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Or has the BG/Toledo rivalry really lost some of its steam the last few years? Very little fan interaction back and forth, not much discussion in the papers about it. Does anyone think that maybe both schools have obtained new rivals recently in NIU/Ball State and Ohio/Miami?

It's possible, but being how Toledo has had the better of us over the recent years, we haven't had as much to talk about. Personally, I don't really care about Toledo one way or another. Yeah, I know the Rockets are our "rivals," but I feel it has more to do with our proximity than anything. Move BG and Toledo two hours apart and do we even care about each other? Maybe, I don't know. I just can't get into much about anything Toledo related and care about it. Do I want to beat them? Sure. But a win or loss against Toledo doesn't carry any extra weight for me. I know I am in the minority with that mindset on here but it's just my take on it.

BGSU33 wrote:It's possible, but being how Toledo has had the better of us over the recent years, we haven't had as much to talk about. Personally, I don't really care about Toledo one way or another. Yeah, I know the Rockets are our "rivals," but I feel it has more to do with our proximity than anything. Move BG and Toledo two hours apart and do we even care about each other? Maybe, I don't know. I just can't get into much about anything Toledo related and care about it. Do I want to beat them? Sure. But a win or loss against Toledo doesn't carry any extra weight for me. I know I am in the minority with that mindset on here but it's just my take on it.

Yikes

BGSUFanatic7 wrote:

BGSU33 wrote:It's possible, but being how Toledo has had the better of us over the recent years, we haven't had as much to talk about. Personally, I don't really care about Toledo one way or another. Yeah, I know the Rockets are our "rivals," but I feel it has more to do with our proximity than anything. Move BG and Toledo two hours apart and do we even care about each other? Maybe, I don't know. I just can't get into much about anything Toledo related and care about it. Do I want to beat them? Sure. But a win or loss against Toledo doesn't carry any extra weight for me. I know I am in the minority with that mindset on here but it's just my take on it.

Yikes

I care more about what we do against MAC East schools do than I do about Toledo. They matter more where it counts the most - the standings. I'd take losing to Toledo but winning the MAC East any year over beating Toledo and not winning the MAC East. That said, it would be great to beat Toledo to win a MAC Championship. I'm also not a fan of the name of the rivalry trophy we now play for either. "The Battle of I-75?" How lame. You mean to tell me the two schools put their heads together and that's the best we could come up with? A highway that runs 1,800 miles and we're connected between 25 miles of it or so and that's a catchy name for the game? I'd rather have seen something like the "Glass-n-Grass Clash" or something with a creative meaning over settling on a shared highway bond. But that's just me I guess.

BGSU33 wrote:

BGSUFanatic7 wrote:

BGSU33 wrote:It's possible, but being how Toledo has had the better of us over the recent years, we haven't had as much to talk about. Personally, I don't really care about Toledo one way or another. Yeah, I know the Rockets are our "rivals," but I feel it has more to do with our proximity than anything. Move BG and Toledo two hours apart and do we even care about each other? Maybe, I don't know. I just can't get into much about anything Toledo related and care about it. Do I want to beat them? Sure. But a win or loss against Toledo doesn't carry any extra weight for me. I know I am in the minority with that mindset on here but it's just my take on it.

Yikes

I care more about what we do against MAC East schools do than I do about Toledo. They matter more where it counts the most - the standings. I'd take losing to Toledo but winning the MAC East any year over beating Toledo and not winning the MAC East. That said, it would be great to beat Toledo to win a MAC Championship. I'm also not a fan of the name of the rivalry trophy we now play for either. "The Battle of I-75?" How lame. You mean to tell me the two schools put their heads together and that's the best we could come up with? A highway that runs 1,800 miles and we're connected between 25 miles of it or so and that's a catchy name for the game? I'd rather have seen something like the "Glass-n-Grass Clash" or something with a creative meaning over settling on a shared highway bond. But that's just me I guess.

I don't think you're in the minority when it comes to the name of the rivalry, that one could have been so much better. I blame Toledo for that

That team up north f**king sucks. End of story.

MarkL wrote:That team up north f**king sucks. End of story.

Preach on!

RIGHT ON BROTHER MARK !!!!!!!!!!!

Roll Along
We Are BG
Ay Zig
Git that Trophy
etc

BEAT THEIR ARSES!!!

The trophy name is lame. I won't get into what I think about the PC decison to replace the peace pipe award.

I can't remeber the last time BG/UT was not on TV........since the mid 90's? I'm sure someone can prove me wrong on that but it seems odd a year we're both competitive, its limited to ESPN3. Don't get me wrong, I love ESPN3 but why not at least show it on Gameplan so I can go to a bar with a few friends/enemies and watch it.

