John Nicholson remembers his freshman year at Syracuse when he was given a Rutgers practice shirt. Nicholson, a former Syracuse rower, New Jersey native and now editor of ‘Orange Oar,’ the newsletter of the Syracuse Rowing Alumni Association, said the shirt was his prize possession and that Rutgers was always a big deal.

But after Saturday, Rutgers may have become an afterthought. The 21st installment of the race for the Ten Eyck Cup may have marked the last varsity collegiate race between the Orange and the Scarlet Knights, as the sport will be phased out at Rutgers after the 2006-2007 season.

‘For everybody in the rowing community, we hope to have Rutgers survive,’ said Nicholson, also a broadcast journalism professor at Syracuse. ‘(Collegiate competition) is great because you meet people like you at other places. You identify with other colleges, you identify with their programs and you identify with this spirit of competition among men and women athletes, and that whole situation is terribly diminished each time a program dies.’

In July 2006, the Rutgers Board of Governors approved a university-wide budget for the 2006-2007 academic year that included $50 million in spending cuts to programs, staff and services, according to a Rutgers University news release. Among these spending cuts included six intercollegiate sports – men’s heavyweight crew and men’s lightweight crew among them.

Rutgers will still have a crew but is fighting for varsity status, Steve Wagner, varsity men’s head coach at Rutgers, said. Wagner could not comment on the situation. He did offer his thoughts on the rivalry.

‘We’ve had some great races over the years and hopefully that will continue for many, many years,’ said Wagner, who is in his 19th year as head coach. ‘It’s a tremendous rivalry. The first race between Rutgers and Syracuse dates back to the 1800s. There have been so many really tight races, races won by a second.’

Although Rutgers and Syracuse have been racing each other for a long time, the race for the Ten Eyck Cup did not come about until 1987. The final count will tally 13 victories for the Orange, compared to the eight of the Scarlet Knights.

Even to those not directly involved in the competition between the two schools, the potential end of the rivalry was seen as a sad situation.

Paul Flynn, father of Syracuse senior Jon Flynn, said he has been to every race throughout the last four years and complimented the Rutgers program.

‘It’s very, very sad to see the Rutgers program disband like this,’ Paul Flynn said. ‘Rutgers has a very good team and has been a very good rival. To see it go like this is a sad thing, particularly this program, with a good flowing and everything else. Coach Wagner is a great name, a gentlemen and everything else.’

To some involved, though, the potential ending of the rivalry did not mean as much. Chad Taylor, Syracuse senior, said he didn’t feel anything different knowing it was the last race, but did say down the road he may wonder what happened to the Rutgers program and why the program went away.

Syracuse head coach Dave Reischman complimented the Rutgers crew in what could be his last race coaching against them.

‘They’ve been going through some tough stuff and when that happens, I think sometimes the easy choice is to not show up,’ Reischman said in his post-race speech to the crowd. ‘I want to thank (Rutgers) for being an absolutely wonderful example to my crew about sticking to it, working hard and that good things come to people that continue to work hard.’

Nicholson has been involved with the Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association since he returned to Syracuse in 1988 and hopes this was not the final chapter in a historic rivalry.

‘When you see these Rutgers guys standing here with the Syracuse guys this morning, there is nobody that feels worse for the Rutgers guys than themselves, then the Syracuse guys,’ Nicholson said. ‘It’s a little scary to think that can happen to us, too.’

Published on April 14, 2007 at 12:00 pm