TROY, NY — It's in this underappreciated game that we find maybe the best rivalry in the Capital Region.
Better than Siena and UAlbany in basketball, or lacrosse, or any of the other sports.
Better than RPI-Union hockey, although for reasons to become clear it's close.
This rivalry bests the epic tête-à-têtes we've seen at Saratoga; they're mostly one-and-done affairs.
And this rivalry is better than the dozens across the region's scholastic ranks that fire up high school stadiums and gyms and fields over the seasons.
RPI and Union will meet on the football field for either the 106th or 107th time at 1 p.m. Saturday at Rensselaer's '86 Field. That's not a guess resulting from lazy reporting: The schools from Troy and Schenectady, mirror images in so many ways, can't agree on how many games they've played dating to the 19th century.
They also can't agree on who won the first game. The historical disputes just add to the allure: When you can't even come to a consensus on a series' overall record, that's a telling sign your rivalry is something special.
There's more. Start with what they're playing for, beyond positioning in the Liberty League: the Dutchman Shoes.
For lack of a better term this trophy, with its capping Dutch shoes painted in RPI and Union colors, is hideous.
Which makes it beautiful.
"That," said Union College athletic director Jim McLaughlin, a former Dutchman offensive lineman, "is the most coveted piece of hardware in our trophy cabinet." He ruefully adds that, thanks to the Engineers' 20-14 win last season, it's on display at RPI.
The trophy, the symbol of fraternity growing out of some 1949 mischief/mayhem between the two schools' student bodies, is as unique as it is prized.
Just like the Little Brown Jug for the Minnesota and Michigan game. Or the Illibuck — a wooden turtle — contested when Illinois faces Ohio State. A personal favorite is the Oregon-Oregon State Platypus Trophy, so designated because the platypus is as close as you'll get to crossing a duck with a beaver.
There's more than the trophy and bookkeeping disagreements that make RPI-Union football one of the best games in town.
The schools, separated by 15 or so miles, recruit the same students and the same athletes. From academics to commitment to sports, the colleges are siblings/rivals in most important ways.
The schools regularly vie for supremacy in the Liberty League. Union coach John Audino and RPI coach Joe King are each school's all-time leader in wins and winning percentage.
"They are 20 minutes away from us. It's not the same" as other games, King said. "The level of play you'll see, you won't see too many other times."
The Dutchmen hold an overwhelming advantage in the overall series — 78-23-4 according to Union, 77-25-4 per RPI (at least they agree on the ties) — and in the years since the Dutchman Shoes Trophy debuted in 1950 (44-14). But the schools have split the past 10 games. RPI has caught up to Union in football, just as Union has caught up to RPI in hockey.
RPI (6-0, 4-0 in league) should be favored over Union (3-3, 2-2). What does that mean Saturday when they play for the final time at the soon-to-depart '86 Field? Probably nothing.
This is a rivalry game, after all. Maybe the best.
This column appeared in the October 31 edition of the Albany Times Union.
