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Old Funky Knickers

It’s a great weekend for rivalries. And for every Cortaca Jug or Monon Bell or Shoes, there’s a Little Brown Bucket, an Old Musket, an Old Tin Cup, and Old Funky Knickers.

Sometime in the late ’20s, nobody really remembers when, the janitor cleaning out the locker room at State Normal School #2 came across a pair of pants left behind by someone from Central Mennonite College. The following year, when Normal’s team made the short trip over the mountains to play in their neighboring state, they attempted to return the knickers, which by now were less than sanitary, and were rebuffed. In the end, the battle was so fierce over them that they became a trophy symbol of the teams’ meeting, with the “trophy” going to the loser.

Seem unlikely? Absolutely. Totally made up? You bet. But the story isn’t all that unlike how many trophy games must have come about. The Goat Trophy? The Drum? The Shot Glass? The Wooden Shoes? They all have stories, too.

We’ve heard many stories about the Jug, the Shoes and the Monon Bell. But let’s hear from people with other tales to tell. What’s your local trophy game and your favorite memory?

By the way, State Normal School #2 and Central Mennonite College are/were actual Division III schools. State Normal #2 became Frostburg State, and Central Mennonite is now Bluffton.

17 thoughts on “Old Funky Knickers

  1. Absolutely love this idea. Dave Sanders shot and I attended the Hamline/Augsburg battle at the Metrodome last night and their trophy is a recent idea, the silver hammer. Why? I really don’t know but my kids and their kids and so on will wonder the same but it really doesn’t matter. Rivalries are great and trophies give the teams something to bring home after the battle.

    I know of a few scholarship-level school trophies that I am sure Pat is quite familiar with but my personal knowledge of Division III trophy games is about as limited as anyone’s.

  2. Alfred University and St. John Fisher College don’t go back very far (AU leads the series 5-3) and to call their gridiron meeting a “rivalry” would certainly be a stretch of the imagination. Much of Fisher’s football heritage was garnered at the “club team” level while AU goes back to 1895. Nevertheless, there seems to be no lack of disdain for one another.

    Back in the 90s, a couple of Rochester boys played a prominent role in a resurgent Saxon football team. One was listed as a Pre-Season All-American at Alfred and approaching his senior year was looking to conclude a stellar career. His cousin took over as starting QB and showed great promise in leading the Saxons to a 6-3-1 season. The next summer, both transferred to St. John Fisher. As most folks know, AU’s record-breaking Quarterback Paul Keeley (Caledonia-Mumford), after one year at SJF, transferred to Alfred before the 2005 season, when the Saxons upset the Cardinals 13-7 at Growney Stadium, to finish 8-2 and just miss an NCAA bid.

    At one time Alfred University had a College of Nursing. Given there was a nursing school at Hornell’s hospital and a nursing program at Alfred State College across the street, there seemed to be a glut of prospective nurses needed practical studies and a shortage of hospitals in which they could practice. Thus, AU nursing students were transported to Rochester to practice in hospitals there. Skipping over the details, through collaboration with SJF, AU’s College of Nursing eventually was closed but continues today as a viable program at St. John Fisher.

    While Union and RPI play for the “Shoes,” Ithaca and Cortland play for the “Cortaca Jug,” and other rivals meet during this 11th week, it would seem that AU and SJF could play for a “Nurse’s Cap,” unless of course someone else could conceive of something more suitable for which to play. It appears that the Cardinals and Saxons will be playing for an NCAA bid in their 2006 meeting tomorrow at Merrill Field. On Saxon Warriors!

    Prayers for Julio!

  3. It doesn’t matter that RPI is having down year, there is still an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach regarding this weekends game at ’86 Field in Troy. Union has a ton to gain while all RPI is looking to do is make Union’s life miserable. Beating Union will no doubt lower Union’s seeding for the tournamant and could potentially match the Dutch up against the likes of Rowan. Furthermore, Union could lose the chance to host possibly two home games, like last year. Worse case scenario, Union is on the road for the opening round. One day before the battle for the ‘Shoes’ this Union fan is holding his breath.

  4. The Cortaca Jug is what first got me hooked on Cortland football. My favorite moment is the 1988 game which at the time was billed “the upstate game of the century.” I know that seems far-fetched in retrospect, but since then I have never seen 2 upstate teams as good as Cortland and Ithaca both were that season.

    The teams came in each 8-0. Ithaca was considered a legitimate threat to win the national championship. Cortland was looking for respect. Even though most people felt we had not beaten anyone of significance yet, everyone knew how much senior talent we had.

    The game was played on old Chugger Davis Field as very strong winds whipped through the capacity crowd. The weather changed from rain, to sleet, to even some snow at times late in the game.

    Cortland took the ball first but IC held us 3-and-out. The punter got off a very short punt, and IC took over at the Cortland 39 yard line. On their very first play from scrimmage, IC came out in their fabled veer option set and gave the ball to huge fullback Paul Parker (a transfer from Navy I believe). Parker ran through a gaping hole 39 yards for the touchdown. I thought at that point Cortland was going to get embarassed by Ithaca.

