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TFD: In the case of the Cy-Hawk trophy between Iowa State and Iowa, the corn terrorists have won

Good times.

August 23, 2011 at 10:01PM
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

There is partying in the streets in Ames and Iowa City today, assuming those towns have streets (zing!). The wretched new Cy-Hawk trophy -- a traveling trophy given to the winner of the Iowa/Iowa State football game (or just chopped in half if the teams tie 2-2 ... a cheap shot that makes no sense given the Gophers' history). Let's just get to the AP story: The Cy-Hawk Trophy was redesigned this year after complaints that the old one -- a simple bronze statue of a football and a player -- was a bit dated.

With the Iowa Corn Growers Association as the new sponsor of the series between Iowa State's Cyclones and Iowa's Hawkeyes, the new trophy was drawn up as a farm family huddled around a bushel of corn. The design was a nod to the state's deep agricultural roots and, of course, corn is a primary staple around here.

It was unveiled Friday at the state fair. And everyone pretty much hated it, likening it to a garage sale leftover or something from the Precious Moments catalog. Newspaper chats, Twitter and Facebook lit up with critics, and even former Iowa coach Hayden Fry and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad weighed in against the new design.

A temporary trophy will be designed for this year's game on Sept. 10. Fans will be able to suggest a design for the more permanent replacement. In downtown Iowa City, where stores are already selling "Beat State" t-shirts in advance of the showdown, fans and University of Iowa students cheered the news.

"Nobody liked it. I think the best comment I heard was, `That's going to the losers, right'?" said Liz Ulin, a 23-year-old senior studying health science.

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about the writer

about the writer

Michael Rand

Columnist / Reporter

Michael Rand is the Minnesota Star Tribune's Digital Sports Senior Writer and host/creator of the Daily Delivery podcast. In 25 years covering Minnesota sports at the Minnesota Star Tribune, he has seen just about everything (except, of course, a Vikings Super Bowl).

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