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On the Prowl: An Open Letter to Owen Siebring
READ THE ARTICLE HERE: http://northern-iowan.org/index.php?...1063&Itemid=37
Mr. Siebring:
My name is Marc Wigim. I am a writer for the website Panthernation.com, and have held this position since the fall of 2007. You may or may not be familiar with my work. It seems that there's a direct correlation between the people who have read one of my articles and the amount of people who know what Panther Nation is (which, I might add, is an impressive amount).
Enough of my resume. I write this letter to you in regards to your most recent article in the Northern Iowan about the University of Northern Iowa's relationship with Southern Illinois University. I remember reading your initial article about what you perceived to be a rivalry this last fall, and it seems your writing has has stirred the pot.
I broke down your argument in my head, and I have come to the following conclusion: just stop. Southern Illinois University is an institution 430 miles away. There is no way that you can expect Southern Illinois University's fan base to acknowledge a rivalry with a school that has been a sort of Johnny-come-lately to the Missouri Valley Conference, has never won a regular season title in Men's Basketball, and owns a fairly dubious overall record against the Salukis.
Your argument that UNI has done a terrific job in letting SIU know who owns this rivalry is daringly specious. You claim that UNI leads the multi-season series 8-4, as if Hy-Vee sponsored the annual Panuki Series in its spare time of disturbed Hawk/Cyclone worship.
There's just one problem. Go back further. You are basing your entire logic on the results of one season. Yes, UNI owns a 8-4 advantage this season in both Olympic and non-Olympic sports. Has this held true throughout the last couple of seasons? I know for a fact that SIU has a comfortable margin in men's basketball, and anyone who follows UNI football will tell you that winning in Southern Illinois' McAndrew Dungeon is all but impossible for us Panthers.
My point is this: don't base your entire "we are the better rival" argument on results from one season. This makes you sound like a pushy, entitled, Drake basketball fan, and at several dozen and growing, we already have enough of those.
The other issue I wanted to address... why Southern Illinois? Are you aware of the storied and spirited rivalry we used to have with Missouri State? Ask Coach Mark Farley about his feelings towards the Bears. "Bear Week," anyone? What about the fact that we have two newcomers into the Gateway named North Dakota State and South Dakota State. These two teams will make an immediate impact on the conference, not to mention that they are former conference rivals of ours back when UNI soldiered through the Division II ranks. Why can't we concentrate our ire towards someone who genuinely deserves it? Besides, I heard that South Dakota State fans think we dress our children funny. Oh, and North Dakota State fans have called our entire value system into question. Jerks.
Rivalries are natural. They shouldn't be forced. No amount of Cy-Hawk Series commercials starring two horrible actors in Kirk Ferentz and Dan McCarney will ever change that. No amount of radio announcements telling you in monster-truck voice inflections that the Waterloo Blackhawks and Cedar Rapids Roughriders DON'T LIKE EACH OTHER will make a rivalry, either. They have to blossom. A rivalry without a back story is just hate. We have enough of that already.
Besides, have you heard what North Dakota State fans said about our mascot? Who do they think they are, anyway?
READ THE ARTICLE HERE: http://northern-iowan.org/index.php?...1063&Itemid=37
Mr. Siebring:
My name is Marc Wigim. I am a writer for the website Panthernation.com, and have held this position since the fall of 2007. You may or may not be familiar with my work. It seems that there's a direct correlation between the people who have read one of my articles and the amount of people who know what Panther Nation is (which, I might add, is an impressive amount).
Enough of my resume. I write this letter to you in regards to your most recent article in the Northern Iowan about the University of Northern Iowa's relationship with Southern Illinois University. I remember reading your initial article about what you perceived to be a rivalry this last fall, and it seems your writing has has stirred the pot.
I broke down your argument in my head, and I have come to the following conclusion: just stop. Southern Illinois University is an institution 430 miles away. There is no way that you can expect Southern Illinois University's fan base to acknowledge a rivalry with a school that has been a sort of Johnny-come-lately to the Missouri Valley Conference, has never won a regular season title in Men's Basketball, and owns a fairly dubious overall record against the Salukis.
Your argument that UNI has done a terrific job in letting SIU know who owns this rivalry is daringly specious. You claim that UNI leads the multi-season series 8-4, as if Hy-Vee sponsored the annual Panuki Series in its spare time of disturbed Hawk/Cyclone worship.
There's just one problem. Go back further. You are basing your entire logic on the results of one season. Yes, UNI owns a 8-4 advantage this season in both Olympic and non-Olympic sports. Has this held true throughout the last couple of seasons? I know for a fact that SIU has a comfortable margin in men's basketball, and anyone who follows UNI football will tell you that winning in Southern Illinois' McAndrew Dungeon is all but impossible for us Panthers.
My point is this: don't base your entire "we are the better rival" argument on results from one season. This makes you sound like a pushy, entitled, Drake basketball fan, and at several dozen and growing, we already have enough of those.
The other issue I wanted to address... why Southern Illinois? Are you aware of the storied and spirited rivalry we used to have with Missouri State? Ask Coach Mark Farley about his feelings towards the Bears. "Bear Week," anyone? What about the fact that we have two newcomers into the Gateway named North Dakota State and South Dakota State. These two teams will make an immediate impact on the conference, not to mention that they are former conference rivals of ours back when UNI soldiered through the Division II ranks. Why can't we concentrate our ire towards someone who genuinely deserves it? Besides, I heard that South Dakota State fans think we dress our children funny. Oh, and North Dakota State fans have called our entire value system into question. Jerks.
Rivalries are natural. They shouldn't be forced. No amount of Cy-Hawk Series commercials starring two horrible actors in Kirk Ferentz and Dan McCarney will ever change that. No amount of radio announcements telling you in monster-truck voice inflections that the Waterloo Blackhawks and Cedar Rapids Roughriders DON'T LIKE EACH OTHER will make a rivalry, either. They have to blossom. A rivalry without a back story is just hate. We have enough of that already.
Besides, have you heard what North Dakota State fans said about our mascot? Who do they think they are, anyway?
I know he's gone, but his awful Thespian skills will stay with me forever.
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