FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[DarkSide-D]

IMO,

Stringer week is nothing more than another game.  Kinda like when we play Denison, we play for the latern.  There really isn't a big rivalry.  So no, I don't believe that the staff or players view this week as any different than if we were playing another team.  It's business as usual.

[BashBacker#16]

Has anyone else noticed how low some of the crowds have been at some of these D3 games?  There were 843 at Wash U Saturday...gross - is that correct?  BashDad - did it look like more then that?  I wonder if Bash will exceed 5,000 this Saturday with good weather?

Darkside - did you have any offers from scholarship schools coming out of high school?  Bash usually lands a few kids each year that turn down money at other schools.  I am probably biased but I would still rather go to a quality D3 program, win football games and get a quality education, rather then play at some of these gross D2 & NAIA schools.  Talk about gross crowds and facilities.  The NAIA national championship game last year was on a high school field in Tennessee - sharp.

Heard (unofficial) Rummels is doubtful for Saturday and apparently pushed it to the max vs. Anderson.  Does anyone know, is it an ankle?  I'd be very surprised if he went & was effective.  Temarco and company will have their ears pinned back and getting after it...

[wabashcpa]

So how was the game that resulted in the "crappie"?

BB16,

Ooooh... Gross! (I know, my sponsorship just increased again)

[wally_wabash]

I would guess somewhere around 4000-4500 for Homecoming this weekend.  I'm not sure Earlham will be a big enough draw to push us over capacity. 

If Rummell isn't 100%, there's no way Earlham should let him play on Saturday.  They stand a good chance to ruin the rest of their season by putting him out there defenseless. 

[lancer98]

Baird Brothers Trophy:

I echo just about everything Darkside has said.  However it is a very cool looking trophy if you want to call it that.  I will never forget my freshman year when Barnes pulled that thing out.  I had never seen anything like it.  I imagine they will have to retire someday as it will get to big.  Maybe they can add a piranha this year.  

As for the lantern, it was a much bigger rivarly back in the day.  I believe the lantern is symbolic of the train that the teams used to ride back and forth between Wooster and Granville.  Again this was just another game when I was there simply because we were not anticipating a great challenge when playing Denison.  It sure would be nice to see them become a player in the conference race.  They are one team in the conference that should be able to compete annually.  They have a great school, facilities, town, and solid area to recruit being 30 minutes from Columbus.  I can't figure out why nobody has been able to win there.  It is a diamond in the rough.

[wabashcpa]

I saw Trinity's coach is a Denison grad.  They seem to have an OK team!  Maybe they can coax him back if the opportunity presents itself.

[BashDad]

BB16:

re the Wash U crowd--I would have guessed it was somewhat larger but is hard to tell when you are all sitting on the same side and can't see it head-on.  The Wabash fans there for the game probably numbered 200, maybe more.

[frank uible]

DarkSide: If any person cares - Case Tech was not Case Institute of Technology until the second half of the 40s; before then it was Case School of Applied Science.

[gobash]

Wally, found this at Case's site too:

BAIRD TROPHY...

Fishing and football don't ordinarily go together, but don't tell that to Case Western Reserve University and the College of Wooster. When the Spartans and the Scots meet on the gridiron, the winner claims one of the most unique trophy traditions in college sports, the Baird Brothers Trophy. This trophy, noted in a 1995 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine as one of the most unique trophies in college football, consists of a golden fishing stringer with carved brass fish representing each meeting.

The trophy's beginnings date back to 1984 when Bob Baird an economics professor at Case and his brother Bill Baird, an economics professor at Wooster came up with the idea. The winner of the game gets to keep the stringer for the year and add a new fish for that year's contest. Each added fish is representative of how the game was played, with the score and winner engraved on the side. The original fish is a four-inch blue gill symbolizing the narrow last second Case victory, 21-14. A big northern pike denotes the Spartans 37-0 victory over the Scots in 1985. Other fish included on the trophy are a flounder, a carp, a walleye, a catfish, a rainbow trout, a sturgeon, a sucker, a crappie, a muskie, a sheepshead, a gar, a largemouth bass, and a smallmouth bass.

The Baird brothers originated the trophy in 1984 when Wooster and Case first met as members of the North Coast Athletic Conference. The brothers, economic professors at the rival schools, were taught by their father to fish at an early and thought the fish theme would be a fitting reward to the victors. Bob Baird passed away a few years ago, but his brother Bill still carries on the tradition of presenting the trophy to the winning team at the conclusion of the game.

The two schools have met 17 times, with Wooster holding an 11-6 advantage in the all-time series with Case. The Scots have won the last eight Baird Brothers Trophies, including a 49-7 victory this past season.

