Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Marshall-WKU rivalry Twitter account begins fundraising endeavor
10/9/2020 4:56:00 PM | Football, Big Green Scholarship Foundation, Word on the Herd
Social media account was created to fuel rivalry between Herd, Hilltoppers
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall University and Western Kentucky University are separated by nearly 300 miles. Within Conference USA, the schools have developed a rivalry in several sports.
One somewhat anonymous sports fan watched in 2014 as the Hilltoppers defeated a nationally ranked Thundering Herd team and spoiled an unbeaten season. The person – known by most on the Internet by his initials "K.D." – saw the makings of a potential rivalry in a reconfigured C-USA. He created a Twitter account, Moonshine Throwdown (On Twitter: @MoonshineTD), dedicated to the teams. K.D. leaves his identity and allegiances at the door.
Now, he's backing that up with a fundraising endeavor.
K.D. announced last month he is raising $25,000 for each athletic department to create an endowment. He is using the Twitter account to encourage small donations toward the lofty goal. Marshall (2-0) travels to WKU (1-2) for Saturday night's annual matchup. Kickoff is set for 7:30, and Stadium will air the game on FOX's regional sports networks.
K.D. will be in attendance.
"When everyone saw that game in 2014 happen, collectively we witnessed the birth of a rivalry," K.D. said. "Marshall was ranked and fighting for a bowl slot. To come into the Joan and beat that team, I said 'OK, we have something here.'"
K.D. came up with an unofficial name for the rivalry and Twitter account. He soon started a podcast with representatives of each fan base to create discussion and excitement.
"It's centered around the social media age," K.D. said. "I do polls during game week and people love it. The interaction is what brings us closer. It doesn't hurt that Marshall has had a quality basketball program and that's something Western Kentucky really hangs its hat on.
"The whole year is centered around football and this week. People really get fired up for it."
K.D. hopes the passionate fan bases get behind the fundraisers, too. He knows collegiate athletics have been hit particularly hard the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and wants both athletic departments to continue to thrive.
"I saw the news breaking before the season started that games were canceled and conferences weren't playing," he said. "All of the talk was that programs were going to suffer because of losing money games and the budget deficits that were coming out. I wanted to do something. I thought maybe we could reach the average fan. I can't write a $25,000 check, but I can come up with five bucks, 20 bucks or 100 bucks. It stems from me being a helper. I don't have a huge platform, but maybe I can reach enough people who want to help."
K.D. recorded a video last month and tweeted it with instructions to give to the respective fundraisers, and provided links to GoFundMe. He wore a backwards hat and sunglasses, but that video is as much as the rivalry's unofficial ambassador cares to share about his identity.
"People think they know, but several years back I did a poll where I asked people if they thought I went to Marshall, WKU or neither school," he said. "It was split right down the middle. I like to keep people guessing. The biggest reason for keeping it a secret is I wanted to do this for a long enough time to provide validity and fairness. It's worked out."
To donate to the fundraiser, use this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-marshall-moonshine-throwdown-scholarship
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and an eight-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd).
