Over the last two seasons, the Brokeback Cowboys have established themselves as the dominant force of the Oberlin Intramural Softball scene. Closer than Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar, the team is tightly knit and, “like the Denver Broncos front line,” refuses to do interviews.

Led by senior captain Steve Le, the team with “ridiculously good hairlines” beat Team New House 10-5 to advance to the finals to play either Evil Empire or long-time archrival the Kingston Donkeys.

Captain Le has made it a point to his players and those who want to join the defending champion and now two-time finalist that “you can’t be a Cowboy until you vanquish a Donkey.”

With a backbone of varsity soccer players, including first-year Will “The Franchise” Stammell, the Cowboys have gone undefeated over the course of the year, establishing their dominance as they stand over their bent-over competition.

But not everyone is wishing to play catcher to the Cowboys’ incredible winning streak. The Donkeys realize that nothing matters until the playoffs, and with the chance to meet off with their rivals in the final, they let their true hatred for the team finally come out as inspiration to get through the Evil Empire.

“We refer to them as the unrepentant sodomites,” Donkey member and College senior Andrew Estep clarified with a touch of humor. “I despise them. Their smiling, cute, boyish faces, short shorts. They are ferocious competitors and flaming homosexuals and I can’t wait until I pummel them in the finals.”

Clearly the hatred runs deep between of the two. Last spring, the Cowboys took the crown in the finals from the Donkeys; the Cowboys won’t let the Donkeys live it down any time soon.

Earlier this season, the Donkeys had to lick defeat from their faces as the Cowboys busted out for a 5-0 victory. But what has become increasingly obvious is that what happens on the softball fields up in the North Fields, does not just stay in the North Fields.

The Donkeys have made this quest for victory personal, as their hatred for the Cowboys runs cold through their veins while the Cowboys are saying to each other, “You know it could be like this. Just like this always.”

Either way, the Donkeys will be looking to get by Evil Empire this Saturday. With the finals at either 4:45 or 5 p.m. on Monday, who knows who might stand as King of the Intramural Softball Mountain when the game is at an end.