Canzano: Platypus Trophy gets ESPN College GameDay stage
Emptying my notebook on the Civil War and Apple Cup.
I wrote a column in 2004 lamenting that the Civil War football rivalry between Oregon and Oregon State had just about everything. Great storylines, strong feelings, unbelievable characters, fun facts, joy, agony, rich history, and rabid fan bases.
One glaring omission — a trophy.
Washington and Washington State have ‘The Apple Cup.’ Stanford-Cal play for ‘The Axe.’ ‘The Old Oaken Bucket’ is the prize for the Indiana-Purdue winner. And the winner of the Minnesota and Michigan game gets to go home with ‘The Little Brown Jug.’
“The Civil War needs a trophy,” I wrote in 2004.
Within hours, I received an email.
“The game does have a trophy. I know. I sculpted it.”
I’m going to empty the notebook today on the Civil War and Apple Cup rivalry games. But first, a little more about the author of that email, and how it led to an ESPN College GameDay crew traveling to Oregon this week.