I wonder if it is the student councils of LSU and Ole Miss just being silly and trying to make a name for the LSU/Ole Miss game, or if the LSU and Ole Miss Marketing Departments are at work behind all this. From a business and marketing perspective, its a not a bad idea to come up with a little name, make a little logo, and get a corporate sponsor (notice below that the sponsors include State Farm, Qwest Communications, Ford, Boeing, and AT&T). Also notice that the Lone Star Showdown logo even made in on a Wheaties box (bottom left of box).
Right, but that's pretty much the same thing I was trying to get at. From a marketing/business stand-point, who cares who accepts the silly little name given to a given football game between two schools? All the corporate sponsor cares about is that there is a logo for the game that is plastered all over the appropriate places that advertises their company name. Even if nobody ever used the names "Apple Cup," "Lone Star Showdown," "Rocky Mountain Showdown," etc. to ever describe the football game, that doesn't change the fact that, as a marketing gimmick, its another way to get a corporate sponsor to pay big bucks to the universities involved to advertise their company. Look at the Texas/Texas A&M rivalry... that's one of my favorite games to watch -- yet I had no idea they came up with a "Lone Star Showdown" name and logo (all of which they trademarked). In other words, it's the Texas/Texas A&M rivalry, the Texas/Texas A&M game. I'm sure everybody in Texas still calls it that, not the "Lone Star Showdown" (which is a pretty gay/weak/cliche' title). But as a marketing gimmick, its an interesting way to give a corporation another way to pay more advertising dollars to the schools involved.
Maybe from a marketing stand point you're correct. However the Apple Cup recently celebrated their 100th game. It's hardly a logo that someone just came up with. Last year, sponsorship began with Boeing so we'll see what changes, if any, are made. One more example for you. The Civil War between Oregon and Oregon St. was first played in 1894 and is the seventh-oldest college football rivalry game played in the country. Not sure who their sponsor is but I bet the name won't be changing.
Right, the Washington/Washington State game has like 100 years of history, similar to the LSU/Ole Miss game and plenty of others games across the nation. But the Washington/Washington State game wasn't the Apple Cup for 100 years. The name "Apple Cup" was chose in 1962 (like 60 years into the rivalry). I'm sure at that time, a lot of people thought the whole idea was gay. As for the "Civil War" between Oregon and Oregon State, that name has more history, it became a common name for the game around 1940 (like 45 years into the rivalry). Prior to that, it was called stuff like the "Oregon Classic." Sure, the "Civil War" seems to be just one of those names that stuck, and obviously, those are the best names for a rivalry. But the "Apple Cup" was 100% fabricated. Sure, it was fabricated 45 years ago, but what's the difference between fabricating a name 60 years into a rivalry or fabricating a name 91 games into a rivalry (like LSU/Ole Miss might be trying to do)?
