Northwestern - our closest nemesis

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Go Gophers Rah

Go Gophers Rah

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Of course there's the Jug, the axe and the pig. Sadly, until 2009, those have all been fairly one-sided affairs in recent years.

But think about Northwestern.

The past two years, they have won in the final seconds of each game.
In the past 4 meetings, we have each won 2.
In the past 6 meetings, we have each won 3.
In the past 8 meetings, we have each won 4.
In the past 14 games, we have each won 7.........

Like it or not, Northwestern has been our closest competitor in the Big Ten. I think we've been a little more consistent in the past 10 years, but then again, they won (or tied for) the conference championship in '95, '96 and 2000; something we haven't done for a long time.

They are an odd team that can win some unexpected victories (2008 Iowa) and lose some unexpected games (2008 Indiana).

While it seems that their defense is down right now, I'd say they are probably a little like our offense; capable of playing a lot better than they have. Kafka has a 74% :eek: completion percentage on the year and they lead the Big Ten in passing yards per game. of course, they also have the easiest ooc schedule in the conference, so those stats are a bit suspect.

At any rate, Northwestern is a real opponent and this is a real game. I hope that the Gophers are playing with the same intensity in front of 20,000 at Ryan Field that they've been playing with in The Bank.

Go Gophers. Beat the Wildcats. Rah.
 

Interesting tidbits there, guys. Some great finishes, too. I wonder if there's ever been any talk of establishing a rivalry trophy between the schools; hard to imagine why that'd be a bad idea. But anyway, a tip o' the cap to all you Gophers who are coming to Evanston and Chicago this weekend.; I hope you enjoy the game, your stay . . . everything but the final score;). Very much looking forward to next year's game at, what are you calling it, The Bank? Looks like a great venue.
 

I don't see that happening because we already have 4 trophies including a relatively meaningless one with Penn State.
 

NURoseBowl said:
Interesting tidbits there, guys. Some great finishes, too. I wonder if there's ever been any talk of establishing a rivalry trophy between the schools; hard to imagine why that'd be a bad idea. But anyway, a tip o' the cap to all you Gophers who are coming to Evanston and Chicago this weekend.; I hope you enjoy the game, your stay . . . everything but the final score;). Very much looking forward to next year's game at, what are you calling it, The Bank? Looks like a great venue.
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Thanks!

I would love to "retire" the meaningless trophy we share with Penn State and replace it with Northwestern. As stated, that isn't likely to happen though.
 

Maybe we can't have a trophy with Northwestern, but here's an idea: A couple years ago, when the Twins and the Yankees were in the playoffs, there was a bet between to two mayors (or was it between the governors?). If the Yankees lost, they would have to give us cheesecake. If the Twins lost, we would have to give them lutefisk. The Twins lost, so we sent them some Minnesota lutefisk.

I propose we have a similar bet between Minnesota and Northwestern. If we win, we get some Chicago Style hot dogs. If they win, they get lutefisk.
 


Isn't receiving lutefisk a punishment, not a prize? Also, isn't that how the Floyd of Rosedale started? It was a real pig before it was a trophy that was bet between the governors.
 

Isn't receiving lutefisk a punishment, not a prize?
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You're not supposed to let them know that! :)

Now if we wanted to have a real prize, we could put up Pronto Pups and they could put up Chicago Style hot dogs.

When the Yankees "won" lutefisk from us, they tried it, and the chef was very apologetic, insisting that he followed the recipe. No one eats lutefisk because it tastes good. It's eaten because it's traditional. I guess all the good traditions were taken.
 

I would be okay with a rivalry trophy set up by mayors in the two largest metro areas that have Big Ten teams (recognizing that NW is in Evanston, not Chicago). It certainly would be more relevant than the victory bell with Penn State.
 

FreakyDeke said:
I don't see that happening because we already have 4 trophies including a relatively meaningless one with Penn State.
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Deke;
Not terribly proud of this, but I wasn't even aware of a trophy between you guys and PSU. Just reading a couple of the other posters, it doesn't seem like this is much of a big deal to you guys anyway. So it's the Victory Bell, huh? Duly noted. Anyway, they're talking about possible rain here on Saturday, so if you or anyone you know is coming down, at least be mindful of that. Should be a great game regardless . . .
 



So, NURoseBowl, can we sign you up for the hot dog/lutefisk wager? You could win all the lutefisk you could <s>hold down</s> eat! :D

It's great to beat Penn State, just because they are a good program, but the Bell is a distant 4th in our trophy dreams. I'm glad to have it when we do win it, but it's not the same as winning the Jug, the Axe or the Pig.
 


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