4 Questions Which Should be Asked About the Cy-Hawk

I wrote this last weekend about the foolishness of dumping a Cy-Hawk trophy with 30-years of history, created by fans, for a corporate advertisement.  The trophy revealed by the Iowa Corn Growers today is even worse than I imagined.  It is nothing but an advertisement.

Here's 4 questions the local sports reporters SHOULD be asking:

1. Why create a new trophy in the first place?

Everyone seems to assume this was a response to the appearance of the old trophy.  Was it?

2. Why not simply redesign/refresh the existing trophy?

If this was just a cosmetic issue, why not refresh the look while maintaining the 30-year history of the Cy-Hawk?  Other rivalry trophies have been "updated" over the years.

3. Why did they choose a corporate sponsor and how much did Iowa Corn pay?

None of the major rivalry trophies in college football have corporate sponsorships.  What made the Iowa and ISU Athletic Departments decide to seek one and how many pieces of silver did it take?

4. How long does the Iowa Corn sponsorship last?

This is a key question.  Hy-Vee paid for certain naming rights in 2004 and renewed in 2007, whereby officials began referring to the "Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series."  It's unlikely Iowa Corn's sponsorship is forever, and it's hard to imagine another sponsor embracing an image of a family gathered around corn.  We must expect this trophy to be junked whenever their sponsorship ends.

This whole chain of events exemplifies the polluting effect of sponsorship.  Many people thought the old trophy was ugly.  But what is not in dispute is it was created by fans whose sole intention was to promote this then-fledgling rivalry.  Even if Iowa Corn's trophy had looked better than it does, it was never intended purely as a celebration of the game, but always as a promotional tool for their industry.

The "retiring" of the Cy-Hawk Trophy

Update: 8/19/11 - The new trophy has been revealed and it is a disaster.

This piece, published in the Sunday Des Moines Register, sums up my feelings about the Iowa/ISU athletic departments decision to scrap the historic rivalry trophy in favor of a piece of corporate sponsorship.  It will remain online at The Register for a few days.

Fans are left behind in athletics' quest for cash

When the Iowa and Iowa State athletic departments announced they were retiring the Cy-Hawk trophy for a new corporate-sponsored award, they also cast aside a significant piece of history.

The Iowa/Iowa State rivalry would never have been renewed were it not for the will of the fans. For 43 years, the schools refused to play, despite a growing public outcry and multiple resolutions from the Legislature. Between 1968, when the schools agreed to play, and 1977, when the first game took place, both schools tried to cancel the contracts and the series.

It’s fitting that the trophy also came not from the reluctant athletic departments but from the fans. Bob Uetz and a group of friends, branding themselves the “Greater Des Moines Athletic Club,” paid $500 to have a trophy made, and convinced Gov. Bob Ray to hand it out to the winning team.

The trophy helped cement the legitimacy of the series, which at the time wasn’t guaranteed to last more than a few years. For 33 years, the trophy has been the symbol of the rivalry.

As a symbol, some are critical of the trophy’s appearance. But what’s happening now is not a redesign of the trophy. The athletic departments are dumping the Cy-Hawk entirely, severing its long history and connection to the fans.

There was a hint of these intentions in 2004, when the schools announced the “Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series.” The Iowa Corn Growers are getting more than just naming rights — they are getting their own trophy. So when their sponsorship ends, will a new trophy be made?

We haven’t seen the new trophy yet. Maybe it will look great. But it won’t be a piece of history, born of the fans .

The greatest moment for fans comes from that feeling that we are part of the event . The Cy-Hawk was the best of that spirit. Moves like this make it clear the athletic departments view fans not as any kind of partner, but merely as consumers of their product.

— Ben Godar, Des Moines