Jim Amidon — I was in the Wabash Bookstore Wednesday purchasing Monon Bell tickets for my family and there stood Justin Gardiner. Justin asked Ben Gonzalez how many tickets he could buy, and Ben told him "10." Justin was visibly angry.
I quickly said to Justin, "Now you’re not going to be one of those schmucks who buys a ton of tickets then sells them on eBay for inflated prices, are you?"
Gardiner smiled, looked at me, and said, "No. I have 32 family members coming to the game." Lesson learned: keep my yap shut and never, ever underestimate the fan following for the Monon Bell game.
Lesson to others: buy your tickets this week. Tickets will be sold during the Wittenberg game on Saturday, and I suspect there won’t be many, if any, left by Saturday afternoon.
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The Bookstore sold out of its initial 50 copies of Details magazine, which contains a slick feature on Wabash. Mike Bachner ordered another 150, so the shelves are full.
I have been amazed, though, that so few people are talking about the article, written by Jeff Gordinier. I gather that English professor Joy Castro blogged about it on the Old Hag blog and that a few folks have been debating it over lunch at the Scarlet Inn.
I figured the place would be abuzz about the article. Maybe the silence suggests that Jeff got it right; that he captured Wabash pretty close to reality during his five day stay in mid-September. Thoughts?
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Wabash’s football team hadn’t even polished off its 44-10 win at Wooster last week when the buzz started for "the game of the year" between Wabash and Wittenberg Saturday.
It may sound blasphemous, but I think the Wabash vs. Wittenberg rivalry has gained about as much intensity as Monon Bell. Yes, the two are very different games and Wabash vs. DePauw has 115 years of history on its side. But darnit, Wabash folks just don’t like Wittenberg folks, and it’s safe to say that Wittenberg’s football team pretty much hates Wabash. See, it was Wabash that knocked Wittenberg off its North Coast Athletic Conference throne in 2002, and the program hasn’t forgotten it for a moment.
When coaches start using words like "war" and "battle" and they really mean it, I’m thinking big game.
I’m also thinking tailgating, cheering loudly, and another experience with a similar fever pitch as the Monon Bell game. No, not the same. But another opportunity for students, faculty, alumni, and friends of the college to come together to "win the war."
