The football team's win against the Northern Illinois University on Saturday was a big win that increased Ball State University's chances to play in a bowl game. But next year, beating Northern Illinois will have even bigger implications. Apparently, the school is now our biggest rival, and we'll be competing for "The Bronze Stalk" trophy, which will go to the winner of the teams' matchup each year.
The universities announced the newly-formed rivalry this weekend, but an announcement won't automatically create the passion necessary for a rivalry. Handing out a trophy also won't make competition any more fierce. Rivalries are created by conflict and emotion over time. Fans, students, employees, alumni and other university supporters are personally invested in a rivalry, and that makes the competition stronger and more exciting.
Without the history, The Bronze Stalk just a piece of hardware. There's no significance to it to get fans excited. Over time, the trophy and rivalry could grow into a true competition, but it's going to take years for people to truly care.
If anything, the trophy shows how desperate the universities are. They don't have many games that fans look forward to every year so they are manufacturing one. If the universities actually want to build a rivalry, they need to create more opportunities for competition and highlight the importance of winning against the opposing school. That means all the sports that play each other, all the clubs that compete, even individual students who interact need to all focus on winning. Multiple opportunities to fight for dominance will build a rivalry much faster than one football game for a corny trophy.
A chunk of metal does not make a rivalry -ยก- it symbolizes it. Until fans passionately care about beating Northern Illinois and accept the university as the main rival, the Bronze Stalk won't symbolize anything more than a win. Ball State and Northern Illinois happen to play every year because they are in the same conference. That doesn't make it a rivalry. If it did, Ball State should have a trophy game with all the other Mid-American Conference schools.
Trophy games without significance just take away from the ones with true meaning. The good ones signify the heated emotion between two schools. They are unique and special. Ones like The Bronze Stalk just clutter the landscape of college football.
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