Don't get me wrong. I love the trophy games. Floyd, and everything he stands for, is all that is good in college football encased in bronze. The Paul Bunyan Ax, the Old Oaken Bucket, the Little Brown jug, all cool, way cool. What it's all about. The color, the spectacle, it's Christmas, your birthday and a county fair ride all rolled into three hours.
What I don't necessary dig so much is the rush to the opponent's sideline to grab the trophy. It's just a great big middle finger, throat slash taunt. Why open yourselves up to anything that's going to smudge the game? Why even toy with the possibility of a fight? This year, Iowa freshman Jordan Bernstine ran into an Iowa State player during the rush to the Cy-Hawk Trophy after the 'Clones victory. Nothing happened. There was a push and a word or two maybe but it was nothing. Still, why allow that possibility?
When Big Ten coaches are putting their mugs out there for sportsmanship commercials, it feels like a huge contradiction.
"You know, I haven't thought about it. It might be a good topic for somebody to think about, putting the trophy in a holding tank or something like that and then bringing it to the locker room afterwards," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "That's probably a -- seriously, that's probably a good idea."
College football is so image-conscious. This is a big gap in the logic. The one time you can openly taunt. It sends the wrong message (wow, I just aged 10 years with that line).
"No, I don't think it's necessarily healthy. I don't think it was healthy in 1981," Ferentz said. "You know that line in the movie 'Ghostbusters'? 'We're trying to study
the effectiveness.' I'll tell you what the effect is. That's what the effect of that whole thing is. It's the same thing, which is probably not what you're trying to achieve after any game."
Solutions?
Do you want to make a scene of it? Share it with the fans? Yes, I think that's the right idea, but how?
I'll throw this one out there, leave the trophy on the sidelines and allow the captains from the winning school retrieve and deliver it to the winners. Great moment for your captains, the heartbeat of your team and generally the ones who deserve such a moment, and one that exudes class, order and sportsmanship. Have the captains hand it off to the game MVP, coach or whomever, sort of like they do with the Stanley Cup, the classiest of class trophy ceremonies.
Right now, it's a slap in the face to the losing team. I don't think that's what anyone is shooting for.