There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of rivalry between to state colleges, right? If there is, don’t tell the University of Oregon and Oregon State University, because they’d have to cancel their annual Civil War game! Guess what the winner of that game gets?
You guessed it, a platypus trophy, but why? The mascot of the University of Oregon is a duck, and the mascot of Oregon State University is a beaver. When you put those two together, you get a platypus.
This rivalry started in 1959, and only lasted 3 years before the trophy was stolen, and seen in a local swimming pool’s trophy case. They refused to give it back, and the swimming pool was demolished a few years later.
After being lost for close to 40 years, the trophy was found once more after a columnist wrote an article urging people to begin the search for the long lost platypus trophy!
Since 2007, it has been awarded every year, once again, to the winner of the Civil War game.