Jul. 25—When the new Potato State Trophy was unveiled on Monday during the Big Sky media day, it created a stir.
The 19.4 pounds of Douglas Fir wood, in the shape of a potato, resting on a wooden base with a metal cutout shaped as the state of Idaho, will now be awarded to the winner of the Idaho/Idaho State football game.
The trophy was created when the title sponsor of the “Battle of the Domes” backed out and did not allow use of the trophy, forcing the change. A variation of the trophy with a Mr. Potato Head on the base of the previous stand was used last year, but a more permanent feature was needed.
Insert the giant spud.
Some would say playing for a giant potato trophy is a little silly. However, I have been covering a yearly basketball contest that gives the winner a golden toilet (aka the rivalry between the Lewiston and Clarkston high schools), so who am I to judge?
In reality, the rivalry itself is what matters, and there are many times when a trophy that does not take itself seriously can help spark interest.
There are several examples throughout the history of college football where a rivalry has gone more than 100 years and they battle over something you would not expect.
One of the longest rivalries, meeting for the 103rd time on Sept. 21, is between Texas Christian University and Southern Methodist University.
Since 1946, the two teams have battled for a large iron skillet. Not a skillet on top of a mantle or bronzed or unique in any way. Just a standard iron skillet. Over the long rivalry there have only been two iterations of the “trophy.” In 1993 the original skillet was lost and had to be replaced.
The origin of the skillet is greatly debated. TCU historians say that the SMU student council proposed the idea and the Horned Frogs accepted. The Mustangs’ version of history is a lot more entertaining.
Their legend states that a Mustang fan was jokingly frying frog legs on a skillet in the parking lot before a game. Trash talk ensued and a TCU fan suggested that the winner of the game get the skillet and the frog legs. The frog legs have been lost from the rivalry, but the skillet remains.
After the two meet for the 104th time next year, the rivalry will go on “pause” as the Horned Frogs have decided to focus on other nonconference opponents. Another casualty to the ever-changing college football landscape.
Big Ten rivals Ohio State and Illinois have met 103 times since 1902, but it did not become a yearly rivalry until 1914. For the 14th meeting the two schools decided to represent the anticipated long series between the two teams with a trophy.
The two schools decided to use a live turtle, an animal with naturally long lifespans, to represent their vision. Unfortunately, due to the harsh travel, the turtle died two seasons later.
In 1927, a wooden variation was created and has been used ever since. The winning team writes the final score of the game on the turtle shell and once space runs out, a new wooden trophy is created. More than 10 wooden turtles have been made.
Even in the Pacific Northwest there has been a history of wild trophies. The rivalry between Oregon and Oregon State battled for a large trophy of a platypus.
Why a platypus?
Well a platypus has a duck-like beak and a beaver-like tail, allowing for both school mascots to be represented.
The trophy created by Warren Spady in 1959 and was two feet wide and 18 inches tall and was highly coveted by both teams. During the short time that the trophy was used for the rivalry it was stolen back and forth.
The platypus was lost from 1961-1986 before it was found at Oregon’s Leighton Pool and shortly repurposed as a water polo trophy.
The trophy was rediscovered in 2005 and with the help of sports journalist John Canzano, the trophy was once again awarded to the winning team, but seems to be an unofficial trophy handed back-and-forth by the school’s student body presidents.
Oregon and Oregon State no longer use the term “Civil War” to promote the rivalry, making it the perfect time for the platypus to make a return.
A newer trophy that understands how to create buzz and use that buzz for good in the community is the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy given away to the winner of the Nebraska/Minnesota football game.
The trophy started unofficially in 2014 after the twitter account for the Minnesota mascot, Goldy the Gopher, and a parody account for Bo Pelini called “Faux Pelini” jokingly debated on a wager for the upcoming game.
Goldy offered, “If we win you give me $5, if you win I get to smash a wooden chair over your back.”
The Pelini twitter account agreed as long as everything was allowed to be turned into a trophy after and a new tradition was born.
Fans began to bring forms of the trophy idea to the game and Minnesota proudly displayed one of the trophies for a full year after winning the game.
After Nebraska won the trophy in 2015, it was not used the following year. Fans came together to create a new trophy and decided to benefit charitable organizations connected to each university. Much like what the Golden Throne is able to do in the Lewiston/Clarkston area.
Over the past seven years, the trophy and charity commitment has raised over $150,000.
The X social media page representing the trophy, @ChairTrophy, loved the new potato trophy and said that Idaho’s assistant athletic director Jerek Wolcott, who created it, “gets it.”
Hopefully the fans get behind the new chunk of wood and help make it a fun tradition between the Bengals and Vandals for years to come.
In the end, it does not matter what the…
Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
