I know I'll get cr*p for asking, but I've read every post in this thread so far and too lazy to search through Google searches... What the hell is the background of this trophy?
$5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy
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The origin of the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy is rooted in November 2014 banter between the Twitter accounts for Minnesota mascot Goldy Gopher and "Faux Pelini", a parody account of then-Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini.[3] Goldy suggested a wager on the game with this tweet: "Hey @FauxPelini, how about a friendly wager for this weekend's game? Team that gets the most points gets a conference win? Seem fair?"[4] Faux Pelini responded "OK how about if we [Nebraska] win you give me $5, if you [Minnesota] win I get to smash a wooden chair over your back".[5] This prompted Goldy to start crowdsourcing Twitter followers and Reddit's college football community to design the "$5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy".[6] Many designs were quickly presented and eventually Goldy created a real trophy, which was brought to the 2014 game in Lincoln. Minnesota won 28–24 to take the trophy, their first victory in Lincoln since 1960; it also gave Minnesota their first winning streak against Nebraska since their 3-game streak from 1951–54.[7] It received widespread acceptance from both fanbases, and has since been subsequently displayed at Minnesota's spirit events with other trophies such as Floyd of Rosedale and the Little Brown Jug.[8] The trophy changed hands for the first time on October 17, 2015 after Nebraska defeated Minnesota 48–25 in Minneapolis. Although Nebraska has since distanced itself from the trophy, in the weeks following the Cornhuskers' 2015 victory, the chair was seen with players and coaches, and made several appearances on the school's social media pages. [9]
In 2016, after Nebraska defeated Minnesota in Lincoln, the trophy seemingly disappeared. Inquiries to the Nebraska and Minnesota athletic departments revealed that neither school formally recognized the trophy in the first place. This essentially ended the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy in any major capacity.[10] On September 12, 2017, it was announced, via Twitter,[better source needed] that Nebraska and Minnesota will once again play for the $5 Bits of Broken Chair, likely as an unofficial trophy game. The trophy will serve as the focal point of fundraisers for Nebraska's Team Jack Foundation and Minnesota's Masonic Children's Hospital. The image of Faux Pelini on the $5 bill has been replaced with Herbie Husker. The other $5 bill still bears a picture of Goldy Gopher.[citation needed]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota–Nebraska_football_rivalry#.245_Bits_of_Broken_Chair_Trophy
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When Minnesota takes on Nebraska this Saturday it will be the third time an entirely unique and completely unexpected trophy will be on the line. A trophy that we didn’t know we needed but that now deserves to be officially recognized and sanctioned by both schools. But how did it come to be?
The build-up to the Broken Chair
The story begins in late November 2014. Minnesota and Nebraska are gearing up for their fourth meeting since the Huskers joined the Big Ten. No one considers the game a heated rivalry, but the game takes on more significance following Minnesota’s unexpected win over Nebraska in 2013 and the game’s potential impact on the very hot seat of then Husker head coach Bo Pelini.
Earlier in November, Nebraska and Wisconsin announced the creation of the Freedom Trophy as the trophy riding on the outcome of Badger/Husker games for years to come. This bland, boring attempt to turn Wisconsin vs. Nebraska into a fierce rivalry was poorly received but it also left Minnesota and Nebraska as the only two schools in the “Quadrangle of Hate” portion of the Big Ten West Division who did not play for a trophy. The creation of the Freedom Trophy soured both fan bases to the idea of a MN/NE symbol to fight over. Everyone assumed the game on 11/22/14 would only about the win/loss column.
The Broken Chair is born
The Broken Chair is the first college football trophy created almost entirely by the internet and the story of it’s creation is why I and so many others have embraced it. A little bit of Twitter banter between the best mascot in college sports and a fantastic parody Twitter account set it all in motion:
The replies and responses to this request from Goldy’s Twitter account inspired those in and around the mascot to craft an actual Broken Chair Trophy.
The spirit squad brought the Broken Chair with them to Lincoln, Goldy paraded it about, and the best holder in Minnesota Football history celebrated with it when the Gophers won.An uncertain future
While the story of the Broken Chair was an internet sensation (of sorts) during the fall of 2014, its fate as a trophy embraced by both schools and their fans remained in doubt. Being “internet popular” doesn’t mean something is actually well known or liked, and no one was even sure what had happened to the Broken Chair Trophy after the game.
Slowly but surely though, there were signs that the Broken Chair might endure. It was added to Wikipedia, which as we all know is an immediate and enduring source of legitimacy. Goldy brought it to a couple of public events where the Jug and Floyd were also on display. But none of this was official.
As Minnesota/Nebraska 2015 approached, excitement around the Broken Chair grew. Peter Mortell announced the Chair was safe and continued to push for it to receive better recognition:
I went all in for making the Broken Chair into an officially recognized prize. And it wasn’t a Minnesota only affair, as Nebraska fans began to say publicly that the Chair was the only trophy that mattered.
The Broken Chair changes hands for a good cause
Even with the renewed excitement, there was no guarantee that the Broken Chair would be embraced by either team after the 2015 game. Some feared that if Nebraska won, no one would claim the trophy (a valid concern given the fate of the Civil ConFLiCT trophy this fall). Thankfully these fears were misplaced.
When Nebraska won last season, Goldy and Herbie Husker got together and took a big step in making the Broken Chair a more important part of Minnesota and Nebraska’s future.
The result? A trophy that was publicly celebrated by Husker players, their head coach, and the official Nebraska sports Twitter account.
What lies ahead for the Broken Chair Trophy?
In short, we don’t know for sure. There still seems to be a lot of support for the Broken Chair among both Minnesota and Nebraska internet communities and the wider CFB internet at large. I’ve seen some early indications that Herbie or some other member of the Nebraska sports team will make sure the Broken Chair will be ready to change hands again if Minnesota wins, but this isn’t confirmed.
There has been no official movement towards either Nebraska or Minnesota recognizing the Broken Chair as a sanctioned trophy game. Perhaps there never will be. To me, the Chair would remain perfect even if it never got beyond the level of a mascot led tradition that only a subset of the wider college football world ever knew about. But if the powers that be were to add the Broken Chair to a list that includes the Jug, the Pig, and the Axe, I’d certainly be ok with it.
https://www.thedailygopher.com/2016/11/7/13556666/minnesota-nebraska-broken-chair-trophy-history
