Just for Fun Trophy Game Suggestions

[WashingtonRed]

Trophy games? Readers offer some real prizes

 

 

By Dirk Chatelain

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERWe got manure spreaders, cattle prods and rusty tractors. We got golden ears of corn, golden corn stalks and golden cow pies.

 

Corn cups, bags of seed corn, even a few cornucopias.

 

World-Herald readers never forget their heritage.

 

When we requested trophy game ideas for Nebraska’s entrance into a league rich in rivalries, we left readers with options.

 

Turns out, readers think a lot alike. Which is why more than 50 percent of responses focused on Nebraska-Iowa. And it’s why the World-Herald received dozens of suggestions for agriculture-related trophies. Most of them were, well, a little corny.

 

We, the judges, opted for more originality. Be forewarned: the list is highly subjective. One man’s brilliance is another’s stupidity.

 

Take your grievances to Jim Delany.

 

Without further delay, the top 10 trophy game ideas for Nebraska’s entrance into the Big Ten:

 

• 1. Nebraska/Iowa: “The Sow-Cow.”

 

Brilliant reader Tony Toth says his submission celebrates the states’ unique agricultural roots “without resorting to the obvious corn cliché.”

 

The trophy is one-half pig, one-half cow, joined in the middle and cast in bronze.

 

The winning team attaches an animal ear tag to the trophy, red or yellow depending on the final score. Eventually, a long chain of brightly colored tags hangs from the most prestigious of Big Ten icons: the Sow-Cow.

 

Now who can’t see Bo Pelini raising that toy above his head?

 

• 2. Nebraska/Wisconsin: “Alvie.”

 

The Huskers and Badgers share a rather notable figure in Big Ten history: Barry Alvarez. The Nebraska native played his college football for Bob Devaney. He’s better known for turning around Wisconsin in the early 1990s.

 

Imagine a small bronze bust, with Alvarez the Badger coach on one side, Alvarez the Husker linebacker on the other.

 

• 3. Nebraska/Penn State: “McCloskey’s Patch.”

 

In 1982, Penn State won the national championship. Nebraska finished third. Those fates could have been flipped had officials called Mike McCloskey out of bounds when the Nittany Lions and Huskers met that September.

 

On the final drive, with Nebraska leading 24-21, Todd Blackledge hit McCloskey for a 15-yard gain to the 2-yard line with 9 seconds left, setting up the winning score. But replays showed McCloskey was closer to the marching band than the actual field of play.

 

The trophy idea? A square yard of sod from Beaver Stadium. It would be painted white — the color of the sideline.

 

• 4. Nebraska/Iowa: “The Challenger.”

 

The two states owe much of their settlement to the railroad. So how about a model of a Union Pacific Challenger, the world’s largest steam operating locomotive?

 

The trophy, reader John Banister’s idea, would ride the rails from Iowa City to Lincoln each year, depending on the game site. (Both stadiums lie within a few blocks of tracks.)

 

Add to the trophy’s mystique by creating a replica and placing it on a turntable device in Omaha’s Kenefick Park, high above the Missouri River off Interstate 80. If Nebraska wins, turn the train west. If Iowa wins, turn it east.

 

• 5. Nebraska/Iowa: “The Lewis and Clark Canoe.”

 

Before the Missouri River was the border between Nebraska and Iowa, it was a highway west for Lewis and Clark. Their discoveries, which paved the way for United States expansion, deserve a trophy in the newly enlarged Big Ten Conference.

 

Granted, the Corps of Discovery didn’t exactly float past Omaha in a canoe. But even Ndamukong Suh can’t lift a 50-foot keelboat.

 

• 6: Nebraska/Michigan State: “The Shamrock.”

 

It was Duffy Daugherty, the Spartans’ legendary coach, who hired Bob Devaney as an assistant when Devaney was a Michigan high school coach. Had Daugherty not made the call, Devaney said he likely would’ve hung up his whistle.

 

But Daugherty’s influence on Nebraska didn’t end there.

 

Nebraska wanted Daugherty after the 1961 season. Daugherty turned down the request — but recommended the head coach at Wyoming: Bob Devaney. The two men remained dear friends until Daugherty died in 1987.

