Props to Rodger Sherman (@rodger_sherman) for this fine write-up on the newest sensation sweeping the college football nation: the Civil Conflict.
With such tight quarters in the American Conference, it was only a matter of time before the pot boiled over between natural geographic rivals, UConn and UCF. Like many of college football’s storied rivalries, the duels between the Knights of the University of Central Florida and the storied Huskies of the University of Connecticut date all the way back to long, long ago. 2013 to be exact. In the grand lore of college football, there’s the Golden Boot, Paul Bunyan’s Axe, the Old Brass Spittoon, the Jeweled Shillelagh, and of course, the ConFLiCT Trophy.
Yeah, all of that – or, UConn is simply desperate to create some sort of buzz around the football program, and hey – they beat UCF during its 0-12 season, so maybe this was one they could win pretty regularly?
Sherman writes, “some history here: Back in 2014, UConn beat UCF in a shocker — it was UConn’s only win against an FBS team, and UCF’s only loss to a conference opponent — and UConn coach Bob Diaco used the postgame press conference to recommend a rivalry trophy:
Diaco pointed out that he had played or coached in several beloved trophy games, like the Floyd of Rosedale between Minnesota and Iowa and the Keg of Nails between Cincinnati and Louisville.
This is not one of those. This is bad. This is why:
- UConn and UCF are not close. They’re 1,214 miles apart, per Google Maps.
- UConn and UCF have no history. They have played twice, each in the last two years.
- UConn and UCF is not a particularly good matchup, because neither team has won very many games since moving to the American.
- Only one team actually wants the rivalry trophy, which is a damn good sign it is not a rivalry
- This trophy was made by the same people who make Employee of the Month signs.
- “Civil Conflict” doesn’t mean anything. It could mean “courteous fighting,” which is a bad name for anything, or it could be an alternate of Civil War. I’m guessing they didn’t say Civil War because Oregon and Oregon State already do that. I guess they’re going for a “one team is from the North and one team is from the South” thing, so I guess the best way I could describe this trophy’s name is “an offhand appropriation of a major American conflict for a bad rivalry game between two teams from states that kinda contributed to that conflict.”
- This just seems like a obvious play for a school without a natural geographic rival to get someone — something, someone, anyone, ANYONE ANYBODY PLEASE — to notice them. I guess UConn figured its best bet was to pick a team it had beaten, in hopes of making it competitive. The thing is, UCF already has a natural rival in USF. Pick someone who will actually care!
- It’s bad.
This is the equivalent of throwing yourself at your crush in high school. Like, “if I just keep trying, HE/SHE WILL LOVE ME!” Except things don’t work that way. The hot people don’t fall for the nice guys. You can make them a nice trophy, and they just won’t care. You punch them in the face, you get their attention. So, if you want to win someone’s affection, you punch that person square in the jaw/tit. It’s only a strikeout if you walk away from the plate, folks!
I’m not buying that this is the story we think it is though. I think those conniving Huskies knew exactly what they were doing. Guess what – I’m writing about it. Rodger Sherman’s writing about it. A lot of people are writing about it. UConn football – think about that for a second – UCONN FOOTBALL IS MAKING HEADLINES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON.
This is a huge success for two reasons:
1) I don’t buy that UConn really thought this was the best opportunity for a potential heated rivalry game. I think they knew that we would all eventually laugh at such an asinine notion that schools separated by more than 1,000 miles would be natural rivals. They’ve created the perfect story to get eyeballs.
2) Or, you know what – they thought this program needed an injection of adrenaline. The quickest way to fire up a locker room is to manufacture disrespect. Now, you have an entire fan base that is looking at UCF like, “wtf, guys?” Or, in all honesty, they could be looking at their own team like that, too. This one could really go either way.
So, props to the Huskies. Just….can someone check on that trophy?
Terrible shot from press box but there on end of bench at 40 yd line, that’s Civil ConFLiCT trophy 10 min after game… pic.twitter.com/qd7tZbNHKE
— Mike Anthony (@ManthonyCourant) October 23, 2016
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Stoney Keeley is the editor of the SoBros Network, Tennessee Titans Featured Analyst for Pro Football Spot, Contributor to FanSided’s Bama Hammer, and covers the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @PFSpot, @WrestlingNewsCo, @Bama_Hammer
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