Boom!
Nothing says "football rivalry" quite like a 19th century cannon.
The Student Government Association and its Western Michigan University counterpart had the opportunity to provide something long-sought: a trophy that would symbolize the Central/Western rivalry.
The trophy's design could and should have been a lively representation of the teams' heated competition.
Instead we received something better fitting a Civil War re-enactment than a football game: a bronze cannon atop a wooden base.
The reasoning behind the trophy - that both student government associations acknowledged both teams fire cannons on their fields - does not quite hold muster. The trophy should not be designed in homage to an inconsequential field accessory.
The cannon does not symbolize either football team. It never has. It never will.
The "Central/Western Cannon," if that's what we should call it, doesn't emphasize anything particular about the two teams. Both teams have cannons on the field. So do many, many other football teams. We want something that matches our rivalry, not that of any other two football teams.
Worse yet, it doesn't match anything prominent within football. Few consider cannons symbolic of football games; most people would not recognize it as a rivalry trophy unless they were informed ahead of time. On first pass, it appears to be a commemorative plaque for Civil War veterans.
The trophy design completely misses the mark. Virtually anything, even something as simple as a couple of clashing football helmets, would have been an improvement. If the SGA was unable to think of anything uniquely symbolizing the Central/Western rivalry, it should have gone with something at least matching the sport.
Admittedly, a trophy design need not match a particular sport, but it needs to be memorable. The Stanley Cup is well-known but doesn't contain a hockey puck or stick anywhere in it.
The difference is that the Stanley Cup's design is peculiar; it is memorable because it isn't simply a random object lopped on top of a pedestal.
If the student government associations were going to design an unconventional trophy, they should have considered a design that would be eye-catching throughout.
Now CMU and WMU students are stuck with a trophy that goes halfway: It tries to be unique but comes off bland.
And now, when one university wins the coveted trophy and displays it on campus, students will pass by and think .
Wait, what's this thing for, again?
