Herd Mentality
10-20-2011, 04:41 PM
The seeds of a rivalry
Peter Harriman
Argus Leader
published: 10/10/2004
Maybe NDSU-SDSU has a chance to be big someday
BROOKINGS - If the nucleus of an atom could eat brats and drink beer, nuclear fission might resemble the Backyard, the tailgating prairie at South Dakota State University where blue and gold and yellow and green were packed in tightly enough Saturday to approach critical mass.
As the Jackrabbits and North Dakota State University Bison got ready to kick off their new and improved football rivalry, it was getting interesting in there - in no small part thanks to the reading material.
Grant Sweeney and his gang from Fargo were wandering around in yellow T-shirts with green lettering proclaiming on the front "I knowingly participated in scandalous pre-game activities," and on the back, beneath a caricature of Richard Nixon with arms spread wide and fingers arrayed in victory 'Vs,' "I am not a drunk."
Kristion Asche, an SDSU graduate and Brookings attorney, wanted one of those. She was ready to be fulsome in her praise to get it.
"They have fancier tail-gating equipment than we do," she said, a profound admission for a football fan, but she also pointed out that Sweeney "has not yet given me one."
"Give, what is 'Give?'" Sweeney asked, punctuating his query with finger quotes.
Still, Asche hung in there, smiling, until Sweeney replied to a question about what it would take to make the Jackrabbit-Bison rivalry the equal of the traditional rivalries with the University of North Dakota and the University of South Dakota that SDSU and NDSU gave up when they moved up to the NCAA Division I-AA.
"How about a win by you guys?" Sweeney asked Asche.
"I don't want your damn shirt," she fired back.
Say, maybe this rivalry has a chance to be something someday.
John Schwebach, who dreamed it up, and his fellow SDSU students, who wore it, were more direct about rivalry building with their T-shirt. The image of the Wheel of Fortune was arrayed across the back of the white shirt with blue ink, using a four-letter word to say "(Blank) the Bison."
"Category: SDSU's Mission," it read, and "SDSU will solve the puzzle."
They printed up about 300, sold 250 and Schwebach said he would probably produce another one to help the basketball rivalry. He and about a dozen friends were already impressed with their accomplishments.
"This tailgate is already better than USD," Andrew Sikora said.
"USD sucks," somebody added.
Unlike the Coyotes, Sikora said, NDSU "cares about the actual football game."
Greg Halverson, of Forest River, N.D., Barry Medd, of Grand Forks, and about a dozen other people were seated in the shade of The D-I Bus, a green-and-yellow motor coach on its maiden voyage outside North Dakota.
"Some of us did it ourselves, Halverson said. "It's not perfect. It's a work in progress."
Medd pointed out that as residents of the Grand Forks area, the D-I Bus riders had to negotiate hostile territory just to get out of town, let alone reach Brookings.
"What we've seen is a much more hospitable type of fan here," he said. "Let's just say we haven't had to hide our women and kids yet."
Mark Berg, campaign manager for Larry Diedrich, who is running against Rep. Stephanie Herseth for her seat in Congress, was scheduled to stop by the bus to visit with old friends.
"He does know we can't vote here," Medd said. "But he doesn't understand why we can't contribute."
As the game drew nearer, a knot of about 50 SDSU student types and about the same number of NDSU rivals formed a rough circle and faced off in one of those pose-downs that makes more sense the younger you are. Initially, the Bison were getting seriously faced. Some bare-chested Jackrabbit stalwart was doing handstands, splits and other gymnastics.
"Do a Garth Brooks line dance," someone from the NDSU side suggested to his side.
"Somebody do something," muttered another Bison backer.
And then a fan wearing field glasses around his neck strode confidently from the NDSU side into the middle of the circle. He preened there a bit, unscrewed a lens (Italic) And Chugged His Binoculars. (end Italic)
It left everyone on both sides in stunned, admiring silence.
Yeah, it appears this rivalry has a chance.
