Bisbee-Douglas rivalry wins Arizona portion of USA Today

By Bruce Whetten
Douglas Dispatch
Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, December 12, 2012 12:43 PM MST


Fans of both the Bisbee Pumas and Douglas Bulldogs have set aside their rivalry to help each school win a cash prize of $10,000 which is being offered by the USA Today as part of a contest picking out the nations top football rivalry.


Just last week Douglas and Bisbee was named the top football rivalry in the state finishing with 52,690 votes ahead of second place Show Low vs. Blue Ridge which had 50,684.

With the state win the Bisbee-Douglas rivalry has now advanced to the regional level. From there four will be selected for the national level.

The winner of the national contest will win the cash prize of $10,000 to be divided between the two schools, national bragging rights and the opportunity to showcase their 2013 game on national TV. The top two national winners will have their games televised live by USA Today Sports. Additionally, the winning schools will be presented with a trophy that will be kept each year by the winning team.

As of press time Monday the Bisbee vs. Douglas rivalry had 37 percent of the votes at the regional level while Carson City, Nev. vs. Douglas High School of Minden, Nev. was second with 19 percent.

Voting ends today.

Voting for the national level begins on Thursday, Dec. 13 and ends Wednesday, Dec. 19.

The 2013 match up between Bisbee and Douglas will be played at the Historic Warren Ballpark.

Since 1906, six years before Arizona became a state, the two teams have battled. Bisbee won the first game 7-6 and Douglas won this last game 31-14.

Originally played twice a year, with a conference game on Armistice Day and a final battle on Thanksgiving, the rivalry continues to this day. It is the longest series in number of games played in Arizona history.

It is also the second oldest rivalry in the nation behind Connecticut, New London and Norwich Academy, which first met in 1875.

To cast your vote/votes go to www.usatodayhss.com.

You can vote multiple times and that is highly recommended.

Comments

    GMDO wrote on Dec 18, 2012 10:02 AM:

    " PLEASE OTE FOR DOUGLAS/BISBEE Arizona has had many comebacks MAKE THIS ANOTHER ONE! VOTE!!contest.usatodayhss.com/vote/final "

    Fair Fight wrote on Dec 18, 2012 6:56 AM:

    " Is anyone questioning how the rivalry in Missouri is flying past a million votes when they barely got 200K in the last round?

    Does it seem to be a conflict of interest that on the day that final round voting began USA Today ran in print and online a huge feature story about ONLY the MO game? The story was written by Derek Samson (Director of content for USA Today High School Sports)

    Not only does Mr. Samson's title most likely put him somewhat in charge of this contest, but according to his LinkedIn profile he spent 8 years as a sports editor in.... you guessed it: Missouri! According to a simple search of the Kansas City Star's archives Mr. Samson ALSO covered the MO game back in 2004 when it was almost canceled.

    Does this seem to be a fair fight? The Missouri game got a half page article in print, the online version even contained a link to voting! "

    A Hoyack wrote on Dec 15, 2012 12:08 PM:

    " Heard some people are having trouble getting to the actual website that will allow them to vote. Copy and paste this website: contest.usatodayhss.com/vote/final
    Douglas/Bisbee is currently in fourth place:( Please VOTE as many times as you can and ask your family and friends to vote for this rivalry, too. Thanks! "

    Tony wrote on Dec 12, 2012 5:08 PM:

    " This is a chance for Bisbee and Douglas to come together as one team to win this special event. I am a Bisbee Puma in heart a 1972 Graduate. We can do this everyone! We just have to work together and split the $10,000 Prize. This will show our fellow school mates that we still care about the place we went to school. So, come on and join us to win a victory over these larger schools...Go Pumas/ Go Bulldogs! Tony Robinson "

    Melody Dugie wrote on Dec 12, 2012 4:57 PM:

    " We are going to need all of the votes we can get! The North Region winner had the most votes with over 300,000 votes. If we all pull together we can beat that and then some! Lets go Pumas and Bulldogs!! "

    A Hoyack wrote on Dec 12, 2012 3:08 PM:

    " Our very own Douglas/Bisbee rivalry won their region!!!!

    Now it's on to the National Round!!!!! The Bulldogs and Pumas need A LOT of votes!!!!!! The other three regional winners had between 200,000-300,000 votes! Our rivalry had under 100,000. This means we have to get the word out and people have to VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!!!! Like the article mentioned, you can vote multiple times! SO PLEASE DO SO!!!!!

    If you did not attend Douglas High or Bisbee High, please vote for this rivalry anyway! These two schools would really appreciate your support! Thanks! "

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