    But the Cortland defense stuffed Ithaca thereafter, and the Cortland offense started to gain its footing. The tide changed when Cortland blocked an IC punt in the end zone for a safety. Then Rich Keefer hit TE David Kelley on a perfect play action TD pass to put Cortland ahead. That moment solidified Cortland as a real threat. The game went back and forth, and Cortland edged IC in the end. IC got the last laugh though, beating Cortland at South Hill in the NCAA quarterfinals.

    IC went on to crush their next 2 opponents and win the NCAA Championship. The final national poll ranked IC #1 of course, and Cortland was #2. Not only the two best upstate teams, but arguably the two best teams in the nation. Those two games are still the 2 best games I have ever seen in D3.

  5. Agreed, prayers for Julio.

    PepBand, I read the first few sentences and thought you were going to propose “The Hendricks Scooter” as your traveling trophy for Alfred and St. John Fisher. 🙂

  6. Oxy vs. Whittier play for “The Shoes” I remember reading that they are the bronzed cleats of Whittier player (all-american?) Myron Claxton (1960s?). How the schools ended up playing for them I don’t know. But I do know, that while the rivalry with Pomona is older, the Shoes, always seemed to matter more than the Drum did.

  7. “The Shoes” perpetual trophy for the winner of the Oxy v. Whittier game is at least 60 years old, so if they indeed belonged to one Myron Claxton, he’d have attended Whittier in the 1940’s. OK, back from doing a web search. Myron Claxton was “Mr. Irrelevant” as the last player drafted in the NFL draft in 1940. He was drafted out of Whittier by the Giants.

    So there ya go.

    io triumphe and cheers,

    tooth

  8. One of my favorite trophies is the Stagg Hat Trophy which is on the line tomorrow when Lycoming plays Susquehanna.

    The two teams separated by less than forty miles will meet for a trophy that is an actual felt hat formerly worn by the namesake of Division III’s title game when Stagg coached at Susquehanna.

    Per the SU media guide:

    ”The hat was given by Stagg to 1954 graduate and current assistant coach Rich Young, who donated it to the Sunbury Kiwanis Club to be bronzed and made into a trophy. From 1960 to 1978, the Kiwanis Charities Festival was the Crusaders’ first home game and the winner took possession of the Stagg Hat Trophy for one year.”

    Lycoming leads the series with Susquehanna 14-17. They will still play next year even though Susquehanna will leave the MAC.

  9. Union holds a lopsided record of victories over RPI. If the Dutchmen are physically intact, they should hold on to “The Shoes.” But RPI will be looking for atonement after a disappointing season. We like Union in this one but there will be a lot of noise in Troy on Saturday afternoon.

  10. That is a huge game for Union. They need to win to have a shot at hosting a game (or two) in the playoffs. Wilkes looks like the de facto 1st seed unless something bizarre happens today. The NEFC Champion will be #8. #2 through #7 is anybody’s guess, though I would think Rowan and Fisher have the best shot at #2.

  11. My favorite, the game for the “Bronze Turkey” between Monmouth and Knox. These two actually played last week and Monmouth defeated Knox 41-6.

    One would think that they would have a really cool story to go along with the trophy. Alas, its pretty simple. The two teams originally played on Thanksgiving back in the 1920s. Both schools put money forward to spend on a trophy that would go to the winner. Since the game was on Thanksgiving, it was decided the trophy would feature a turkey. (Information thanks to the Monmouth College sports information web site)

    I suppose the Bronze Turkey is better than the Gobbledy Gooker.

  12. Old funky knickers. That or variations thereof would be a good name for a rock band. Also would make a great song title.

  13. I am a coach at Kent School in Kent, CT. Our prep school rivalry with Loomis-Chaffee dates back over 80 years. For 60 of those years, the schools have played on the football field for the fabled “Spoon Trophy”.

    At a long-ago tea after a football game hosted by the Batchelders, Loomis Chaffee’s Headmaster and his wife, a Kent student tucked a silver spoon into his pocket. And so began one of the most colorful rivalries in prep school lore.

    The story goes that the guilty player confessed his guilt to Father Sill, the founder and headmaster of Kent, just a few months after the incident occurred in 1921 or 1922. But the spoon remained at Kent for more than two decades, accruing legendary qualities as it was passed from class to class, concealed in a new hiding place each year.

    One year, according to legend, the spoon was hidden in an ancient apple tree which was subsequently chopped down. The spoon was rescued when its guardians sorted through the tree’s splintery remains by hand. Another year, the spoon was secured underneath a bridge that crossed the Housatonic River near Kent. That spring, floodwaters destroyed the bridge and carried away the spoon. When Father Sill learned of the incident, he commanded, “Go get it”. The river was dredged every night for a week, and somebody finally recovered the precious artifact in the mud several hundred yards from its original hiding place under the bridge.

    It wasn’t until a 1947 Loomis Chaffee alumni celebration that Father William Chalmers of Kent School attempted to return the spoon to its rightful owners. Mrs. Batchelder graciously insisted that the spoon remain at Kent, where it had been so carefully guarded for such a long time. Instead, the two schools agreed to a large spoon to be used as a permanent trophy to be awarded to the winning school each year in boys football.

    The 60th Spoon Game will be played on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Kent School.

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