Reach Peter Harriman at 575-3615 or pharrima@argusleader.com
Peter Harriman
Argus Leader
published: 10/10/2004
Maybe NDSU-SDSU has a chance to be big someday
BROOKINGS - If the nucleus of an atom could eat brats and drink beer, nuclear fission might resemble the Backyard, the tailgating prairie at South Dakota State University where blue and gold and yellow and green were packed in tightly enough Saturday to approach critical mass.
As the Jackrabbits and North Dakota State University Bison got ready to kick off their new and improved football rivalry, it was getting interesting in there - in no small part thanks to the reading material.
Grant Sweeney and his gang from Fargo were wandering around in yellow T-shirts with green lettering proclaiming on the front "I knowingly participated in scandalous pre-game activities," and on the back, beneath a caricature of Richard Nixon with arms spread wide and fingers arrayed in victory 'Vs,' "I am not a drunk."
Kristion Asche, an SDSU graduate and Brookings attorney, wanted one of those. She was ready to be fulsome in her praise to get it.
"They have fancier tail-gating equipment than we do," she said, a profound admission for a football fan, but she also pointed out that Sweeney "has not yet given me one."
"Give, what is 'Give?'" Sweeney asked, punctuating his query with finger quotes.
Still, Asche hung in there, smiling, until Sweeney replied to a question about what it would take to make the Jackrabbit-Bison rivalry the equal of the traditional rivalries with the University of North Dakota and the University of South Dakota that SDSU and NDSU gave up when they moved up to the NCAA Division I-AA.
"How about a win by you guys?" Sweeney asked Asche.
"I don't want your damn shirt," she fired back.
Say, maybe this rivalry has a chance to be something someday.
John Schwebach, who dreamed it up, and his fellow SDSU students, who wore it, were more direct about rivalry building with their T-shirt. The image of the Wheel of Fortune was arrayed across the back of the white shirt with blue ink, using a four-letter word to say "(Blank) the Bison."
"Category: SDSU's Mission," it read, and "SDSU will solve the puzzle."
They printed up about 300, sold 250 and Schwebach said he would probably produce another one to help the basketball rivalry. He and about a dozen friends were already impressed with their accomplishments.
"This tailgate is already better than USD," Andrew Sikora said.
"USD sucks," somebody added.
Unlike the Coyotes, Sikora said, NDSU "cares about the actual football game."
Greg Halverson, of Forest River, N.D., Barry Medd, of Grand Forks, and about a dozen other people were seated in the shade of The D-I Bus, a green-and-yellow motor coach on its maiden voyage outside North Dakota.
"Some of us did it ourselves, Halverson said. "It's not perfect. It's a work in progress."
Medd pointed out that as residents of the Grand Forks area, the D-I Bus riders had to negotiate hostile territory just to get out of town, let alone reach Brookings.
"What we've seen is a much more hospitable type of fan here," he said. "Let's just say we haven't had to hide our women and kids yet."
Mark Berg, campaign manager for Larry Diedrich, who is running against Rep. Stephanie Herseth for her seat in Congress, was scheduled to stop by the bus to visit with old friends.
"He does know we can't vote here," Medd said. "But he doesn't understand why we can't contribute."
As the game drew nearer, a knot of about 50 SDSU student types and about the same number of NDSU rivals formed a rough circle and faced off in one of those pose-downs that makes more sense the younger you are. Initially, the Bison were getting seriously faced. Some bare-chested Jackrabbit stalwart was doing handstands, splits and other gymnastics.
"Do a Garth Brooks line dance," someone from the NDSU side suggested to his side.
"Somebody do something," muttered another Bison backer.
And then a fan wearing field glasses around his neck strode confidently from the NDSU side into the middle of the circle. He preened there a bit, unscrewed a lens (Italic) And Chugged His Binoculars. (end Italic)
It left everyone on both sides in stunned, admiring silence.
Yeah, it appears this rivalry has a chance.
Reach Peter Harriman at 575-3615 or pharrima@argusleader.com