The Oaken Bucket is Full of Tradition

First appeared on December 1st, 2011 in The Lebanon Reporter

Through a World War, league expansion, Purdue Pete’s ill-fated experimentation with Botox and the addition of a gaudy, keeping up with the Joneses excuse of a cash-cow disguised as a championship game, there have remained few constants in Big Ten football. At 86 years old and with a face somewhat on the weathered side, she’s a bit more squat than most would prefer. And while she may not be as sexy as a season ending match up in a state-of-the art facility like Lucas Oil stadium, she’s everything when it comes to college football in the state of Indiana.

Of course we’re talking about the Old Oaken Bucket. The connection between football and a bucket somebody more than likely first used to avoid a midnight trip to the privy was first drawn in 1925 during the inaugural Oaken Bucket game, and, just like mediocrity and meaningless football, she has become a mainstay of the Indiana Purdue football rivalry ever since.

And while the kids would say, with its golden alphabet chain, she’s got enough bling to make Flavor-flav or Kim K jealous-she’s still a frumpy old housemaid who’ll never have what it takes to draw attention away from the fishnet stockings and stiletto heels of the Big Ten Championship Game.

And while “tradition” may be a word that puts today’s youth asleep faster than dial up internet or a stuffy old Geography teacher, it’s rarity in today’s world makes it all the more alluring. For those who weren’t in the stands for the consecutive 1-0 shutouts pitched by Purdue in 1893 and 4 (and if perhaps you were- Do you walk every day? Do you take vitamins? How much chocolate cake do you eat?), the rivalry between Indiana and Purdue dates back to before the Spanish American War. And if a 1-0 score wasn’t clue enough that this rivalry would involve some not so stellar football, the first Oaken Bucket game should have opened some eyes. That 1925 contest saw the two teams battle to a 0-0 tie. Clearly, it would have been more exciting and worthwhile to watch someone paint the bucket.

She’s had her moments though. In 1967 John Pont’s Indiana Hoosiers won the Oaken Bucket game before moving on the play in the Rose Bowl. The same happened for Purdue in 2000 while riding the arm of future Hall of Famer Drew Brees to a 41-13 victory in the Bucket game.

But just as with lipstick on a pig and a nationally televised interview in which you try to explain that showering with children is normal, some things can’t change the facts. It’s still Indiana and Purdue and they’re still playing for a wooden bucket. She may not be the Big Ten Championship game and she may not draw millions in advertising, but she’s paid for and she’s ours. True tradition lies in quaint rivalries like the Oaken Bucket. Someone should tell the Big Ten powers that be that tradition cannot be bought nor attained overnight.

There is no price tag you can put on watching Purdue destroy Indiana 60-0 (twice actually, in 1891 and 2) or Austin Starr nail the “Kick heard round the state” in 2007 that sent the Hoosiers bowling. Just as America has the Fourth of July and childhood obesity, the great thing about tradition is that it can mean different things to everyone. So hoist the bucket with pride ye Boiler fans. Fear not that you took it from a team that had only won 1 game, for paunchy silhouette and all, she’s yours to have and to hold for another year.

© 2011 Eric Walker Williams