Savage Words: This SF ‘Key to the City’ had a Brandon twist

One of the first rules of being a sportswriter is that you can show no bias, no emotion, for one team over another.

It’s not really a written rule – sometimes it actually is – but it’s an understood rule by sportswriters from coast-to-coast, no matter the sport. You simply cannot show any emotion in the press box, on the sideline, and most importantly in the stories you write.

It’s a bit different at the Brandon Valley Journal. We cover the Lynx, and obviously as a community newspaper, we lean BV’s way.

But for the most part, you don’t see bias, or any emotion such as cheering during good plays, or slamming fists on the counter during bad plays, in press boxes. Media members – almost always – show zero emotion.

But here’s me asking your forgiveness when it comes to the University of Sioux Falls. I’m a USF grad, and my first job in sports was working for the Cougars. I bleed a little purple, and I’m OK with that.

I think most people have an allegiance to their alma mater when it comes to sports. I’ve covered many USF games in the past when I worked for the daily newspaper in Sioux Falls. I wouldn’t say those were tough games to cover, but there were little tinges in my belly when anything good or bad happened on the field or court for the Cougars.

But I always stayed impartial, and I’d like to think anyone reading my stories from those games over the years didn’t know I was a USF grad.

But I’m going to break protocol here for a second.

Augustana University and USF have always been quasi rivals, although the Vikings played in a bigger conference than USF for many decades. However, in 2012 when USF joined the NSIC, the two schools were connected as conference foes.

That year was also the first ‘Key to the City’ football game between USF and Augustana. The Cougars won 32-31, the first time they’d ever beaten Augie.

From 1916-1986, the two schools met out-of-conference on the football field 21 times. The Vikings won them all.

So it was indeed a prideful moment in 2012 when the Cougars finally beat their rivals, located just two blocks to the south in central Sioux Falls.

Since the two schools began playing in the ‘Key to the City’ game, the Cougars lead the series 8-6, but Augustana has won the last three straight, and this year’s was a gut-punch for the Cougars.

It’s not like I dislike Augustana. Heck, my daughter goes to school there, although she doesn’t know the difference between a screen pass and a screen door.

And I love when Brandon Valley grads do well for the Vikings. It’s a great school, and the Lynx athletes who end up there are obviously great college students, both academically and athletically. 

But when the Cougars play them, my allegiance is with USF.

That’s why two weeks ago, when the Cougars blew a 28-10 lead in the fourth quarter, only to lose 29-28 to Augie, it stung.

USF, you gotta win that game, up 18 with 13 minutes to play.

But the cool thing? Augustana scored 19 straight in the fourth quarter to win, and it was capped by a successful two-point conversion run from BV grad Sam Scholten, his first score of the season.

“Yea, it’s a big game,” Sam told me a few days after the win. “We treat every game the same, but that’s a big one. All of our alumni love that game. All of their alumni love that game.”

I know it takes a massive effort from everyone, but Sam won that game for the Vikings two weeks ago. There’s no way around it. He scampered in on a reverse option, untouched.

Again, gut punch for the purple in me. But a proud moment for the kid – the winner – who I’ve covered since high school.

USF has grown to nearly 1,500 students. That’s up a bunch since I went to school there in the late 1980s. I’ve said for years – and I’ll continue to say it – that the best way to increase student enrollment is through winning athletic programs.

I’ll also be the first to admit that the outcome of a football game in the middle of October isn’t going to persuade a potential student to choose one school over another. 

But at the same time, it’s nice to be associated with a winner.

You know, like Sam.