I've been researching some of the history of our sports and hope to start posting some of it in August but I found something that was too good, not to share. This may have been the beginning of the MT/Goattopper hatred. In a story in the week, leading up to the 1936 game in Bowling Green, it was mentioned that there were some possible hostile feeling toward Bubber Murphy because he had scored the winning touchdown in 1935 to give MT their first win against Western since 1921. The following is part summary and part plagiarism from the DNJ story of the game.
10-17-36: In Bowling Green, KY, the Raiders beat Western Kentucky 9-0. On the game's final play DE Joe Troop intercepted a Western Kentucky “shovel pass” and returned it for a score. After the play a WK player threw multiple punches at Bubber Murphy, which sparked “a free-for-all fight in which the entire squads of both schools and approximately 1,000 of the 5,000 spectators participated.” QB Woodie Smitherman was knocked unconscious in the 15 minutes that it took for order to be restored. It was reported that Western Kentucky was taking so many cheap shots on Murphy, that the game officials asked Coach Johnny “Red” Floyd to take him out of the game for his own safety.
10-17-36: In Bowling Green, KY, the Raiders beat Western Kentucky 9-0. On the game's final play DE Joe Troop intercepted a Western Kentucky “shovel pass” and returned it for a score. After the play a WK player threw multiple punches at Bubber Murphy, which sparked “a free-for-all fight in which the entire squads of both schools and approximately 1,000 of the 5,000 spectators participated.” QB Woodie Smitherman was knocked unconscious in the 15 minutes that it took for order to be restored. It was reported that Western Kentucky was taking so many cheap shots on Murphy, that the game officials asked Coach Johnny “Red” Floyd to take him out of the game for his own safety.