With the unbalanced divisions, why not flip us to the west in Football. Actually flipping us to the west in all sports is fine wth me. Or move Toledo to the East and ship Miami to the west. Let the Ohio/Miami rival suffer for a while.

Siborg wrote:The trophy name is lame. I won't get into what I think about the PC decison to replace the peace pipe award.

With the unbalanced divisions, why not flip us to the west in Football. Actually flipping us to the west in all sports is fine wth me. Or move Toledo to the East and ship Miami to the west. Let the Ohio/Miami rival suffer for a while.

Agree on the trophy name. This PC BS is such a drag on society and there wasn't a damn thing wrong with the Peace Pipe.

But please do not flip BG back to the West. Been there, done that and it sucked.

Finally, F ut. Hate 'em and wanna destroy them in any sport, any time. Especially football.

Falconfreak90 wrote:

Siborg wrote:But please do not flip BG back to the West. Been there, done that and it sucked.

I agree, I HATED being in the West!!! I like the East so much better in football, basketball, baseball, etc.

I would only want us back in the West if they actually added full members that joined for all sports, not just football only like UCF, Temple, and UMass

Since I have followed the rivaly since the 60's, I think it safe to say that many of us oldtimers still feel it is THE game. There is no team I would rather beat than the rockettes, and I am a graduate of both schools. Hopefully, the fire will be in the players and fans on game day!

I've always been a little ambivalent with regard to the Toledo rivalry, and that's mostly because I feel that we basically have two main rivals, the other being Miami. Honestly to me, the whole cross-division aspect of BG/UT I think is hurting this rivalry. It basically makes it so that a loss in this game isn't necessarily fatal to your chances of winning the MAC, whereas a loss to an East opponent might be. That maybe is lost on most of the casual fans, but to me it takes some of the edge off of the game. If Toledo was in our division, this game would have much greater significance than it does.

Personally, I feel like I have greater reasons beyond the field of play to hate Miami, some of them social and economic. With Toledo it basically boils down to geography and the fact that their city is a dump, which incidentally is also true about Akron and Buffalo. That doesn't mean I don't feel good kicking the sh*t out of the Rockets though.

EDIT: I also think the decision to move this game away from the last week of the season was a BAD move. This is a game that players, coaches, and fans get up for no matter when it is played, and no matter what the records are. We basically sold this game out every time from 2001 through 2007, and Toledo's crowds were just as big over that same span, but the crowds just haven't been as big, and frankly haven't been as engaged in the game since then.

Very few opponents draw crowds to the Doyt in November. Toledo does. Miami does too to a lesser extent. Nobody else does. Hell, we had a game against Kent with the division on the line last year in perfect weather and it only drew 16k. I would guess that other universities in the MAC see the same trend. That's the biggest reason why rivalries should be played in the final week of the regular season.

bgsufalcon24 wrote:I've always been a little ambivalent with regard to the Toledo rivalry, and that's mostly because I feel that we basically have two main rivals, the other being Miami. Honestly to me, the whole cross-division aspect of BG/UT I think is hurting this rivalry. It basically makes it so that a loss in this game isn't necessarily fatal to your chances of winning the MAC, whereas a loss to an East opponent might be. That maybe is lost on most of the casual fans, but to me it takes some of the edge off of the game. If Toledo was in our division, this game would have much greater significance than it does.

Personally, I feel like I have greater reasons beyond the field of play to hate Miami, some of them social and economic. With Toledo it basically boils down to geography and the fact that their city is a dump, which incidentally is also true about Akron and Buffalo. That doesn't mean I don't feel good kicking the sh*t out of the Rockets though.

EDIT: I also think the decision to move this game away from the last week of the season was a BAD move. This is a game that players, coaches, and fans get up for no matter when it is played, and no matter what the records are. We basically sold this game out every time from 2001 through 2007, and Toledo's crowds were just as big over that same span, but the crowds just haven't been as big, and frankly haven't been as engaged in the game since then.

Very few opponents draw crowds to the Doyt in November. Toledo does. Miami does too to a lesser extent. Nobody else does. Hell, we had a game against Kent with the division on the line last year in perfect weather and it only drew 16k. I would guess that other universities in the MAC see the same trend. That's the biggest reason why rivalries should be played in the final week of the regular season.

A lot has to do with the recent down and upswings of each program. Both schools in the last 6-7 years have gone through rebuilds which has left things a little lopsided on the field. While every game against Toledo is meaningful, there really hasn't been one since the double OT game in 2005 that has had a ton of importance on it. I also agree splitting up the teams in different divisions has hurt somewhat, but on the flipside both schools, at least Saturday, have the chance to really throw a wrench into each other seasons. Apparently our friends on the UT board think we believe this rivalry is dead, which is far from the truth and apparently they can't read (shocker). There just doesn't seem to be the buzz as years past, but maybe that will change the closer we get to Saturday.