This weekend's game will be special for a variety of reasons. It's Wisconsin's homecoming and Bucky Badger promises to be in the highest of spirits with all the festivities before and after game time. Also, Wisconsin cracked the AP Top 25 Poll for the first time this season, and the upcoming weeks will be crucial for keeping the team's postseason hopes alive. However, none of these circumstances quite compare to the magnitude of what's at stake this Saturday: that heavy piece of artillery, Paul Bunyan's Axe.
The Axe is a symbolic trophy given to the team that wins the Minnesota-Wisconsin game each year. It seems appropriate that such a prestigious honor be given to a rivalry as historical as this one.
The Badger/Gopher inaugural matchup was on Nov. 15, 1890, a 63-0 Gopher victory. The two teams have played 115 times since then to become the most played rivalry in Division I-A football history.
From 1930 to 1945 the two universities played for the ""Slab of Bacon."" Not a delectable, pig-filled treat, but a piece of black walnut wood, engraved with an \M"" or a ""W"" depending on the direction it was held. The game's winner was permitted to keep it on their campus for the following year.
Perhaps no one could anticipate the tragedy experienced after a 1945 Badger/Gopher competition in which someone mysteriously ""stole the bacon."" Peg Watrous, the president of Wisconsin women students at the time, said that she and her counterpart from Minnesota were to have a symbolic exchange after the game, and the trophy would be awarded to the winning team. The Gophers were victorious but a customary storming of the field by students and spectators made things complicated. Watrous couldn't find her counterpart.
""I have no memory of what happened after that...The whole thing was a dud, as I feared it would be,"" Watrous said, ""and someone in charge probably hid the bacon.""
Two seasons of dark times passed in the rivalry with diminished pride and nothing to play for. It was then that the Wisconsin W Club instituted ""Paul Bunyan's Axe."" The results of each and every matchup are printed on its six-foot handle. In 2000, a new axe was implemented because of the shortage of room on the original, which now rests in the College Football Hall of Fame. Also, the ""Slab of Bacon"" was later recovered in the summer of 1994. It was found in a Camp Randall Stadium storage room.
The Golden Gophers lead the all-time series with a 59-48-8 record and the Badgers lead the Paul Bunyan Axe series with a 31-24-3 record. The Badgers have been on a tear of late; they had a six-game winning streak from 1995 to 2000 and a thrilling 38-34 victory over the Gophers last season.
Down 34-24 with 3:27 left in the game, John Stocco led a 71 yard touchdown drive in just 1:17. After a Minnesota three-and-out, linebacker Jonathan Casillas blocked a punt and defensive back Ben Strickland recovered it for a touchdown in the final minute to steal the lead. Then linebacker DeAndre Levy forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to put the Gophers' comeback hopes to rest.
Senior offensive lineman Joe Thomas believed this game was the essence of what makes this rivalry unique.
""Obviously last year was really exciting,"" Thomas said. ""To win the game at the last second and come back from far down made it really special and also embodies what the rivalry is all about: you never know who's going to win and there are a lot of crazy finishes. I think anytime these teams match up it's going to be a heated battle, it's what you dream about when you come to play for Wisconsin. We're generally close to each other in the standings so that makes for a great atmosphere.""
Many of the Badgers have special connections to Minnesota and the Gophers. Freshman wide receiver Isaac Anderson went to high school in Minneapolis, where he earned two-time all-state honors. Isaac's father, Melvin Anderson, played for the Gophers from 1983-1986 and graduated with the fourth most receiving yards in Gopher history before playing with the Chiefs and Steelers of the NFL. Isaac's mother, Lisa Anderson, was a four-year member of the Gopher track team.
""My parents both have big connections with the Gophers so that stays with me, but I was never a huge Gopher fan,"" Anderson said. ""I have a lot of friends on the team and it'll be strange to see them out there, but that will also make it a really fun game, plenty of trash talk.""
The coaching staff has also made a commitment to giving the Wisconsin-Minnesota matchup special treatment.
""We put a lot of emphasis on the significance and pride in what the axe represents,"" offensive coordinator Paul Chryst said. ""It's a great tradition, to be a part of it means something and I think the fact that it's a rival game gives our players a ton of motivation.""
It remains to be seen whether this motivation will allow the Badgers to make Camp Randall the Axe's home for the upcoming year. Either way, the legend continues, and both Badger and Gopher fans are proud to be a part of it.
