Why the Broken Chair is better than the average new trophy
Laying out the reasons why some rivalry trophies matter and others are terrible is important. Why? Because Minnesota and Nebraska have the chance to play for a new trophy that came to be through the same sort of serendipitous series of events that created the Little Brown Jug. The
BrokGuysen Chair trophy is a worthy modern heir to the great college football trophies from the last century. This is a trophy that should be talked about on ESPN2 this week. It's a trophy that should have a case at each school. It's a trophy that should be officially recognized.
The easy thing to do is to dismiss the $5 Bits of Broken Chair trophy as silly creation of Twitter. If that's your stance, I'd like to envision a scenario with me:
- Minnesota and Nebraska just resumed their series in the 1950's following a 2 decade absence. The match up is not a rivalry in the traditional sense, but the yearly game is enjoyable for what it is - a battle between two Midwestern schools with plenty in common.
- In advance of the 4th match-up in the renewed series, a widely known Nebraska supporter and a prominent member of the Minnesota athletic department engage in a friendly "Letter to the Editor" battle with each other. A challenge/bet between these two individuals for a small sum of money or the breaking of a chair based on the outcome of that season's game is publicly announced. Additionally, the Minnesota representative suggests turning the outcome of the bet into a trophy for future games.
- Fans of the two schools and fans of college football on a national scale enjoy the public sparring in the newspapers. Potential versions of this trophy are drafted and published in college football newsletters. The Minnesota athletics department representative is so excited by the possibilities that he creates a trophy from scratch that very week, has a picture published in the newspaper, and announces he'll bring it to Lincoln with him for the game.
- Minnesota wins and a popular player is photographed celebrating with the trophy. A vocal portion of both the Nebraska and Minnesota fanbases clamor for this to become an official trophy, but the future of the prize remains in doubt.
This is the sort of history we all love in a college football trophy. While the public media sources that spawned the creation of the trophy are very 21st century, the underlying story contains the same key elements as the Little Brown Jug. Just like the Jug, the Broken Chair exists because of a series of random events, the passion of school affiliated public figures, and an unexpected challenge related to a game of football.
