That's why I want to write about them. I look forward to exploring them and sharing what I find with you all.

Rivalry Week: Texas-Texas A&M

On Thanksgiving night, Texas and Texas A&M will battle it out at Kyle Field. While both schools have had disappointing seasons, this match up is going to have a great deal of symbolic importance. As long as the rivalry has gone on, the annual game is ending after this year as the Aggies move to the Southeastern Conference. This is the fallout of the current climate in college sports. The name of the game is money, and conference alignment has been driven by its pursuit.

So after the 117th meeting on Thursday, the two will part ways, at least for the immediate future. It's funny that this rivalry is the first of the week, with all the talk about hate and competition, because this rivalry seems, for the most part, respectful and friendly. Like Thanksgiving, it's an affair of family, friends, and neighbors.

The rivalry between the two schools is given credence in the two schools' fight songs:

Since the 1920s, we Texas A&M fans have sung “Goodbye to Texas University/So long to the orange and white” and swayed from end zone to end zone as we “sawed” the horns off the University of Texas. And since about the ’30s, Longhorns fans have countered with “Texas fight, Texas fight/And it’s goodbye to A&M.”

The competition was, at one time, a one sided affair. This was, in large part, because of the mandatory Corp of Cadets program at Texas A&M until 1965. While Texas has a large overall lead of 75-36-5, in the last 36 meetings, each team has taken 18 victories. Competitively, this game has become a more even affair, while each side has had its runs of dominance.

Furthermore, there are many other traditions that have been spurred by this rivalry. Texas A&M has its bonfire:

From its inception as a scrap heap to the more familiar and impressive stack of vertical logs, the Texas Aggie Bonfire symbolized every Aggie's "burning desire" to beat the University of Texas in football. Attracting between 30,000 and 70,000 people each year to watch it burn, Bonfire became a symbol of the deep and unique camaraderie that is the Aggie Spirit. 

In preparation for the much-anticipated annual football game against "t.u.", as Aggies refer to their rival, the student-built Texas Aggie Bonfire would burn after Yell Practice. The lighting ceremony included the playing of "The Spirit of Aggieland" by the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band and the traditional reading of "The Last Corps Trip" poem. An outhouse, known as the "t.u. tea room" or "t.u. frat house" was built by sophomores in the Aggie band and sat atop the completed Bonfire. Aggie lore has it that if the Bonfire stood until after midnight, they would win the game.

And Texas has the Hex Rally:

On Thanksgiving Day 1941, he University of Texas football team was to travel to College Station to take on Texas A&M. The Aggies were having a banner season. Undefeated and ranked second in the nation by the Associated Press, the A&M had already won the Southwest Conference Championship. They also had a jinx on the Longhorns. 

Since 1923 - for 18 years - the Longhorns had been unable to win a game at Kyle Field. Desperate to break the College Station "jinx," UT students consulted Madam Agusta Hipple, a local fortune teller. She instructed the students to burn red candles the week before the game as a way of "hexing" the Aggies and putting a stop to the jinx. 

Throughout the week of Thanksgiving, Austin shops found it difficult to keep red candles in stock. Candles were burned in store windows along the Drag, in the fraternity and sorority houses of west campus, in the lounges of University residence halls, and in the windows of houses in Austin neighborhoods. Madam Hipple knew what she was doing. By uniting the football team and its fans with such a visible show of support, how could the Longhorns fail?

These traditions that have been built as a result of this game has become an integral part of these communities. It sounds like it could be volatile, but it isn't. If it was, would Texas fans let the Corps of Cadets do this:

 

This is rivalry, but this is respect. This is something that should be preserved forever because it's such a big part of the schools' tradition and values. That's what a rival does; it makes you think about why you love your school. Without that, you're not whole. I think Longhorns and Aggies are starting to realize that. Dave Thomas, a '93 A&M graduate, had this to say:

It's true I don't care for their sense of entitlement. I often take quiet delight in their struggles. And I enjoy beating them when it happens. But I don't hate the Longhorns. 

In fact, I'm going to miss them.

He goes on to say:

But I know the history of the series. There's been a hell of a lot more "next years" than beating "the hell out of t.u." I won't say that I'm OK with that, but I'm at peace with that. The rivalry with Texas has colored my whole appreciation for sports, giving me a deep affection for the underdog and a disdain for the Yankees and the Lakers of the world.

Texas' Heisman Trophy winner, Earl Campbell, said this about the end of the rivalry:

"It's one of the saddest stories in college athletics. For so many years, that's what we in Texas looked forward to every Thanksgiving. You had your turkey dinner, you gave thanks to God for being here on Thanksgiving and trying to be happy, and then you finish it up with the football game. " 

For a lot of us, Thanksgiving won't be the same without A&M and the Longhorns playing against each other."

The rivalry isn't ending. It should always be there. A part of it is dying with the end of this annual tradition. This tradition is what helped make this rivalry. Without the game, there aren't the rituals of the tradition, and there isn't the same sense of self. Without this annual tradition, the rivalry won't be the same. The teams can play again in the future, but it won't be the same. It won't feel as important. It won't feel like Texas-Texas A&M. It'll just be another game.

But that's the reality of the current college football climate. Money is everything, and it has taken precedence over the things that we appreciate the most about college sports. We'd like these rivalries to go on forever, but for those of us whose schools have rivals, the end of this one makes us appreciate what we have.

On Thanksgiving, after you've had dinner and probably gained 10 pounds, sit back and enjoy this game. Enjoy the rivalry. Relish it. These things won't last forever. This one isn't.