College football is the only place where a rivalry can be formed from a twitter beef between a mascot and a parody account. Before the 2014 matchup between Minnesota and Nebraska, Goldy the Gopher’s twitter account engaged with twitter legend Faux Pelini, a parody of then Cornhusker coach Bo Pelini. While discussing a wager Faux Pelini proposed that, “if you win Ill give you $5, but if we win I break a wooden chair over your back”. Goldy agreed as long as the chair would turn into a trophy.
Minnesota fans created the prize, that is a miniature broken chair with two $5 bills taped underneath. One bill has the face of Goldy and the other Herbie Husker. Faux Pelini’s profile picture was the original face of the Nebraska 5, but was replaced later on.
To add some drama, when Nebraska won the game in 2016, the chair was missing. This could be due to the fact that the Big Ten, along with both administrations, don’t recognize this as an official trophy game, and that Cornhusker fans didn’t embrace the rivalry at first.
In 2017 Nebraska fans resurrected the trophy, feeling a bit responsible for its demise a year earlier. Both teams use the popularity of this rivalry to raise money for pediatric cancer. Their is a competition between the two fanbases on who can raise the most money for their cause. If you would like to donate to pediatric cancer please follow the link below.
https://brokenchairtrophy.com/
With fans, players, and even coaches beginning to recognize this trophy, there are petitions to make it official. This years edition will be played on Thursday 8/31 at 8pm in Minneapolis..
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