Saturday afternoon, I found myself watching the Rocky Mountain Showdown. Although I have no connection to either University of Colorado or Colorado State University, I still watched the game. I spent the whole game thinking it would be really cool if Colorado Mesa University had a rival game of that magnitude. That would be quite the college experience.

Does CMU even have a rival? Western State could be considered our rival, given that they’re close to us geographically. But when they come to play CMU’s football team, the student body doesn’t get riled up.

Western State students don’t try and steal campus relics, or make the trek to Grand Junction for the game.

Rivalries make sports much more interesting. Every time the Oakland Raiders roll into town, Broncos fans become blue with hatred of their division. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are probably the most famous rivalry in all of sports. It makes the fans feel like a part of their favorite team. Now that CMU is a university, we need to create a legacy for ourselves. It won’t happen overnight, but this university needs a team we love to beat.

When our new rival comes to town, the school should be getting ready the week before. Maybe a car bash to start the festivities off, or some burning of a stuffed animal resembling their mascot — anything where the student body came together to hate one school.

I’m not saying that this school’s fans are apathetic. The first football game of the season had a large turnout. We have The Herd, which has done a good job of bringing students to the games, but we need a team that we can love to hate.

Hopefully some of you read this and decide that when Western State rolls into town on Oct. 1, we get ready to stick it to them. Hopefully, Western State takes a little offense, and in the next few years we’ll have a true rival to root against.

hrutt@mavs.coloradomesa.edu