Brent Harris – Every year around mid-October the phone calls begin. "I need tickets to the game." "Can we schedule an interview with (insert name of coach, player, or fan here)."
But the phone call I always enjoy is the inevitable call asking about "Operation Frijoles."
The latest came this summer from Sports Illustrated requesting interesting stories about rivalries, mascots, school names, or other unique and quirky events around small college athletics programs. As soon as I saw the request, up popped Jim Shanks ’67 and the legendary story of the Bell heist to end all Bell heists.
If you don’t know the story, click here for a review. And if you don’t know the story, you haven’t been paying attention. Sometimes I think it’s as much a part of Wabash tradition as learning the school song. I love re-telling the story to freshmen football players who are about to take the field for the first time with no true understanding of what they’re about to become a part of as the annual Bell Game.
There have been other Bell "requisitions" throughout the many years of the rivalry. The Bell made a special guest appearance at the 1999 Monon Bell chapel despite the fact DePauw had won the previous season’s meeting between the two schools. And, as it almost always does, it found its way back to the DePauw campus in time for the game.
I love this rivalry. Yes, it’s a lot of work when you’re the SID for a game that thrusts your school into the national spotlight every year, regardless of whether you’re undefeated or looking to stay above .500. But it’s a labor of love. In part because every year I get to retell the story of Shanks and his trip to Greencastle in 1965 and the awarding of the "No-Bell" prize. Jim passed away a few years ago, but his legend lives on every fall when thoughts turn to that 350-pound prize currently sitting atop the Allen Center entryway thanks to a 17-14 win in this year’s game.
