FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Kovo]

You mean envious. And ... nope.

No.  I actually believe that the other schools recognize that they are losing something each time the Little Brass Bell game is played.   

[Gregory Sager]

I can state thoroughly, definitively, and with complete and utter finality that the rest of the league doesn't give a deuce about your trophy, Kovo. Do you see any other CCIW schools that play trophy games? No. Given that trophy games in general are good publicity and a good rallying point for football programs in terms of the larger campus community, you'd think that the other seven CCIW schools would try to start their own trophy games if the Little Brass Bell game was such a coveted event. But they haven't, and it isn't.

Frankly, I wonder how many people from the other seven schools (six, back then) were even aware of the existence of the Little Brass Bell prior to North Central hiring John Thorne prior to the 2002 season, given that NCC was a perennial also-ran prior to his arrival. Wheaton had won 38 of the 52 Little Brass Bell games (there was one tie) before NCC hired Thorne, and those Wheaton wins were typically by a lopsided margin in the late '80s and the '90s and into the Oughts. Heck, I wonder how many Wheaton people aren't even aware of the Little Brass Bell now, given that a large bloc of the Wheaton campus community has little or no interest in Wheaton athletics whatsoever.

It wouldn't be anything more than a footnote were it not for the fact that the ascendance of North Central under John Thorne has made Wheaton vs. North Central the pivotal game of the season in this league, since those two schools have won outright or shared the last eleven CCIW titles.

I'd probably watch it on Saturday, since NPU has a bye, if I wasn't calling an NPU volleyball match that afternoon instead. But my interest in watching NCC @ WC is only because it promises to be an interesting, well-played game.

[Augie6]

I can state thoroughly, definitively, and with complete and utter finality that the rest of the league doesn't give a deuce about your trophy, Kovo. Do you see any other CCIW schools that play trophy games? No. Given that trophy games in general are good publicity and a good rallying point for football programs in terms of the larger campus community, you'd think that the other seven CCIW schools would try to start their own trophy games if the Little Brass Bell game was such a coveted event. But they haven't, and it isn't.

Frankly, I wonder how many people from the other seven schools (six, back then) were even aware of the existence of the Little Brass Bell prior to North Central hiring John Thorne prior to the 2002 season, given that NCC was a perennial also-ran prior to his arrival. Wheaton had won 38 of the 52 Little Brass Bell games (there was one tie) before NCC hired Thorne, and those Wheaton wins were typically by a lopsided margin in the late '80s and the '90s and into the Oughts. Heck, I wonder how many Wheaton people aren't even aware of the Little Brass Bell now, given that a large bloc of the Wheaton campus community has little or no interest in Wheaton athletics whatsoever.

It wouldn't be anything more than a footnote were it not for the fact that the ascendance of North Central under John Thorne has made Wheaton vs. North Central the pivotal game of the season in this league, since those two schools have won outright or shared the last eleven CCIW titles.

I'd probably watch it on Saturday, since NPU has a bye, if I wasn't calling an NPU volleyball match that afternoon instead. But my interest in watching NCC @ WC is only because it promises to be an interesting, well-played game.

Agree with this completely, GS.  Even after playing at Augie in the 80's and watching the CCIW since then, I had never heard about the Little Brass Bell prior to NCC hiring Coach Thorne and his turning their program around.  Because the Wheaton/NCC game has been important in terms of determining the CCIW champ virtually every year since, that is why more people have heard of the Little Brass Bell.  But as far as the trophy goes, I could care less about it and certainly don't feel like I missed anything in my college career by not having a trophy game. 

[79jaybird]

Some of the popular-Division III rivalry trophies beside the LBB

Cortaca Jug 
Monon Bell

Other than the two schools competing for the trophy and bragging rights,  it is just another Football Saturday for the others.

At Prospect High School, we had a traveling trophy with Elk Grove HS- The Schnake-Gliwa award.  We didn't even know about this until Senior Year when our HC mentioned it.  We lost to EG all 4 years, and were unaware of any kind of prize for the winner.

[Gregory Sager]

My favorite named football rivalry doesn't even involve a traveling trophy. It's just a name. Eastern Kentucky and Middle Tennessee play every year in the 100 Miles Of Hate game.

How can you not love a rivalry called the 100 Miles Of Hate game?

[ncc_fan]

Hey, it could be worse.  The Wabash guys think their bell game is so important that they create a separate d3boards.com forum in which to discuss it, and they have the chutzpah to place that forum on the General Football page rather than the more provincial North Region page.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Hey, it could be worse.  The Wabash guys think their bell game is so important that they create a separate d3boards.com forum in which to discuss it, and they have the chutzpah to place that forum on the General Football page rather than the more provincial North Region page.

Actually, that thread (and a new one each year) is put up by a DePauw fanatic, Breckenridgebear.

[Gregory Sager]

Hey, it could be worse.  The Wabash guys think their bell game is so important that they create a separate d3boards.com forum in which to discuss it, and they have the chutzpah to place that forum on the General Football page rather than the more provincial North Region page.

True. Even the Cortland and Ithaca people and the Williams and Amherst people don't do that.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Hey, it could be worse.  The Wabash guys think their bell game is so important that they create a separate d3boards.com forum in which to discuss it, and they have the chutzpah to place that forum on the General Football page rather than the more provincial North Region page.

