T-shirts celebrate UD-Villanova rivalry

12 p.m., Nov. 9, 2004--On Nov. 23, 1895, the Fightin’ Blue Hens of the University of Delaware defeated the Wildcats of Villanova 10-6, in the last home game of the season.

Villanova returned the favor the following year, and in the intervening years, the two longtime rivals played to an 18-18-1 standoff, with this year’s tiebreaker scheduled for 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 20, in Delaware Stadium.

Although the game is a sellout (the sixth this year), UD is celebrating the series and the tiebreaking event by offering a commemorative T-shirt complete with UD Fightin’ Blue Hen and Villanova Wildcats logos on the front underlined by the 18-18-1 record that marks one of the most spirited rivalries in I-AA college football. On the back, the tradition is chronicled game-by-game—beginning with the 1895 debut—to last year’s 20-17 Blue Hen victory at Villanova Stadium on Nov. 22.

The idea for the tiebreaker T-shirt is the result of a conversation between Barbara Kreppel, associate vice president of administrative services, and Michael Maerten, director of administrative services and licensing at Villanova, during a communications task force conference in Atlanta last summer.

“The purpose of the shirt is to commemorate this great tradition,” Kreppel said. “The fact that this year is the tiebreaker makes this a definite limited-edition item.”

Designed by Keith Heckert, an art director in UD’s Office of Public Relations, the shirts, which sell for $22.98, are available in sizes S-2XL at University Bookstore locations in the Perkins and Trabant student centers. The shirts also are available at the HenEssentials store in the Rust Ice Arena and online at [www.udel.edu/bookstore/].

The tiebreaker T-shirts also will be sold at UD Bookstore locations in Delaware Stadium during the Saturday, Nov. 20, football game between UD and Villanova.

For more information, call (302) 831-2367.

Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson

E-mail this article

To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here.