Say!...Have you seen Illy Illibuck’s YouTube videos? Have you friended him on Facebook? Do you know how much he weighs? – go ahead, pick’em up!

These are just a few of the tactics used during the week leading up to the Illinois-Ohio State football game to preach the tradition of Illibuck to our Buckeye nation. Because many fans in our young generation may be oblivious to 82-year-old traditions, our honorary felt it best to market his existence as heavily as possible to further enrich his legacy. Although many fans do understand the relevance that the Illibuck trophy exhibits, many do not – or should I say “did not� after we got through with them.

As mentioned in my previous blog, I happen to be one of the members in Bucket & Dipper, the honorary that keeps the Illibuck trophy. In order for our campus to understand the complex history of our wooden turtle, we spent the ensuing days teaching students that:

--- Illibuck is the second oldest trophy in the Big Ten Conference;
--- Illibuck was ranked the 10th most bizarre collegiate trophy by espn.com;
--- Illibuck was originally a live turtle that represented the longevity of the universities’ rivalry;
--- Illibuck was started in 1924 (and he shortly died 3 years later in a frathouse bathtub in Champagne, Illinois;
--- Illibuck is currently made of pine and weighs about 33 pounds;
--- Illibuck is passed during each game played between Ohio State and Illinois to the school that had previously won last year’s game.

The latter point meant so much to us this year – for we were receiving the Illibuck from Atius-Sachem of Illinois during the fourth quarter of this year’s game! And you may have guessed, we were quite stoked over the experience!

*That’s me in the white #33 jersey in the middle of the lineup!

All in all, Illibuck came out of the weekend with more than 3,000 YouTube hits, nearly 1,000 new facebook friends, at least 5 spot-interviews on local and regional television, and an estimated 1,000 or so new photographs snapped.

As for me, I surely came away from the weekend with one shattered national championship dream. However, I also came away with 20 new friends from Illinois (whom some of which I hosted overnight on Friday), a tighter-knit group of Bucket & Dipper members, a greater appreciation for Ohio State traditions, and several pictures of my own that I can show the grandkids.

*Illibuck and I at Skull Session (Ohio State's pregame pep rally)

Posted by Signal_Caller at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Remember this…?

I think every kid that grew up in the 80’s and 90’s had one, right? Well, now that I’m a twenty-something (21 counts as a twenty-something, no?), I’ve found my own odd-shaped turtle. But, this turtle isn’t used as a sandbox…or pool…or whatever else you may have used the round green thing for...

No, this turtle is used as a traveling trophy between the universities of Illinois and Ohio State to represent the longevity and mutual respect between the two rivaling football squads. This trophy, affectionately known as Illibuck (Half Illini, Half Buckeye), was created by members of the honoraries of Bucket & Dipper at Ohio State and of Atius-Sachem at Illinois in 1924 and has remained an autumnal tradition ever since – being passed fieldside to the winner each year.

This pertains to me because I happen to be the president of this year’s Bucket & Dipper class – the 100th induction of our junior class honorary. Therefore, I have somewhat of an important role in this year’s traditional Illibuck pass. Some of my responsibilities include being sure representatives of Illinois are invited to Ohio Stadium for the pass, promoting the Illibuck trophy to our Buckeye faithful, and ensuring the football players understand the type of rivalry the Fighting Illini will bring to the ‘Shoe.

Enter the football team!

Three other Bucket & Dipper representatives and I had the opportunity to present the history of Illibuck to the football team and coaches during their weekly Sunday film session at the Woody Hayes Center. Furthermore, we were invited to stay for the team dinner where we were entertained by Coach Tressel himself and prized linebacker James Laurinaitis – among others.

During our hour-long discussion with the coach, I was thoroughly impressed with his ability to communicate with us on a personal level. He would tell us story after story about his college days, and if you were a fly on the wall you’d think we were old pals our entire lives! I was grateful to have had the opportunity to share in a tradition that will last well beyond our years, and even more grateful that someone in such a high position (such as Coach Tressel) was willing to afford us the right to enter into such an exclusive club.

Posted by Signal_Caller at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It’s Friday night…So, what do you do when you’ve just studied for five hours straight, neglected to go out to a party like most juniors in college, and find your brain completed pooped?

Well, why not cause a little “Midnight Mayhem� with your residence hall neighbors? This is what my roommates and I recently did to ease the tension of midterm cramming.

For those of you who haven’t seen the dormitory lifestyle of Lincoln or Morrill Tower, please note that all common living rooms come complete with furniture. Now, take a gander at the photographs below – a result of my roommates trying to break out of the mundane weekend boredom we commonly know as studying.

What you see is the entire living room furniture taken out of our neighbor’s common room and placed into the hallway of our dormitory. Cheap laughs you might say, but it did help to de-frazzle us scholars from a rough night of writing papers and memorizing formulas. The girls sure got a kick as they came right off the elevator – practically seeing the set of “Friends� staring right back at’em.

AND, of course, after the prank was noticed and admired, we proceeded to replace the materials just as found – placing smiles on faces while practicing a responsible and harmless prank.

*I’ll admit, it wasn’t the greatest prank by any means (we may have some in store for a later date), but it was relatively shocking for those residing next to us. It served its purpose to create a clear separation between studytime and playtime – which for a student worried about grades can often be a lopsided victory.

Posted by Signal_Caller at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)