True. Even the Cortland and Ithaca people and the Williams and Amherst people don't do that.

But as I noted above, that thread is posted each year by a DePauw fanatic, Breckenridgebear.  MOST of what comes out of the NCAC is due to the Wabash faithful, to either their credit or shame.  THIS, however, does not.

While generally rather juvenile, the banter DOES have its highlights.  Probably no more (or less) juvenile (yet sometimes amusing) than the LBB banter.  And none of them are any worse (or better) than the Tommie-Johnny banter before their annual bloodletting.

I shudder to think of the potential bloodshed of IWU/Millikin or IWU/ISU if the internet had existed back when iwu70 and I were in school!

[Gregory Sager]

That banter would've had to have been sent by telegraph or Pony Express.

[Pat Coleman]

a) There has been a separate Cortaca thread.
b) Cortland and Ithaca are in separate conferences. Similarly, DePauw and Wabash were in separate conferences for most of this board's existence.
c) I requested there be a separate thread for those games so as not to overwhelm the main boars of multiple conferences with Monon talk or Cortaca talk.

[Mr. Ypsi]

That banter would've had to have been sent by telegraph or Pony Express.

Telegraph and Pony Express were still WAY in the future.  ISU and IWU are only about a mile apart, so we just yelled really loudly.  For Millikin, we used smoke signals (usually burnt corn from Manito).

[Kovo]

I can state thoroughly, definitively, and with complete and utter finality that the rest of the league doesn't give a deuce about your trophy, Kovo. Do you see any other CCIW schools that play trophy games? No. Given that trophy games in general are good publicity and a good rallying point for football programs in terms of the larger campus community, you'd think that the other seven CCIW schools would try to start their own trophy games if the Little Brass Bell game was such a coveted event. But they haven't, and it isn't.

Frankly, I wonder how many people from the other seven schools (six, back then) were even aware of the existence of the Little Brass Bell prior to North Central hiring John Thorne prior to the 2002 season, given that NCC was a perennial also-ran prior to his arrival. Wheaton had won 38 of the 52 Little Brass Bell games (there was one tie) before NCC hired Thorne, and those Wheaton wins were typically by a lopsided margin in the late '80s and the '90s and into the Oughts. Heck, I wonder how many Wheaton people aren't even aware of the Little Brass Bell now, given that a large bloc of the Wheaton campus community has little or no interest in Wheaton athletics whatsoever.

It wouldn't be anything more than a footnote were it not for the fact that the ascendance of North Central under John Thorne has made Wheaton vs. North Central the pivotal game of the season in this league, since those two schools have won outright or shared the last eleven CCIW titles.

I'd probably watch it on Saturday, since NPU has a bye, if I wasn't calling an NPU volleyball match that afternoon instead. But my interest in watching NCC @ WC is only because it promises to be an interesting, well-played game.

Thank you for recognizing that it is MY trophy....but I beg to differ, it belongs to NCC.  And, you had to bring up my playing days as an also ran.  Heck we lost to NPU my sophomore year ---at home!

[ncc_fan]

Hey, it could be worse.  The Wabash guys think their bell game is so important that they create a separate d3boards.com forum in which to discuss it, and they have the chutzpah to place that forum on the General Football page rather than the more provincial North Region page.

Actually, that thread (and a new one each year) is put up by a DePauw fanatic, Breckenridgebear.

Ah, I see that now.  I was deceived by Breckenridgebear's Wally Wabash avatar...  until I zoomed in on it.

[Gregory Sager]

I can state thoroughly, definitively, and with complete and utter finality that the rest of the league doesn't give a deuce about your trophy, Kovo. Do you see any other CCIW schools that play trophy games? No. Given that trophy games in general are good publicity and a good rallying point for football programs in terms of the larger campus community, you'd think that the other seven CCIW schools would try to start their own trophy games if the Little Brass Bell game was such a coveted event. But they haven't, and it isn't.

Frankly, I wonder how many people from the other seven schools (six, back then) were even aware of the existence of the Little Brass Bell prior to North Central hiring John Thorne prior to the 2002 season, given that NCC was a perennial also-ran prior to his arrival. Wheaton had won 38 of the 52 Little Brass Bell games (there was one tie) before NCC hired Thorne, and those Wheaton wins were typically by a lopsided margin in the late '80s and the '90s and into the Oughts. Heck, I wonder how many Wheaton people aren't even aware of the Little Brass Bell now, given that a large bloc of the Wheaton campus community has little or no interest in Wheaton athletics whatsoever.

It wouldn't be anything more than a footnote were it not for the fact that the ascendance of North Central under John Thorne has made Wheaton vs. North Central the pivotal game of the season in this league, since those two schools have won outright or shared the last eleven CCIW titles.

I'd probably watch it on Saturday, since NPU has a bye, if I wasn't calling an NPU volleyball match that afternoon instead. But my interest in watching NCC @ WC is only because it promises to be an interesting, well-played game.

Thank you for recognizing that it is MY trophy....but I beg to differ, it belongs to NCC.  And, you had to bring up my playing days as an also ran.  Heck we lost to NPU my sophomore year ---at home!

The Naperville Police must've had you guys on suicide watch after the game.