Date posted: 4-25-01

Editors: You are encouraged to use this story in your publication. Please credit the author and DeKalb News Service as shown. And, please send TWO tearsheets to: Jim Killam, Department of Communication, Watson Hall, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115.

Editors: Good photo opportunities here. Finals are Friday, April 27, at 5 p.m. Fifth-place match is at 2:30 Friday; third place at 3:45. All matches take place at Sigma Phi Epsilon House, 924 Greenbriar, DeKalb.

By Bob Nelson

DeKalb News Service

DEKALB - With Greek Row's annual Tugs competition in full swing this week, the same question will be asked that has been asked for years.

"Why?" asks Pat Morrell, senior finance major. "I don't get it. It's just a tug of war. Why do people take it so seriously?"

But to many Greek Row tuggers, the sport is more than a simple tug of war.

Tugs consists of 11 men on each team sitting in trenches in the ground, pulling on a thick rope (about 2 to 3 inches in diameter) using homemade pads duct-taped to their bodies.

"I look forward to tugs every year," said Jeff Nickerson, tugger for Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. "It's like a baseball player would look forward to baseball season."

Nickerson, a senior management major, recalled instances of horrible pain attributed to the Tugs rope.

"I've had broken ribs, bloody gashes and bruises all over my entire body," he said.

According to Nickerson-and many other experienced tuggers-the sport involves intense hard work and pain on a daily basis.

"It's probably the most painful thing anyone can put themselves through," said Chris Cunnie, former tugger for Phi Sigma Kappa.

Tugs is a weeklong tournament that started Monday [April 23] and ends Friday. Although it doesn't last for very long, preparation starts months ahead of time.

"We practiced three hours a day, five days a week, for three months straight," said Andy Knuth, former tugger for Sigma Pi fraternity. "It's a pretty big commitment." Knuth described 6 a.m. practices, practices in the freezing cold, rain and even snow. "A lot of guys quit because it's so grueling."

The Pikes (Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity) worked so hard they gained the attention of three student filmmakers. Michael Lahey, Dan Zimny and Phil Dalton, NIU graduate students, produced "Tugs Untied," a documentary filmed in 1996 chronicling the Pikes' preparation for the 1997 Tugs tournament.

"The people we interviewed said the Pikes' success in the contest really saved the fraternity house during the 1970s by attracting more pledges," Zimny said in an NIU press release. "It's more than just tugging on a rope."

The competition began in 1967, where fraternities competed against each other in the east lagoon, and has since evolved into a philanthropy, hosted by Sigma Phi Epsilon, that has raised thousands of dollars for the Special Olympics.

This strange tradition native to NIU has left spectators baffled and participants writhing in pain for more than 30 years. "All the pain is worth it," says Nickerson. "It's the coolest feeling in the world."