Doc 5: Worst trophies in college football -- No. 1 -- The Milk Can
This offseason we will count down various topics from Monday through Friday, bringing you the top five of the important and definitely some not so important issues in college football. It's the Doc Five, every week until we will thankfully have actual games to discuss.
When the Los Angeles Kings knocked off the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals of the NHL Playoffs Sunday night, it set up the matchup for the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals between the Kings and the New York Rangers.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are packed with excitement and features what many consider to be the coolest trophy in sports – the Stanley Cup. With the best of seven series beginning Wednesday, it got us thinking about some of the trophies that are awarded to teams in rivalry games across the country.
Instead of showcasing the best ones, we’ll look at the worst ones – past and present – instead.
You know, the ones where excited winning players look ridiculous with the trophy proudly held above their heads while you can’t even believe someone thought it would be a good idea to give to a winning team. Those are the trophies we’ll be highlighting here.
Let’s get started.
FIVE WORST TROPHIES IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
No. 1 – Milk Can (Boise State vs. Fresno State)
We’ve already shown you four pretty lame trophies this week, but the trophy from the so-called rivalry between two Mountain West foes takes the top spot in this week’s Doc Five.
Before Boise State and Fresno State joined the Mountain West in 2011 and 2012 respectively, the Broncos and Bulldogs were usually two of the top teams in the Western Athletic Conference throughout the 2000’s. Prior to Boise joining the WAC in 2001, the two teams had only faced off three times (1977, 1984, and 1996).
After playing each other on a yearly basis (including Boise upsetting the David Carr-led Bulldogs in 2001), the two sides decided to up the stakes a bit in 2005 and make it a rivalry game. What they came up with – “The Battle of the Milk Can” -- left a lot to be desired.
Here’s what it looks like:
It’s literally just a big metal can. Aside from the name of each player on the winning team being engraved onto the can, there’s nothing special about it. It seriously is the most boring-looking trophy of all the trophies in college football.
The idea for the milk can apparently came from the fact that California and Idaho are two of the country's leaders in producing dair products. Additionally, dairy groups from both areas provide support for the football programs.
“The Milk Can is a symbol of Fresno and Boise because the dairy industry is one of the biggest industries in both states,” Fresno donor Roger Fluegel told Fresno’s student paper in 2010.
It may seem kind of forced, but Fluegel said the can was introduced as a way to “enhance the rivalry” and to “give the game more of a meaning and a sense of history.”
The rivalry has been pretty one-sided with Boise winning seven of the nine contests since the can was introduced, but Fresno did manage to notch its first win in the series since 2005 last year with a 41-40 at home.
The future of the series was put in serious doubt when Boise planned to move to the Big East in 2013. However, the massive amounts of conference restructuring in late 2012 caused Boise to decide to stay in the Mountain West. Additionally, now that the conference has split into two divisions with Boise in the Mountain Division and Fresno in the West Division, the two teams are not scheduled to play for the coveted milk can in 2015 or 2016.
Boise will be looking for revenge for last year’s one-point loss in a Friday night primetime game at the newly-named Albertsons Stadium on October 17 where the whole country will get to see the silliness of the milk can.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