PAST RESULTS...

1984 Case 21, Wooster 14 - Case 1-0
1985 Case 37, Wooster 0 - Case 2-0
1986 Case 17, Wooster 0 - Case 3-0
1987 Case 20, Wooster 13 - Case 4-0
1988 Case 38, Wooster 27 - Case 5-0
1989 Case 14, Wooster 35 - Case 5-1
1990 Case 15, Wooster 22 - Case 5-2
1991 Case 20, Wooster 23 - Case 5-3
1994 Case 40, Wooster 23 - Case 6-3
1995 Case 13, Wooster 14 - Case 6-4
1996 Case 7, Wooster 21 - Case 6-5
1997 Case 14, Wooster 21 - Tie 6-6
1998 Case 16, Wooster 42 - Wooster 7-6
1999 Case 27, Wooster 31 - Wooster 8-6
2002 Case 22, Wooster 27 - Wooster 9-6
2003 Case 33, Wooster 62 - Wooster 10-6
2004 Case 7, Wooster 49 - Wooster 11-6

http://www.case.edu/athletics/varsity/fall/football/misc/baird%20trophy.htm

Couldn't find a picture though, sadly...

[The_Bishop]

In the spirit of big rivalry games, where does Wabash display the Monon Bell throughout the year?  I'm guessing somewhere prominent in one of the athletic buildings. . .or Wally's garage.

[BashBacker#16]

The Bishop,

Regarding the Monon Bell...we (Wabash) proudly weld it down (and bolt it down) in the entrance of the Allen Athletic Center - above the main door.  The Dannies, on the other hand, typically hide it so we won't steal it.  The last time I saw it down in Greendingle, they had it super high on the wall, looking VERY out of place.  Its pretty cool when Bash takes it down a couple of times during the year for special occasions (i.e. Wabash/DePauw hoops game) and of course the week of the Bell game.  It's also kind of cool that typically a team captain gets it in their room the night before the game.  After a Bell victory it "does" the circuit around campus and usually spends the night in one of the fraternity houses. 

It is very noticeable during the years we do not have it and kind of drives you crazy.  You can't help but look up when entering the Allen Center, and nothing's there!

[Li'l Giant]

If it were in Wally's possession it would never ring; it would be constantly filled with beer.

I don't remember where I found this pic, but I'll link it to my website for you to see what it's like above the doorway overlooking the lobby of the athletic center.

http://www.cevalloslaw.com/bellinallen.jpg

[The_Bishop]

Great stuff, thanks Giant and 16.  I'm a junkie when it comes to the football rivalry games, moreso with those in DIII.  I remember way back in the day during my playing years, '95 or '96 maybe, when there was a big fight after the Monon Bell game.  I can't remember where the game was played that year but I think it was students mixing it up with players on the sideline, pretty messy from what I heard.

Back in the day OWU and Witt used to play for "Ye Olde Skull," which apparently was some real skull, not sure of whom.  I never knew much about it because the idea was canned by the schools' respective presidents in 1989.  Political correctness or just because it was fairly morbid.  I came across this link that has a small blurb on page 3:

http://www.ncaa.org/news/1989/19891227.pdf

[Li'l Giant]

There were two melees between Depauw and Wabash students; one in 1996 and another in 1998, my sophomore and senior year. There was a fear amongst the students that the rivalry's days were numbered. Things were getting serious. I know down here in Texas, there was a fight in the 1920s between Baylor and A&M students which resulted in the death of an Aggie and those teams didn't play for 4 years. It would have been tragic if a few knuckleheads killed one of college football's best rivalries.

[DarkSide-D]

BB16,

No, I never received any offers from higher division schools.  In fact, I was never recruited.  The only schools I visited were schools I called on my own, or my position coach in High School called.  I was in contact with some coaches from higher divisions (Georgetown and Navy coaches called me), but they never offered me anything.  In fact, after my senior year, they stopped calling.  I came to find out that my head high school coach had me listed as a junior my senior year.  Oh well, I cherish my memories from Woo and am extremely happy about my decision to go there.

Lil' Giant,

That's an interesting topic about melees.  In 1898, intercollegiate athletics were prohibited by the College of Wooster following a brawl that broke out following a game between Wooster and Washington & Jefferson.  If I remember correctly, such athletics weren't allowed at woo for about twenty years following the incident. (I could be wrong about the duration)

Bishop,

I have heard about the skull games...now THAT is a rivalry trophy!!!!

Hey wabash guys...lets start our own rivalry tradition.  I think Woo and Bash have a good rivalry started.  How about we play for the Sh!t on Witt cup?  Any takers?