Autumn Spectacle: Traveling Trophies

Traveling Trophies
by AutumnSpectacle.com staff

If college football is anything, it is colorful and we're not only talking about the autumn foliage on the trees. We're talking about the pageantry of the game that includes the traveling trophies awarded each year in a rivalry.

There is the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy given to the winning service academy. There's the Bronze Boot that goes to the Colorado State-Wyoming winner. And, there are many more.

Because the next two weeks feature many big rivalries with traveling trophies, we're going to discuss just a few trophies that are up for grabs in the coming days.

courtesy Iowa SID

Good pig!

Floyd of Rosedale: The states of Iowa and Minnesota share a border and the Big 10 universities there also battle for a prize pig, er, trophy. Actually, the trophy is a bronze pig. It all started in 1935 when Minnesota Governor Floyd Olson entered into a wager with Iowa Governor Clyde Herring. Iowa lost that year and Herring offered Olson a champion hog from the Rosedale farms. Herring named the hog "Floyd," which was the Minnesota governor's first name. (Sidenote: Floyd was the brother of BlueBoy from Will Rogers' movie "State Fair."). A sculpture of a bronze pig was soon commissioned and it goes to the winner of the annual rivalry.

Tomahawk: The student newspapers at Northwestern and Illinois birthed the idea of the two football teams playing for a wooden Indian trophy in 1945. The name of the trophy was "Sweet Sioux." The following year, the trophy was stolen from a showcase at Northwestern. So, in 1947, a tomahawk was instituted as the traveling trophy. Incidentally, Sweet Sioux was found in 1948 but because of its size, it was discarded and the teams continue to play for the tomahawk to this day.

courtesy UW SID

To the victors go the apples as Washington and Washington State compete for the Apple Cup trophy.

Apple Cup: Though the series has been around since 1900, the annual Washington-Washington State game has been for the Apple Cup every year since 1962. The state is famous for its apple crop, so the trophy is crowned by a gold apple on top.

The Axe: We'd love to tell you the story of the Axe that Cal and Stanford play for each year. However, there's no reason to rewrite something that's already been told so well. Click here for Cal's version of how the Axe became the trophy for the Big Game.

Wagon Wheel: John Buchtel was the founder of Buchtel College, which eventually became known as Akron University. In 1870, Buchtel began a horse wagon search for a proposed college near Kent, Ohio. His wagon became stuck in the mud on the site that would eventually become Kent State. The wheel remained there and by 1902, it was just a piece of wood. The Kent State Dean of Men, Dr. Raymond Manchester, took possession of the wheel in the 1940s. In 1946, he suggested that the winner of the annual football game should take possession of the wagon wheel. He had the wheel painted blue and gold, which is the colors of both schools.

Golden Egg: Since the 1920s, the winner of the Ole Miss-Mississippi State game has taken home a trophy consisting of a large football-shaped brass piece mounted on a wooden base. Though the piece is shaped like a football, it doesn't have laces or stripes. In short, it resembles an egg. The recognizable image of the trophy provided the rivalry with its nickname, Egg Bowl.

There are many other rivalry games that play for interesting hardware. Here are a list of some others that are worthy of note.

Bayou Bucket: Houston-Rice
Commonwealth Cup: Virginia-Virginia Tech
Golden Boot: LSU-Arkansas
Peace Pipe: Bowling Green-Toledo

Finally, here is a story about a rivalry that doesn't receive attention from the major media but the information behind this traveling trophy is just too good to keep to ourselves.

Matt Bowen, Wabash University

Monon Bell: The rivalry between Wabash College and DePauw University began in 1890 and is the oldest college football rivalry west of the Alleghenies. And, since 1932, they have played for the 300-pound Monon Bell donated by the Monon Railroad.

The Bell has been stolen several times, the most famous of which involved a Wabash student posing as a Mexican reporter interested in establishing an exchange program with DePauw. During his meeting with the DePauw president, he arranged for a number of scholarships for students from Latin America and convinced him to show him the bell's hiding place. Later, he returned with friends and stole it.

Another famous heist had DePauw students stealing the bell from themselves. Concerned about the safety of the Bell from Wabash kidnappers, DePauw students stole the bell from its resting place and buried it in the north end zone of their football stadium. Very few students knew of its location. A problem arose on gameday as the ground was frozen. The students were barely able to reclaim the Bell in time for the game.

The bell was last stolen in 1998 by Wabash students on Halloween.

To grasp how big this rivalry is to the fans involved, check out this music video about the Monon Bell.

Indeed, the pageantry of the Autumn Spectacle exists on campuses - big and small - all across America.

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“Deep inside, we're still the boys of autumn, that magic time of year that once swept us on to America's fields."
- Archie Manning, in "A Tailgater's Guide to the SEC"