The Case for the Corn Belt

The original Cy-Hawk Trophy was created in 1976 for the 1977 installment of the Iowa-Iowa State football game, which was the first year the teams had played each other since 1934 (thanks, wikipedia). It was awarded through 2010 when it was retired. It resembled an upscale little league trophy and was far from original, let alone unique, but it accomplished its mission.

The second version of the Cy-Hawk Trophy came just short of the 34 year run of the first. It lived for just over 5 days. It resembled a three dimensional painting of a typical Iowa farm scene from the '60s.

The third, and hopefully final, version of the trophy will be decided upon by the factions of each fan base that actually care about what trophies look like. The following is one man's argument for what that trophy should be.

The idea has been floated, I'm not sure who came up with it first or I would credit them, of making the Cy-Hawk Trophy a boxing/WWF-style belt, calling it the Corn Belt. I could not agree more that this is what should happen. I feel like I can make two basic points that one would have trouble arguing against.

1. The Corn Belt would generate a national buzz, however temporary, around a game and rivalry that typically does not garner much national attention.

2. The Corn Belt is something unique in college football that each school, team, and fan base could rally around.

To the first point, the national media has already focused on this trophy once in the past few weeks. The fact that an almost universally hated trophy would be presented at the end of the game was something that many latched on to. It seemed like less of a story when the Iowa Corn Growers Association rightly conceded that a change needed to be made, but it was still reported on. If the new trophy is just your run-of-the-mill piece of metal on top of a block of wood, looking like a rivalry trophy that would be used in a movie (no history, no back story, just something generic that makes it supremely obvious what it is for) I have a feeling no one outside of the state will notice. Maybe you don't care if anyone else notices. You should.

National media attention is a double-edged sword, there's no doubt about it; and a lot of the attention given to these programs of late has been anything but good. It's one reason we can all pronounce rhabdomyolysis. But it can also be a great boon to things like recruiting. I admit, it is a bit of a stretch to say a story on a cool trophy will significantly affect recruiting, but I'm of the mind that both schools should take any positive publicity they can get, and seize any chance to stand out amongst the increasing crowd of competitive FBS football programs.

This would be a story the day it was announced. It would be a story the first Saturday it was awarded. It would make SportsCenter every year, because nowhere else can you see football players hoisting a belt above their head in triumph. It is unique to this rivalry and this game, and uniqueness gets noticed.

The second, and more important point, seems obvious to me. I used the word "unique" and not something like "cool" because I realize that not everyone shares my idea of coolness. But this would be freaking cool. Watching the victorious team run to the opposite sideline to grab this belt would be cool. Watching the first player to arrive at it throw it above his head, one handed, while the throng that follows all reaches to touch it would be cool.

If you can't see the inherent coolness, you must at least agree that it would be better than watching 4 guys awkwardly lift a 50 pound block of wood and metal, and slowly carrying it to the opposite sideline. They could run around with the belt held up. They could carry it to the student section and let the fans touch it as they went by. It could be passed around and held by each player. It could be enjoyed.

But more importantly than any of that, it would be ours. Only ours.

This is our chance to stand up and stand out and have something that no one else can lay claim to. There will be a belt awarded at a football game. This idea is too good to just die here. Why not make it our game?