“The Legend of the Silver Shako”

As told by Col. Jake Burrows ‘40, former Business Manager of The Citadel Athletic Department and Faculty Athletic Representative.

Shortly after he became President of The Citadel, Lt. Gen. Seignious asked me to come up with a perpetual trophy that the football teams of The Citadel and VMI could compete for on an annual basis. He had already selected a very appropriate name for the game: “The Military Classic of the South.” I was at that time the Director of Student Activities and was also the Faculty Representative for Athletics, both of which positions I had inherited from Col. David S. McAlister, a Citadel legend who had held those positions for many years.

I remembered from my growing-up years in the Midwest that the football teams from the Universities of Michigan and Minnesota annually played for “The Little Brown Jug,” with the winning team taking possession of the trophy until the next game. I believe that the jug was once used by one team’s waterboy and after the game, the other team stole the jug. They refused to give it up, saying “Win it back next year!” Thus began a tradition that continues until the present. Such a memorable trophy was what I sought.

Keeping in mind the roles of each college, I naturally thought of some military item common to both schools. The cadet sword was considered but discarded as being too unwieldy to make into a trophy. The shako offered a more compact form and I envisaged the shako devices from each school on the front of the shako.

A colleague from VMI sent me one of their shako devices and I found an old, discarded shako in The Citadel’s tailor shop. I then cut holes in the shako and attached the devices. The pom-pom was of course included. I took this rough trophy to General Seignious and described a wooden base for it, on which silver plates would be attached to describe the trophy and to record the yearly results of each game. The General approved the concept and gave me the go-ahead.

Until this time, only one person at VMI knew what we were planning. The time had come to get VMI’s official approval of “The Military Classic of the South” and the proposed trophy. VMI was initially not very enthusiastic about the whole idea. VMI had traditional rivals in their own state, such as the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, William & Mary and Richmond. Nonetheless, they shortly approved the project and we moved on.

At this point, I called on Citadel graduate Whit Cline (Class of 1959), who was then and still is a representative of the L.G. Balfour Company, a nationally known manufacturer of trophies and rings and like items. Many Citadel graduates wear rings manufactured by Balfour. Whit came from his Columbia office and I described the proposed trophy to him. At that time, I thought that Balfour would make a mold of the trophy and cast it perhaps in bronze or another suitable metal. Whit took the shako with him and soon after called to say that Balfour suggested a silver trophy, which they could make by covering the shako with a fine silver thread and then melting the thread into a solid coating. That appeared to be a good solution and “Silver Shako” had a nice alliterative sound to it. Thus “The Silver Shako” was born. The cost of the trophy was $532.72 and VMI paid for half of it.

The Balfour Company completed the trophy in time for the 1976 game, which was played in Charleston. Bobby Ross, a VMI graduate, was The Citadel coach. The media gave good coverage to the first “Military Classic of the South” and the trophy rested upon a velvet covered table on The Citadel’s sideline during the game. The scenario called for the President of each college, the head football coaches and players of each team to meet at the center of the field after the game and the President of the college would then present the trophy to the President of the winning college.

Horror of horrors, The Citadel lost, 30-14! General Seignious was a good sport and manfully carried out his role. Bobby Ross was nearly in tears and his players retired immediately to their locker room. Of course, the VMI team was on the field in force, properly gleeful over their victory.

Twenty-seven games have now been played in the series with the shako up for grabs, of which The Citadel has won 18, lost eight and tied one.

The 2003 version of “The Military Classic of the South” took to a new venue as the Bulldogs and Keydets squared off in Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.. The battle saw one of the closest games in the series history as The Citadel squeezed out a 27-23 victory. The Bulldogs scored the go-ahead touchdown with only 14 seconds left on the clock to clinch the victory and to bring the Silver Shako back to Charleston.

After a year off, the Bulldogs retained possession of the Silver Shako with a 22-14 victory in Lexington, Va., in 2005.

Overall, The Citadel and VMI series stands at 35-30-2 with the Bulldogs holding the edge after the victory in Charleston in 2011. The Citadel has won five in a row.