Now Entering Vegas

by Clarissa León on 16 Aug 2007

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The sun had just risen at 6:56 a.m. when Mike Sankuer, University of Nevada, Reno senior pulled into the Jot Travis Student Union parking lot on Saturday, Sept. 30.

He grabbed his green cooler filled with sandwiches, cold drinks and his backpack filled with a laptop, an iPod and computer games from his car before joining nearly 100 Wolf Pack fans on the JTSU lawn.

After waiting for an hour-and-a-half, the bus that would take Sankuer and the other fans to Las Vegas for the annual University of Nevada, Las Vegas and UNR rivalry football game finally arrived.

The game, which has been called the "Civil War" between Northern and Southern Nevada, determines which school will get the illustrious Fremont Cannon, the symbol of victory.

Moreover, the game entitles the winner to state bragging rights for the year.

Nearly a month before, Sankuer and everyone on the trip handed over $50 for the Flipside bus ride that gave students a chance for a drive down to Las Vegas to watch the rivalry game on Saturday.

Before the buses came, Eli Reilly, Flipside travel and recreations chair, passed out navy blue T-shirts with the Fremont Cannon printed in silver on the front and foam #1 fingers to students.

For Sankuer, paying $50 to spend nearly 10 hours on a bus with roused-up UNR fans was worth it. Once on the bus, Reilly made his spiel.

"Hi, I'm Eli Reilly, the travel and recreations chair," Reilly said, with student checklist in hand. "I want to say that if you are not on the bus when I tell you to be then you get left behind. We're representing the school so try not to act [inappropriately]."

Moments later, the buses pulled out of the JTSU, with Sankuer who took his seat in the bus. It was his first time going down on the bus to see the four-decade old rivalry game, Sankuer said.

The two buses filled with sleepy students dressed in navy blue passed by miles of sagebrush and monochromatic, chalky mountains on the way to Las Vegas.

Bert, the bus driver, wearing aviator sunglasses and his tie tucked into his vest, sat still as he drove miles of empty road at 66 mph.

An hour-and-a-half into the trip Sankuer pulled out his disposable camera and turned around in his seat, his shoes up in the air, and snapped a picture of the sleeping students.

When the bus arrived in Tonopah, a town with a population of about 4,000 people, tired students filed out into the lone McDonald's parking lot and waited in line to order fries and ice cream, while others walked across the street toward the Scolari's grocery store to get snacks and other items for the remainder of the trip.

At Scolari's, Sankuer bought a Mad Libs book and puzzle books to do once he was back on the bus.

"Uh…goat," Sankuer's friends told him as he filled out the Mad Libs. "Goat is always a good one."

About four hours later, Sankuer, exhausted from being on the bus and playing Mad Libs, and the pack of antsy fraternity brothers and energized Wolf Pack fans had enough of sitting in their seats.

By 4:30 p.m., girls were touching-up their faces with foundation and sleepy eyes began to open.

"We're now entering Vegas," Bert called on the speaker.

From the looks of the billboard signs, the suburban housing and the palm trees, coming into Las Vegas meant the football rivalry game was one step closer.

Getting to the Game

Nearly half of the bus stood up and turned to their windows to the Nissan dealership to the right. Stuck behind the dealership, and with the Santa Fe Station Casino to the left, the bus found itself right in the middle of traffic, each minute, only inching a bit more to the Sam Boyd Stadium.

"Hey, F the Rebels!" students shouted as cars passed with Las Vegas Rebel fans inside.
But as Reno fans passed the bus, the good feelings were mutual.

"Hey they got Nevada shirts on, be cool," UNR student Dale Keller said. "Go Wolf Pack!"

With only 20 minutes before kickoff, the bus was still in line to get into Sam Boyd Stadium behind dozens of cars.

"Way to go Bert," Reilly said, as Bert barely made a green light. "Bert, Bert, Bert. Hey Bert, don't let them in."

For Reilly, the game's anticipation had brewed for the past year.

"We're not just getting off the bus," Reilly said, standing up to the window. "We get
unleashed into the crowd. We've come to the promise land. We're going to destroy UNLV."

With the night coming and kick-off just five minutes away, the tour bus pulled in
underneath the UNLV tower to enter into Sam Boyd Stadium.

"Okay, as soon as the game ends, we are going to meet at the east parking lots," Reilly said. "Don't do anything stupid."

The Game

Sankuer raced up a flight of steps to rush past students shouting profanities to both the Rebel and Wolf Pack fans and a "50-year-old who was throwing beer on (UNR students)," he said.

"F the Rebels!" fans shouted, clapping in unison afterward. "Woo-hoo. Go Nevada."

Sankuer took his seat roughly 30 rows behind the five-yard line in between a sea of UNR fans while his friends from the bus ride were scattered throughout the bleachers.

Sankuer was ready with a $55 Nevada jersey on, a spy binoculars flask with Hypnotic alcohol in the right eyepiece and Citron alcohol in the left, and most importantly a ticket.

Right across the field, thousands of Rebel fans wore red, creating a sea of crimson in Sam Boyd Stadium.

By the third quarter, the game was decidedly over for Keller, standing just below Sankuer.

"It's all over," Keller said. "It was over by the third quarter."

Even by the second quarter, Chris Driscoll, the A.S.U.N. executive vice president, made predictions.

Sitting in the front row of the UNR student section, Driscoll said he was ready to rush the field.

"I think we're doing great," Driscoll said. "This is exactly where we want to be at half time. It's 10 to 0 right now with four minutes to go. We're going to roll on to win 31 to 0."

As the game came to a close, a crowd of Wolf Pack fans rushed the field, including Driscoll.

"Can-non," they chanted. "Can-non."

For another year, the Fremont Cannon was UNR's. UNR won 32-3.

"The future of this rivalry is looking good on our side for a while," Coach Chris Ault said, coming out of the Sam Boyd stadium locker room. "They keep defining themselves, you just got to find what makes them tick. Hawaii is going to be a test."

For Jeff Rowe, UNR quarterback, the taste of victory was sweet.

"At the end of the season, if you lost to Vegas you'd have a bit of a sour taste knowing you've lost," Rowe said.

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