Following the Nevada Wolf Pack's 45-10 win against the UNLV Rebels, Saturday, the Fremont Cannon was brought back to Reno. The next step was to change the color of the trophy from scarlet and gray, to silver and blue. While the players gave the cannon a ceremonial paint job, Sunday, the professionals at the university's paint shop are giving it a fresh coat.
"We were just ecstatic to hear that we got it back and we'll bring it back to the way it's supposed to look," Pete Bobick, Painter 1 said.
The Fremont Cannon is the largest and most expensive trophy in college football, and giving it a paint job takes some TLC.
"We dismantle it, take it completely apart. We have to prep it. There might be some chips. We try to scuff up the surface, so our blue sticks better than red," Bobick said.
Bobick has worked at the University of Nevada Paint Shop for 15 years, so he has painted the cannon before. He has seen how big the rivalry between the north and south is. It even trickles down to the two universities' paint shops. Last year's UNLV win gave their painters a chance to engrave a hidden message in one of the metal pieces, saying "University of Northern Rejects." When Bobick and his team found it, they buffed it out. On the inside of another piece, another message read "University of Notta Lotta Victories."
"We kind of ignore what they write about us but we enjoy what we write about them," Bobick said.
For the football team, university, and its fans, bringing the Fremont Cannon back to the University of Nevada represents a source of pride.
"Rivalries are what's great about college athletics and to be on the winning end of it, as we usually are in this particular rivalry, on the football field, it just kind of raises everybody's spirits," Chad Hartley, Nevada Assistant Athletics Director for Marketing and Communications said.
Once the pieces of the cannon are prepped, the painting will begin. Bobick says the silver pieces will be the first to get painted. The larger blue parts will likely get their paint Thursday or Friday. The Fremont Cannon is expected to be completed sometime, next week. It will go on display at the Cashell Fieldhouse but it will also make appearances both on and off-campus, for different functions. It will likely make a few appearances at Wolf Pack basketball games.
"To see people have a chance to come out and see the size of it, to see the scope of it, and just what a cool trophy it is, you know, it's an important piece," Hartley said.
While the cannon will have a shiny and new look, the work behind the scenes is something that gives the painters a sense of pride.
"Very proud. Very proud. It's a lot of hard work and when it's finished, it's nice to look at and have other people look at it," Bobick said.
Bobick says, he hopes this coat of paint stays on the cannon for many years to come. As long as it stays in the north, the only paint required will be for touch-ups.
