INDIANAPOLIS — In early 1979, Scott Liose was a college student working at Broad Ripple Trophy Center when something caught his eye.
“We used to get like a trade magazine,” Liose said. “People were building these trophies, six feet, seven feet tall, and I thought that [was] interesting. I thought, ‘I wonder if I could trade free radio time for an attempt at the world’s largest trophy.’”
For Liose, there was just one radio station and one event where such an outlandish proposal could fly, WNAP and its annual raft race.
The Buzzard, as it was known, was a rock powerhouse in central Indiana. The radio station began an annual race down the White River in 1974. Participants would make the 2.5 mile journey on just about anything capable of floating.
“It was the Snake Pit of the White River,” Liose said. “It was an amazing spectacle.”
A spectacle that was in need of a trophy. So Liose got to work, sketching a mock trophy and landing a meeting with the folks at WNAP.
“I didn't know what I was doing,” Liose said. “[I] showed them the drawing, told them my idea, and they signed off on it right then and there.”
Liose then enlisted the help of friends to assemble the trophy that would become The Buzzard Cup. The team worked in the evenings on their own time to get the job done.
“We had about three months [and] it took us about two to do it,” Liose said.
The end result was a trophy that towered to a height of 21 feet and one quarter inch. But the award was too tall to be assembled inside the Broad Ripple Trophy building, so the team resorted to assembling it in the parking lot.
“We had to get on the roof to run the tape measure all the way up there,” Liose said.
However, while the trophy was ready for the raft race in July, Mother Nature had other plans.
“We had big downpours and they postponed the raft race because the water was too high [and] too dangerous,” Liose said.
The rain delay would become a delight for Liose. His team connected with the Hyatt Regency and arranged for the trophy to be displayed in the hotel’s atrium until the race was rescheduled.
“That ended up being the biggest part of the promotion because [the] AP wire, which was the internet at the time, took a picture of it and sent it out across the entire world,” Liose said.
Despite its novelty and impressive size, The Buzzard Cup was not recognized by Guinness World Records. According to Liose, an official expressed concern about classifying it as a trophy fearing it could spawn taller and taller copycats.
Regardless, The Buzzard Cup had its day in the sun on September 9, when the raft race was finally held.
While Liose said he and his team could assemble The Buzzard Cup in about 20 minutes, they met the moment with a level of pomp and circumstance suitable for the quirky race.
“We made a big deal out of it,” Liose said.
From a motorcade to matching shirts, scaffolding and even a roped off area, Liose and his team hyped up every aspect of the event.
“It was beautiful,” Liose said.
While beauty fades, the legacy of The Buzzard Cup lives on, especially for Liose.
“I'm at 42 years and counting on the awards [and] promotional area,” Liose said. “I was very involved in the Super Bowl and stuff like that, but it was that event that set my course.”
The WNAP Raft Race ended in the mid-1980s, and the whereabouts of The Buzzard Cup is unknown.
“It'd be a hoot if it's still out there,” Liose said.
