ATLANTA — The Dr Pepper Challenge, an annual conference championship ritual where students toss soccer balls into giant cans to win tuition money, is as baffling and wacky as the rest of college soccer. Even more this year.
Two students, Baylor’s Reagan Whitaker and the University of St. Augustine’s Kayla Gibson, battled during halftime of Sunday’s SEC championship in Atlanta. The stake: $100,000 in tuition, not a bad little prize.
As the Georgia and LSU players left the field at halftime, the two students positioned themselves several feet from their respective Dr. Pepper cans away and soon began hurling chest passes. (We’re well past the point where anyone complains that players are more likely to play chest passes than spirals. They’re playing to win the game, and for most people a chest pass from this distance is far more accurate.)
At the end of the originally allotted time, both Reagan and Kayla were tied. So it went into overtime: a 15-second throw-off. But in the end they were also tied! So… another drop, right?
Not so! Since we can’t allow these students to get in the way of marching bands or warm ups, the Powers That Be declared this competition closed… based on an as yet unknown rule that the second tiebreaker was based on who scored more points in the qualifying showdown on Friday. As a result, Reagan received the $100,000 award. Of course, this went down as well as a “roll tide” with Georgia and LSU fans in attendance, and boos rained down from the stands.
They should too! come on dr Pepper! Sure, a little more time would have made Kirby Smart or Brian Kelly seethe in the tunnel, but so what? Do you have a 10 second double overtime! Let them play quarters or have a dance night or 23 Dr. Drinking Peppers, anything but a “oh yeah, here’s a secret rule we didn’t tell you” ending. Congratulations to Reagan, but #JusticeForKayla hit Twitter as soon as the results were announced.
The story goes on
Apparently Dr. Pepper drew screams on social media when it was announced later in the game’s broadcast that both contestants would receive $100,000 in tuition. Justice was swift this time.
Controversy! (via screenshot)
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Contact Jay Busbee at [email protected] or on Twitter @jaybusbee.