Most people when meeting each other for the first time use a typical: hello, hi, howdy, how are you, hola, G'day. But in Pueblo they natives greet each other like you have never or heard seen before. "Hi, where did you go to school?" This happens almost every time I meet someone new in Pueblo. Many "outsiders" do not find this a heart warming experience. But to the locals it identifies you, your family and your relationship to the town.
If you went to Central High School for instance then you know the history and the rivalry that has been going on with Centennial High since 1892. The bell game in Pueblo is of historical significance. If you attended East High your rivalry is with South High.
Bell Game
Most Colorado high school football players don't play in front off 12,500 fans during an entire season. But every year in Pueblo, the boys of Central and Centennial expect nothing less when they battle for a traveling trophy in the Bell Game at venerable Dutch Clark Stadium.
Locals claim this is the oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi, begun Thanksgiving Day, 1892. The bell was introduced to the rivalry in 1950, when Lewis Rhoades found it on a locomotive at the Colorado Fuel & Iron 
railway.
The citizens of Pueblo make this more than a football game - it's a community event embracing the pride and spirit of a gritty former steel-mill town. Dutch Clark http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=46 Stadium, the namesake of the city's legendary NFL hometown hero, sits hard on the south bank of the Arkansas River, with rail yards and smokestacks framing the background. Recent upgrades have not changed its personality - cavernous and menacing, providing the perfect battleground for coveted bragging rights.
"Our broadcast will be seen in every bar and nursing home in Pueblo," quipped Joe Cervi, a well-known journalist and broadcaster. "The Bell Game links many generations in Pueblo." http://www.milehighsportsmagazine.com/BellNov.htm
For more information about Pueblo Schools:
- East High School http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/co/1287
- South High School http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/co/1305
- Centennial High School http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/co/1283
- Central High School http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/co/1284
- County High School http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/co/1318
- District 60 http://www.pueblo60.k12.co.us/
- District 70 http://www.district70.org/
Comments(1)