History of the Baird Brothers Trophy Game

Fishing and football don't ordinarily go together, but don't tell that to Case Western Reserve University and the College of Wooster. When the Spartans and the Fighting Scots meet on the gridiron, the winner claims one of the most unique trophy traditions in college sports, the Baird Brothers Trophy. This trophy, noted in a 1995 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine as one of the most unique trophies in college football, consists of a golden fishing stringer with carved brass fish representing each meeting.

The trophy's beginnings date back to 1984 when Bob Baird, an economics professor at CWRU, and his brother Bill Baird, an economics professor at Wooster, came up with the idea. The winner of the game gets to keep the stringer for the year and add a new fish for that year's contest. Each added fish is representative of how the game was played, with the score and winner engraved on the side. The original fish is a four-inch blue gill symbolizing the narrow last second Case victory, 21-14. A big northern pike denotes the Spartans 37-0 victory over the Scots in 1985. Other fish included on the trophy are a flounder, a carp, a walleye, a catfish, a rainbow trout, a sturgeon, a sucker, a crappie, a muskie, a sheepshead, a gar, a largemouth bass and a smallmouth bass.

The Baird brothers originated the trophy in 1984 when Wooster and Case first met as members of the North Coast Athletic Conference. The brothers, economic professors at the rival schools, were taught by their father to fish at an early age and thought the fish theme would be a fitting reward to the victors. Bob Baird passed away a few years ago, but his brother Bill still carries on the tradition of presenting the trophy to the winning team at the conclusion of the game.

The two schools have met 25 times, with Wooster holding a 13-12 advantage in the all-time series [for the Baird Trophy] with CWRU.

PAST RESULTS...

1984 - Case Western Reserve 21, Wooster 14

1985 - Case Western Reserve 37, Wooster 0

1986 - Case Western Reserve 17, Wooster 0

1987 - Case Western Reserve 20, Wooster 13

1988 - Case Western Reserve 38, Wooster 27

1989 - Wooster 35, Case Western Reserve 14

1990 - Wooster 22, Case Western Reserve 15

1991 - Wooster 23, Case Western Reserve 20

1994 - Case Western Reserve 40, Wooster 23

1995 - Wooster 14, Case Western Reserve 13

1996 - Wooster 21, Case Western Reserve 7

1997 - Wooster 21, Case Western Reserve 14

1998 - Wooster 42, Case Western Reserve 16

1999 - Wooster 31, Case Western Reserve 27

2002 - Wooster 27, Case Western Reserve 22

2003 - Wooster 62, Case Western Reserve 33

2004 - Wooster 49, Case Western Reserve 7

2005 - Wooster 38, Case Western Reserve 21

2006 - Wooster 21, Case Western Reserve 7

2007 - Case Western Reserve 30, Wooster 17

2008 - Case Western Reserve 28, Wooster 7

2009 - Case Western Reserve 53, Wooster 32

2010 - Case Western Reserve 28, Wooster 14

2011 - Case Western Reserve 24, Wooster 21 (OT)

2012 - Case Western Reserve 31, Wooster 28