Monon Bell Rivalry

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High school and college sports rivalries are some of the greatest and most anticipated events each year, especially when traveling trophies are involved. Indiana University and Purdue University clash for the Old Oaken Bucket. Hebron High School Hawks try to capture the “Cleats,” the “Kup,” and the “Keg” every year. The Wisconsin Badgers and the Minnesota Golden Gophers fight it out for Paul Bunyan’s Axe. And, in 1932, the rivalry between Division III schools Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, became more heated with the introduction of the Monon Bell. The Monon Bell has a fascinating history, has been the object of many school thefts, and has even been immortalized in song. The Monon…show more content…
While Wabash and DePauw have played one another since 1890, the rivalry intensified with the Monon Bell – students wanted possession of the bell at all costs. “The bell has been stolen at least eight times from its temporary owners,” (“Monon Bell History”). However, the most famous of all heists was “Operation Frijoles” in the fall of 1965. Wabash students from the fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta posed as representatives from Mexico who wanted to establish an international student exchange with DePauw University. All of the formal meetings and meals took place, but towards the end of the day’s activities, it was asked if the representatives could take a picture with the Monon Bell. The then president of DePauw University, Dr. William Kerstetter, thought it was a wonderful idea. “Kerstetter did not, however, know the location of the bell himself. He asked his secretary, who noted ironically, ‘the last time I told a visitor where the bell was, Wabash stole it.’ Kerstetter then phoned Athletic Director James Loveless, who somewhat reluctantly agreed to show the bell and supply several attractive coeds to picture with it” (Ziegner…show more content…
In 1985, a DePauw graduate put the yearly football game and the Monon Bell in a country song that is played many times in November by Wabash and DePauw grads. “Jimmy Ibbotson, a member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and 1969 graduate of DePauw, recorded “The Ballad of the Monon Bell” in Nashville, Tennessee” (“Ballad of the Monon Bell is Recorded in Nashville”). Despite the Ibbotson being a DePauw University graduate, the song is neutral in tone, neither favoring DePauw nor Wabash. The lyrics go into a brief history of the bell, the intensity both teams show when playing for the bell, and how football players and alumni from both colleges have fond memories of the games they’ve seen. “Ring the Bell for Wabash, ring for old DePauw, Ring the bell for victory in the last game ev’ry fall. Suddenly the boys of autumn had fire in their
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