Canzano: New name for Civil War rivalry right under Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers noses – OregonLive

It cant be required. In reality, I dont actually think theres much of an argument about what the rivalry need to be called progressing. The series features the Beavers and ducks. It currently has a trophy with a amazing and unusual story. Therefore if they want to pick a name for the competition that makes sense, and catches the unique and interesting flavor of our state, there can be only one choice.

The prize was taken from the Gill Coliseum prize case by a fraternity and later recovered. A year later on, someone broke in and stole it a 2nd time. And eventually, it disappeared.

Those are not conventional mascots. Slapping some kind of mundane and sterile nickname on this rivalry wont do. This Oregon-Oregon State battle had one football video game, in 1937, that featured a rally in downtown Eugene that ended with OSU fans appearing and pelting Ducks fans with ears of corn.

Ducks? Beavers?

Possibly the Platypus Series or Platypus Cup for the whole sports competition. Exercise the details. Millennials may call it “The Platty.” Thats the structure for the next 100 or so years of this competition.

For the annual football video game, naturally.

Williams released the search for it in late 2004. Athletic department workers found it months later in a storage space at the Moshofsky Center by Autzen Stadium. Spady was summoned to Williams office, where the artist determined it, signed it, and now the prize is exchanged by the particular university alumni associations.

The Platypus Bowl. Or Platypus Battle.

I went to social networks Friday, getting recommendations for the renamed rivalry. Twitter provided me some appeals, consisting of “Birkenstock Bowl” and “Microbrew Hullabaloo” and “Semiaquatic Shootout.” The Facebook audience chimed in with “Turf War” and “Hemp Classic” and “Battle Between the Two Highest Paid State Employees.”

In 2004, I wrote a column in which I questioned why the longest-standing competition in the Pac-12 Conference didnt have a trophy. A few days later, I got an email from a guy named Warren Spady who revealed, “The video game does have a prize.

It deserves an unique name.

Did you know Oregon State played the football competition as soon as without a head coach (1898 )? Or that the 1931 game featured 37 punts? And nobody who was there will ever un-see the 1983 “Toilet Bowl”– a 0-0 tie played in the driving rain which included 11 fumbles, 5 interceptions and 4 missed field objectives.

Its had some excellent moments, too. Memories were made, and Rose Bowl berths were won, and seven first-round NFL draft chooses took snaps as quarterbacks. None of that is diminished by giving the competition a new name.

Former UO vice president Dan Williams also checked out that 2004 column. Williams connected and told me he remembered slogging through Hayward Fields mud in 1961 when he was the UO trainee body president, providing the Platypus Trophy to OSUs student body president after a 6-2 Beavers win that year.

Time to bring it back to the front of this competition.

A fast examination of the particular social media feeds are worth your time. Because what emerges rapidly is a photo of a frustrated, divided audience.

Its a job for you and me.

Its a competition unlike any other, see? And a platypus with that duck costs and beaver body is an animal unlike any other.

” I developed it.”

I expect youre free to call the series whatever you d like in your home. However the platypus is half duck, half beaver. We need some unity right now. The platypus provides us that. Renaming the competition the “Willamette Classic” or “The Oregon Battle” would look fine on a T-shirt, however this is a series with a fantastic and intriguing history.

Calling Oregon and Oregon States competition “The Civil War” never made sense.
For many years I attempted to explain to outsiders that the competition name was born more than 100 years ago of a tired sports/war metaphor, never ever meant as an actual recommendation to the American Civil War.
That confused association formally ended Friday. UO and OSU released a joint declaration, revealing they no longer will use the term “Civil War” in connection with their sports competition games. The sides will choose something new. This should not be left to a marketing firm or a group of outdoors specialists.

Spady, who now lives in Roseburg, was a long-ago art trainee at Oregon. “The Platypus Trophy” ended up 2 feet large and 18 inches high.

Change the name?

This college rivalry isnt about a war. Its about the Ducks and the Beavers coming together, and only one animal on the world comprehends the beauty of that.

UO and OSU released a joint statement, announcing they no longer will utilize the term “Civil War” in connection with their sports competition games. And so if they want to select a name for the competition that makes sense, and catches the special and fascinating taste of our state, there can be only one selection.

Its platypus or bust.

Maybe the Platypus Series or Platypus Cup for the entire sports rivalry. Renaming the rivalry the “Willamette Classic” or “The Oregon Battle” would look fine on a T-shirt, however this is a series with a intriguing and fantastic history.

Did you know Oregon State played the football rivalry when without a head coach (1898 )?