Rivalries spice up interest in college sports

College athletics thrives on natural rivalries, and the most-played football rivalry in the NCAA Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) classification, the major schools, is between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers, both members of the Big Ten Conference.

These two teams have met 128 times, dating back to 1890, and the series is all knotted up, 60-60-8 – even-steven.

The drama is intense. Which team will surge into the lead in the head-to-head battles on the gridiron? This year’s rivalry game is to be played outdoors on Nov. 30 at Minnesota’s stadium in Minneapolis. Bundle up.

The winner takes possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe. “The story of Paul Bunyan, the giant lumberjack, is one of the most enduring tall tales in North America,” said storyteller Debra Ronca of Somerset, N.J. “Paul Bunyan’s blue ox named Babe grew so large that her footsteps around Minnesota created the state’s 10,000 lakes.”

The axe became the rivalry game’s traveling trophy in 1948. “Before the axe, the annual Wisconsin-Minnesota game was contested with something even more prestigious on the line – the Slab of Bacon,” wrote Alex Kirshner of SBNation, a unit of Vox Media.

“The slab came into existence in 1930, carved out of wood. The rustic, brown slab either looked like an ‘M’ or a ‘W,’ depending on which way it’s vertically hanging, and the winner got to say it ‘brought home the bacon.’”

After a Gophers’ victory over Wisconsin in 1943, Minnesota’s coach George Hauser declined to accept the slab, respectfully suggesting that such frivolities be postponed until after the World War II years.

Wouldn’t you know, Wisconsin lost track of the slab. Dagnabbit.

The Badgers’ beloved former coach Barry Alvarez once said in jest: “We took home the bacon and kept it.”

The old trophy was uncovered in the bowels of Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium in Madison in 1994, during a major renovation project, and it is now being preserved in the university’s football office. Inquiring Gopher fans ask if the ‘W’ is upside down?

The 2019 meeting between Minnesota and Wisconsin takes on additional meaning. It is the consummate battle of rival marching bands as well. This year is the 110-year anniversary of the two schools’ fight songs.

Linnea Rock, a Wisconsin alumna, revealed that “On, Wisconsin” was originally intended for Minnesota, rather than Wisconsin.” Good gracious.

In the early days, Minnesota’s de facto fight song had been “Hail! Minnesota,” sung at a rather hymn-like pace. Gophers’ cheerleader Russell “Bunny” Rathbun remarked that the song is “beautiful, but too mournful to warm the feet in the bleachers.” University officials agreed, and a contest was organized with a $100 prize to be awarded to the winning fight song.

William T. Purdy planned to enter. He was struggling to make ends meet while working as an office clerk and part-time music teacher in Chicago, Ill. He composed the melody on the piano, and his friend Carl Beck, who was living in the same rooming house, heard the tune.

Beck had taken classes at Wisconsin, so he persuaded Purdy to dedicate the song to Wisconsin instead of Minnesota. Beck wrote lyrics to accompany Purdy’s music, and “On, Wisconsin,” was created.

“On, Wisconsin!” made its game-day debut at Camp Randall on Nov. 13, 1909, in a game against Minnesota. The Gophers rang up a 34-6 victory to spoil the homecoming party.

The following Saturday, on Nov. 20, 1909, Minnesota introduced its new fight song, the “Minnesota Rouser,” in its final home game of the season, a 15-6 loss to Michigan.

Hence, Floyd M. Hutsell, composer of “Minnesota Rouser,” pocketed the $100 cash prize. His tune was selected over 92 other entries.

Carl Beck eventually became a successful banker in New York City. William T. Purdy returned to his hometown of Aurora, N.Y., where he contracted tuberculosis and died in 1918, at age 36. After his death, the University of Wisconsin provided Purdy’s two children, Ken and Marylois, with scholarships to attend Wisconsin, where they studied journalism.

“On, Wisconsin” continues to be one of the most popular and best-loved fight songs in the country, with some variation of the song adapted by more than 2,500 schools.

The song was proclaimed to be “the finest of all the college marching songs” by John Philip Sousa, a composer of hundreds of military marches.