USF rivalry amplified by T-shirt sales

In recent years, the rivalry between the University of Sioux Falls (USF) and Augustana College has grown.

Every November the respective educational institutions have an opportunity to prove their worth through a basketball game to benefit the Children's Home Society (CHS) in a night known as The Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge. Traditionally, Augustana proves much more worthy.

In the Fall of 2009, a night intended to inspire competition and camaraderie among schoolmates quickly devolved into a series of chaotic and overexcited antics resulting in injury and destruction on Augustana's campus.

Senior and President of Augustana Student Association Joel Thompson sees the events of the "Augie/USF riot" as an outlier, believing the games in recent years to be held in good fun and sportsmanship.

"Everybody loves a rivalry," Thompson said. "That's what it is. Because of those events in 2009, kids were in the hospital and our campus was damaged, so the administration would have to have taken any sort of possible instance that could lead to similar happenings seriously."

This year, no fires were lit and no glass bottles were thrown, but school spirit soared. One outlet was the famed "It-sucks-to-be-USF" T-shirts, created by senior Drew Doshier.

As an entrepreneurial exercise, Doshier set out to sell the T-shirts via word of mouth and Facebook outlets to help spread word of the competition and give a slogan to the Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge night.

"I was present in a couple of meetings that were directed at how to prevent any instances mirroring those previously, and the shirts were brought up in one of those meetings," Thompson said. "Years back they had these shirts for University of South Dakota (USD), they have them for USF now, and they'll probably have them for somebody else in the future."

The game in November 2010 was the fourth annual Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge, a contest in which the proceeds are donated to the Children's Home Society. These donations allow the CHS to provide homes, education, emergency aid, shelter and therapy for children with emotional and behavioral problems.

Senior Jamie Martin felt the shirts may have been in bad taste, putting the rivalry at the forefront of the game instead of the charitable nature of the event. Martin believes them to be a clever spirit, but is also understanding of the administration's side in that the shirts may have been better suited for a different occasion. 

"A lot of the conflict was driven out of it being on a night where it was supposed to be all about benefiting the CHS and there was a belief that it would detract from that," Martin said. "The T-shirts are fun and showcase our school spirit, but I would think that it could be better at another game or a more appropriate time"

"I like the shirts. They're fun," Thompson said. "But I totally understand the administration's side of it. They wanted to stop history from repeating itself. However, I don't think anybody was hurt by what the shirt said. At the games, everything was done in fine sportsmanship…even though we dominated them."

"That one night last year marked the rivalry for a little while, and it will probably take a while to get over that," Martin said.