Big Ten Rivalries Second to None

First appeared on October 15th, 2008
in The Lebanon Reporter

Some will be excited to know the Paul Bunyan Trophy will be up for grabs yet again come Saturday. A few weeks ago, with as much sophistication as one can expect, Michigan State spat a tar black glob of Beechnut in the eye of the Indiana Hoosiers while laying claim to the Old Brass Spittoon. Football rivalries and the hokey trophies that accompany them are nothing new and over the years Big Ten football teams have traded everything from Tomahawks and cannons to slabs of bacon, bronzed pigs and victory bells.
Upon further review, the stories behind these fabled trophies can be interesting and that’s where we come in, to provide your hokey Big Ten trophy fix. The oldest traded symbol of greatness in a single Big Ten football game is the Little Brown Jug. Most won’t remember Michigan bringing their high powered “Point a Minute” offense to Minnesota for a highly anticipated contest in 1903. Fearing a cavorting band of rabid Gopher fans might try sabotaging his team, Michigan’s coach sent a manager out to purchase a plain looking jug in which they could hide their water. After torrential rains arrived, a 6-6 tie ensued and the Wolverines fled for safety as the aforementioned rabid Gopher fans stormed the field. Unlike school children under the watch of George W. Bush, the Little Brown Jug was intentionally left behind and has been up for grabs since.
Aside from the Little Brown Jug, which is actually only half brown, Minnesota is part of some of the most interesting trophy swaps in the conference. The Gophers battle Wisconsin every year for Paul Bunyan’s Axe. The Axe had been playing second fiddle to a slab of wooden bacon the schools were trading until the fake bacon disappeared, only to resurface almost 50 years later (Yes, how bizarre indeed).
Perhaps the most interesting of all trophies in the Conference is Floyd of Rosedale. This bronze pig dates back to 1935 when the governors of Iowa and Minnesota first agreed upon their “Fred Ziffel Like” wager. An artist was actually commissioned to sculpt the live version of the original pig who, some might say remarkably, was actually the brother of another superstar swine who had co-starred alongside Will Rogers in the 1933 blockbuster hit State Fair.
Of course Hoosiers are no doubt most familiar with the Old Oaken Bucket. Believe it or not, the Bucket was actually the brainchild of a gathering of alums from both schools. Viewed as the ultimate symbol of Indiana’s rural traditions, the Bucket itself was rescued from the well of a southern Indiana farm in 1925. Legend has it the Old Oaken Bucket was actually used to carry water for Union troops during the Civil War. Unfortunately constraints placed upon us by the editors of this fine newspaper prevent our printing of the all time record of Oaken Bucket games here. However, what we can say is that the much ballyhooed bucket is currently in the possession of our beloved Hoosiers.
To commemorate their on field skirmishes, Illinois and Ohio State chose the path not taken. Though the schools settled on a creature revered for its longevity, hindsight tells us choosing a live trophy to swap was a bad idea. When the turtle they picked in 1925 died two seasons later, non-existent pressure from the yet to be formed PETA forced them to carve a wooden replica. Since that time 9 Illibucks have been handcrafted, each complete with the outcomes of every Illini-Buckeye football game painted on their shells.
Of course some rivalries are so bitter that trophies are meaningless. Michigan and Ohio State is perhaps the ugliest and most heated rivalry in all of college sports, let alone the Big Ten. With this in mind no trophy is necessary. And, while they are symbolically quaint, in truth the aforementioned game is a convenient truth that trophies don’t mean diddly in the long run. They are an antiquated symbol of someone’s short term success, that being said we might as well go ahead and keep the Bucket in Bloomington.