Bleacher Report - Articles by Kyle Meadows

The Top Ten College Football Rivalry Trophies

Kyle Meadows — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:53:04 -0400

College football is approaching, so I made this list to tide me over until the first snap. I have compiled this list based on how interesting and original each trophy is. This is not however a list of the best rivalries. I tried to stay away from that fact and stuck with just the trophies overall. This list is also only Division I trophies. With that in mind, here is the list:

10. The Apple Cup

Washington University and Washington State play for this trophy in the battle for the state of Washington every year. It is named for the well known apple growing throughout the state, but was originally named The Governors Trophy before 1962. It has been awarded to either team every year since the 1962 name change.

Washington leads 32-14

9. Jeweled Shillelagh

Norte Dame and USC play for this trophy each year since 1952 to commemorate the start of the rivalry back in 1926. It is a Gaelic war club from Ireland that is made from oak. A ruby is placed onto it for a USC victory and an Emerald is put on for every Notre Dame win. For ties, a combination medallion is used. The original was retired in 1989 and is on display at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame leads, 42-32-5

8. Commander-in-Chief's Trophy

Awarded in a triangle format between the Army, Navy, and Air Force teams every year. In 1972, Air Force General George B. Simler thought there should be more meaning to the games that Air Force played against Army and Navy, so a trophy that had three silver footballs on top with each mascot situated below each of the footballs was introduced. The president has actually awarded the trophy to the winning team on several occasions.

Air Force leads with 16 wins

7. Old Oaken Bucket

One of the oldest trophies awarded in college football, it is awarded to the winner each year between Indiana and Purdue. It was first awarded in 1925 and was thought that it represented the "The most typical Hoosier form of trophy." The bucket was found in a well somewhere in Indiana and was wrapped with a bronze chain that held the letters "I" and "P" to represent Indiana and Purdue. There is even a poem about it.

Purdue leads, 54-26-3

6. The Platypus Trophy

Awarded every year to either Oregon or Oregon State since 1959 to 1961, but was lost for more than 40 years. It was rediscovered in 2005 and was first re-awarded in 2007 since being found. A platypus carved from maple is atop the trophy to represent a combination of both mascots (duck and beaver).

Oregon State has won the only three times it has been awarded.

5. Illy Illibuck Trophy

A wooden turtle is awarded to the winner of the Illinois and Ohio State game every year. The trophy was actually a live turtle when it was first awarded from 1925 to 1927. Since the turtle passed on, there has been nine replicas made from wood.

Ohio State leads, 56-23-2

4. Indian War Drum

The winner between Missouri and Kansas in the Border Showdown is awarded The Indian War Drum. Both schools went to a pawnshop in Kansas City in 1935 where they bought the drum. After the drum went missing in the 1980's, the Taos Indians from New Mexico made a new one for the schools. The original was found in a basement in Read Hall in Columbia and is now in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Missouri leads 39-30

3. Paul Bunyan's Axe

One of the most heated rivalries, the Paul Bunyan Axe is awarded to the winner between Minnesota and Wisconsin. It was first awarded in 1948 to replace the Slab of Bacon which was a piece of wood with the letter W or M, which ever way you wanted to look at it. The scores are etched into the handle from every game.

Wisconsin leads, 33-24-3

2. Floyd of Rosedale

A bronze pig is awarded to the winner between Minnesota and Iowa every year. It started with a bet between the two governors of the states. The bet was on the 1935 game where Iowa lost resulting in the Iowa Governor giving Minnesota Governor Floyd B. Olsen a state champion hog named Floyd of Rosedale. A bronze figure was modeled after the hog which is now awarded every year.

Minnesota leads, 39-32-2

1. The Stanford Axe

This is number one for not only what the trophy is, but what measures were taken to keep it in the hands of either Cal or Stanford students. A standard axe was introduced before the 1899 game where Stanford fans decapitated the head of a straw man that had blue and gold ribbons on it. Days later, Cal students came up and stole it from Stanford students at a basketball game where the handle was broken off. The head of the axe was then smuggled past police on the Stanford campus back to Berkley.

Twenty one Stanford students known as the Immortal 21 got the axe back in 1930 even though it was kept in a bank vault and armored car when not at a game. The Stanford students picked the spring axe rally at Cal as the time to take it back. The Immortal 21 posed as photographers as they blinded the axe keeper and started a scuffle and shot tear gas while other Stanford students posing as Cal students picked it up and sped off in one of three cars on standby. In, 1933 both schools agreed to designate the axe as the trophy for the winner of the football game played every year.

Stanford leads 38-31-3

Timely Hitting: Striking at the Heart of your Opponents Confidence

Kyle Meadows — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:47:20 -0400

Bill Hall has been watching Star Wars Episode V too much. He hit the game winning homerun two nights ago agianst the Cardinals.

Then last night, he struck back, again.

Hall hit another game winning home run after the Cards bullpen let another lead late into the game get away.

In past years, Cardinals fans would brush this off because the Brewers usually would be 15 games behind at this point in the season, but Bill Hall has hit two game winning home runs to take sole possession of the second spot in the Central.

Timely hitting is one of the most important aspects in the game, and the Brewers are showing all of us how much they can benefit from it.

The Brewers are getting their timely hitting from the Cards' bullpen. The bullpen isn't pitching well in any inning, consistently calling to attention for a closer to come in from a trade. But that doesn't take away the fact that the Brewers are getting the job done when the game has been on the line the last two nights.