 

The trophy would be a four-leaf clover, a tribute to the coaches’ Irish heritage. On the clovers, Devaney, Daugherty and the logos for Nebraska and Michigan State.

 

• 7. Nebraska/Illinois: “Old Abe.”

 

The trophy would honor the 16th President, who got his political start in Illinois. Abraham Lincoln later preserved the union, ended slavery and, of course, inspired the name of Nebraska’s capital city.

 

Reader Don Haddix envisions a bronze trophy with a classic Lincoln pose. Anyone know if Mr. President coached any pigskin in his day?

 

• 8. Nebraska/Wisconsin: “The Big Red Can.”

 

The theme for most Wisconsin-Nebraska trophy suggestions was their common color. Submissions suggested a red flannel or a red hat. What if the winner earned the right to wear red helmets in the following season’s matchup?

 

But reader Jed Parry got it just right: A can of red paint.

 

Simple and splendid.

 

• 9. Nebraska/Iowa: “The Cornbelt.”

 

Now our 20-year-old athletes might feel a little more comfortable with this one. A tacky, bejeweled trophy worn around the waist, a la professional wrestling. Each year, the winner adds a little Husker or Hawkeye logo to its side of the belt.

 

As reader Bill Kerrigan put it, “Can’t you just see all those sweaty insane football players jumping up and down holding that big ol’ belt in the air on national TV?!?!”

 

Yes, we can, Bill. Yes, we can.

 

• 10. Nebraska/Minnesota: “Coz.”

 

Loser gets the defensive coordinator for the rest of the season.

 

 

 

[HuskerMack]

Trophy games? Readers offer some real prizes

 

 

By Dirk Chatelain

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERWe got manure spreaders, cattle prods and rusty tractors. We got golden ears of corn, golden corn stalks and golden cow pies.

 

Corn cups, bags of seed corn, even a few cornucopias.

 

World-Herald readers never forget their heritage.

 

When we requested trophy game ideas for Nebraska’s entrance into a league rich in rivalries, we left readers with options.

 

Turns out, readers think a lot alike. Which is why more than 50 percent of responses focused on Nebraska-Iowa. And it’s why the World-Herald received dozens of suggestions for agriculture-related trophies. Most of them were, well, a little corny.

 

We, the judges, opted for more originality. Be forewarned: the list is highly subjective. One man’s brilliance is another’s stupidity.

 

Take your grievances to Jim Delany.

 

Without further delay, the top 10 trophy game ideas for Nebraska’s entrance into the Big Ten:

 

• 1. Nebraska/Iowa: “The Sow-Cow.”

 

Brilliant reader Tony Toth says his submission celebrates the states’ unique agricultural roots “without resorting to the obvious corn cliché.”

 

The trophy is one-half pig, one-half cow, joined in the middle and cast in bronze.

 

The winning team attaches an animal ear tag to the trophy, red or yellow depending on the final score. Eventually, a long chain of brightly colored tags hangs from the most prestigious of Big Ten icons: the Sow-Cow.

 

Now who can’t see Bo Pelini raising that toy above his head?

 

• 2. Nebraska/Wisconsin: “Alvie.”

 

The Huskers and Badgers share a rather notable figure in Big Ten history: Barry Alvarez. The Nebraska native played his college football for Bob Devaney. He’s better known for turning around Wisconsin in the early 1990s.

 

Imagine a small bronze bust, with Alvarez the Badger coach on one side, Alvarez the Husker linebacker on the other.

 

• 3. Nebraska/Penn State: “McCloskey’s Patch.”

 

In 1982, Penn State won the national championship. Nebraska finished third. Those fates could have been flipped had officials called Mike McCloskey out of bounds when the Nittany Lions and Huskers met that September.

 

On the final drive, with Nebraska leading 24-21, Todd Blackledge hit McCloskey for a 15-yard gain to the 2-yard line with 9 seconds left, setting up the winning score. But replays showed McCloskey was closer to the marching band than the actual field of play.

 

The trophy idea? A square yard of sod from Beaver Stadium. It would be painted white — the color of the sideline.

 

• 4. Nebraska/Iowa: “The Challenger.”

