Minnesota and Wisconsin have one of the oldest and greatest rivalries in college sports history, and this weekend another chapter of that rivalry will be written-both on the turf and on the ice. The disturbing part is that two teams from two of the major revenue-producing sports and two of the more popular sports are being played in two separate cities.
The Battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe represents the oldest rivalry in Division I college football. This weekend will mark the 114th meeting between the Badgers and the Gophers with a lot riding on the line for UW.
A win would not only give the Badgers possession of the Axe, but it would also put their record at 9-0 and the team one step closer to a Bowl Championship Series bowl. Minnesota will play the role of spoiler, looking for the trophy and hoping to improve to 7-3 on the season.
On the ice this weekend, the Badgers will look to beat the Gophers in Minneapolis for the first time since the 2000 season. The games will serve as the 229th and 230th games in series history dating back to 1922. While there is no trophy on the line, a lot is riding on this series.
The Badgers, 0-6 in their last three trips to the Twin Cities, are a dismal 21-80-5 at Minnesota overall. Coming off a loss to Denver last Saturday, the team needs to get back on track in the still-early season. With the two teams tied in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with six points, a sweep either way can mean a lot.
Of course, with the games between Minnesota and Wisconsin on the ice being in Minneapolis, this poses a problem to the die-hard fans of both teams, as the biggest football game of the year is 260-odd miles away.
Of course, being interested in each sport, when I saw the conflict of schedule I wasn't pleased. I was ready for my first trip to Mariucci Arena for hockey, but I guess I'll have to wait one more year.
This does not make a whole lot of sense for either school. They are making their fans choose between two of the most popular sports which are having possibly their biggest games of the year.
In football, the Badgers are No. 5 in the nation, while Minnesota is trying to find its way back into the top 25 and back towards the higher end of the Big Ten standings. In hockey, the Gophers are No. 4 and the Badgers are one spot back.
It seems like there are ways this could have been avoided, and if so, why weren't any of these opportunities taken?
Couldn't the schools have talked to the officials from one of the leagues and worked something out so that hockey could have been played in Madison this weekend?
I can't think of anything that would strengthen an already strong rivalry more than two major sports played between the same two teams in the same city in one weekend.
Perhaps neither city wanted the mess of having thousands of sports fans hating each other spread throughout the city. If that is the case, then why even schedule the teams to be playing each other in both sports in one weekend? Couldn't they have requested not to play each other this one weekend out of the whole season?
According to WCHA Assistant Commissioner of Operations Carol LaBelle-Ehrhardt, it was up to the home school to say that they request not having anything at home on a particular weekend, that it was \the home school's issue.""
If that is the case, then Minnesota blew it by failing to request an away series-or at least a home series with a different team. By doing so they are risking losing some hockey fans as they travel to watch the football team try to retain the Axe.
I doubt the attendance at either venue will be hampered this weekend by the goof in scheduling. This means neither school will lose revenue so they probably do not care, but thinking about the fans wouldn't hurt every once in awhile.
But I guess die-hard fans find die-hard ways to see the teams they love. Good luck to those of you who are making the drive to Minneapolis for Friday night's hockey game and heading back down right away for Saturday's football game.
Eric is a junior planning to major in journalism. He can be reached for comment at ejschmoldt@wisc.edu.