Timely hitting not only gives the other team an advantage on the scoreboard, but it also takes the crowd out of the game. This is helpful, especially when on the road and playing without a crowd to cheer you on. Hall took the Busch faithful out of the equation two nights in a row, which doesn't happen often.

The Brewers last two wins have shown a lack of confidence the Cardinals have in their bullpen. Bill Hall himself is showing the Cards that they need to make a trade for a closer before the deadline, otherwise timely hitting will put a damper on the Cardinals playoff hopes faster than we think.

The Cards do not need to make a big splash, but they do need to land a strikeout left hander before the deadline.

(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Who's Next? Cardinals Sweep and Look to Keep It Up

Kyle Meadows — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:33:17 -0400

"Back, back, back, this will win the game, over the wall, game over, Cardinals win!" -Mike Shannon calling Miles' game winning grand slam

It wasn't just Miles who made the sweep possible today. The offense showed up in full force, along with a good start from Jaime García. This was Garcia's first major league start, throwing five innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out four.

After giving up a home run to the first batter, Garcia seemed to be a little nervous on the mound. But once he got a few more outs, he seemed to settle in and go the distance to give the Cardinals offense a chance to win the game and complete the four game sweep of the struggling Padres.

Isringhausen continued his worst season by blowing his eighth save this year, but Miles made us forget about Izzy's missed opportunity in the bottom of the inning for a short while.

The offense was there throughout the end of the game to ease the pitching pains, as the Cards offense was unforgiving on the Padres pitching staff again. Glaus hit a three-run home run in the eighth to take the lead by two, and Ankiel and Pujols also got in on the fun in getting an RBI apiece.

The fireworks didn't start however until the bottom of the ninth inning, when a stray ball went past the Padres first baseman, allowing Pujols to get to third with only one out. The Padres decided to walk Molina and Schumaker to load the bases for a chance at a double play.

Miles had other plans.

Miles took a high pitch and put it into the right field bullpen with the bases loaded to walk off, well, run off, to home plate and get mobbed by his teammates.

After the celebration, Tony was back to business, knowing a more important series is coming up. The Cardinals will play the Brewers, who are only one game behind them in the division in the next four days.

This Cardinals seem to recognize that this is the time to knock those that are close in the division down a few games, and gain more ground on the team that is leading the division, the Cubs.

(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Aaron Miles Is Key to Cardinals' Success in the Second Half

Kyle Meadows — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 06:13:19 -0400

Just before the All-Star break, Aaron Miles was driving in runs for the Cards against Pittsburgh and bringing his season average up to .317. He has also come up with several hits that have jumpstarted the Cardinal offense.

If it were up to me, Miles would be starting at second base and leading off on a daily basis. Tony LaRussa, on the other hand, has never liked the idea of having the same leadoff man for more than five games in a row.

Bothered by that tendency, I also have always wondered why the Cards can get shut out one day and then go on to score double-digit runs the next. Then I started to think that these two issues may be related.

The solution that I have for the Cardinals is to have a more consistent hitter leading off for the offense to get it going, and I do not mean for just the first at bat of the game. That hitter would be Aaron Miles for several reasons.

1. He is batting just under .300 (.294) in the leadoff spot, but that only comes from 17 at bats over the course of just five games.

2. He is one of the hottest hitters on the team, so make him the bridge from the bottom of the lineup to Albert Pujols, Rick Ankiel, and Ryan Ludwick.

3. He is hitting .360 (better than Albert) when he starts at his natural position, second base.

Did I mention that he is a switch hitter? By switch-hitting at the top of the line-up, Miles has an advantage—no matter what side the opposing starter is throwing from, Miles can adjust every day.

I know some will say that LaRussa likes having Miles come off the bench when he is not starting. However, when you go to your bench, other than hitting for a pitcher, you are trailing in the game more often than not. Having Miles out there every day jumpstarting the offense could eliminate the need to pinch hit for Adam Kennedy or Brendan Ryan.

On top of that, LaRussa has other good players that can come off the bench if the plan isn't working out for that game in Chris Duncan, Joe Mather, and Skip Schumaker (minus whichever one is starting that game).

I hear this from every baseball fan I know all the time: "We just need to get our offense going."

Wouldn't a consistent leadoff hitter help solve this offensive problem?

The MLB Network Is Here...Finally!

Kyle Meadows — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:30:57 -0400

Since, this is the slowest sports day of the year I thought I would write about one thing that was exciting to see last night during the All-Star Game.

On one of the earlier commercial breaks during the All-Star Game I was excited to see that the MLB Network is going to start on January 1^st 2009. You will be able to get this channel from your cable provider just like you can get the NFL Network.

Once the excitement left me I began to think about what could be on the network. I began to wonder why it has taken this long because the MLB is the only major American sport not to have a network on TV. I also was wondering what some of the programming will be, and are they going to show exclusive games?

It seems that this network has been in the workings for over a year. All of the other major sports have launched a network and could be one explanation for why it has taken baseball so long.

Another reason why it has taken so long is because of the negotiations between the MLB and the cable companies that will carry the network. There are not just one or two owners of the network, the MLB, and four cable companies have ownership as well. Because of the amount of owners I can see why negotiations and setup of the network have taken so long.

Some of the programming that has been announced include a nightly Baseball Tonight type analysis show throughout the season. Some games from the 2009 World Baseball Classic will be aired on the network and 30 regular season games to be aired in 2009 as well.

And of course you will be seeing plenty of highlights from all eras of baseball, including that Kirk Gibson home run everyday if you wanted to. Wait you can just turn on Sportscenter for that.