 

The two states owe much of their settlement to the railroad. So how about a model of a Union Pacific Challenger, the world’s largest steam operating locomotive?

 

The trophy, reader John Banister’s idea, would ride the rails from Iowa City to Lincoln each year, depending on the game site. (Both stadiums lie within a few blocks of tracks.)

 

Add to the trophy’s mystique by creating a replica and placing it on a turntable device in Omaha’s Kenefick Park, high above the Missouri River off Interstate 80. If Nebraska wins, turn the train west. If Iowa wins, turn it east.

 

• 5. Nebraska/Iowa: “The Lewis and Clark Canoe.”

 

Before the Missouri River was the border between Nebraska and Iowa, it was a highway west for Lewis and Clark. Their discoveries, which paved the way for United States expansion, deserve a trophy in the newly enlarged Big Ten Conference.

 

Granted, the Corps of Discovery didn’t exactly float past Omaha in a canoe. But even Ndamukong Suh can’t lift a 50-foot keelboat.

 

• 6: Nebraska/Michigan State: “The Shamrock.”

 

It was Duffy Daugherty, the Spartans’ legendary coach, who hired Bob Devaney as an assistant when Devaney was a Michigan high school coach. Had Daugherty not made the call, Devaney said he likely would’ve hung up his whistle.

 

But Daugherty’s influence on Nebraska didn’t end there.

 

Nebraska wanted Daugherty after the 1961 season. Daugherty turned down the request — but recommended the head coach at Wyoming: Bob Devaney. The two men remained dear friends until Daugherty died in 1987.

 

The trophy would be a four-leaf clover, a tribute to the coaches’ Irish heritage. On the clovers, Devaney, Daugherty and the logos for Nebraska and Michigan State.

 

• 7. Nebraska/Illinois: “Old Abe.”

 

The trophy would honor the 16th President, who got his political start in Illinois. Abraham Lincoln later preserved the union, ended slavery and, of course, inspired the name of Nebraska’s capital city.

 

Reader Don Haddix envisions a bronze trophy with a classic Lincoln pose. Anyone know if Mr. President coached any pigskin in his day?

 

• 8. Nebraska/Wisconsin: “The Big Red Can.”

 

The theme for most Wisconsin-Nebraska trophy suggestions was their common color. Submissions suggested a red flannel or a red hat. What if the winner earned the right to wear red helmets in the following season’s matchup?

 

But reader Jed Parry got it just right: A can of red paint.

 

Simple and splendid.

 

• 9. Nebraska/Iowa: “The Cornbelt.”

 

Now our 20-year-old athletes might feel a little more comfortable with this one. A tacky, bejeweled trophy worn around the waist, a la professional wrestling. Each year, the winner adds a little Husker or Hawkeye logo to its side of the belt.

 

As reader Bill Kerrigan put it, “Can’t you just see all those sweaty insane football players jumping up and down holding that big ol’ belt in the air on national TV?!?!”

 

Yes, we can, Bill. Yes, we can.

 

• 10. Nebraska/Minnesota: “Coz.”

 

Loser gets the defensive coordinator for the rest of the season.

 

 

 

• 10. Nebraska/Minnesota: “Coz.”

 

Loser gets the defensive coordinator for the rest of the season!!

 

for the Coz one The trophy could be just a big pile of POO!

[deedsker15]

 

just put the poo on coz and call it good

[billdozer15]

I honestly like the one with the train. That could look pretty neat.

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

• 3. Nebraska/Penn State: “McCloskey’s Patch.”

 

In 1982, Penn State won the national championship. Nebraska finished third. Those fates could have been flipped had officials called Mike McCloskey out of bounds when the Nittany Lions and Huskers met that September.

 

On the final drive, with Nebraska leading 24-21, Todd Blackledge hit McCloskey for a 15-yard gain to the 2-yard line with 9 seconds left, setting up the winning score. But replays showed McCloskey was closer to the marching band than the actual field of play.

 

The trophy idea? A square yard of sod from Beaver Stadium. It would be painted white — the color of the sideline.

This!

[cuinknk]

I like "The Challenger" the most. I like the name "The Cornbelt," but it would feel too much like pro wrestling.