I was fortunate enough to participate in the 63rd annual Bell game played to at Brookfields Burlington field. No matter if it was pouring likes cats and dogs or if the sun were shining like a hot July day the game would be played. The high strung over enthusiastic crowd set the atmosphere with their cowbells, painted faces, and the Blue Pride or Black Rage clothing apparel. The crowd --aging from 0-70 --numbered close to 5 thousand which is half of the population of the two towns combined every one comes out of the woodwork to see this one. It would prove be the most exciting game of the year.
             The annual "Bell Game", between Brookfield and Marceline, is one of the longest running football rivalries in Missouri High School Competition.
             The two schools have played football against each other since 1909, but the contest did not become known as the Bell Game until 1937 when Kenneth Duker of Brookfield donated a brass bell to the school. This bell came from a Stutz fire engine used by the Brookfield Fire Department.
             Mr. Duker, and a group of other sports fans, wished to put the bell up as a trophy, like a bounty for the capture of ruthless outlaws, and presented it to Brookfield High School.
             The First bell game was in 1937, with the Brookfield Bulldogs defeating the Marceline tigers 26 to 0.
             The battle for the bell is a week-long war between the two high schools. There are statues in the shape of a bell that set in front of each school. Like a trash can for the opposite school to deposit waste- such as rotten eggs, manure, paint, and even animal carcasses found along the road.
             To protect their respective bells, so they didn't have to suffer the embarrassment of their bell serving as a hazardous material disposal sight, guys would camp out. Hiding in the darkness, with their hooded sweatshirts, to await their prey. They started out just throwing eggs or the occasional fireworks, but the objects became much harde
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