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The Dividing Line - The Divinding Line |
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Written by Erin Frustaci
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Wednesday, 06 September 2006 |
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Page 1 of 2
Not much separates Nik and Alex Olsen, but when it comes to college football, the identical twins are yardlines apart.
“We are the same, our interests are the same and our sense of humor is the same,” Alex said. “We get along great except for he doesn’t know anything about college football.”
 They are both armed with cheesy jokes, are great cooks, ski, play the same sports and like the same music. But that’s where it stops.
Nik is a Colorado State University alum and Alex, a University of Colorado alum.
And like many from the in-state rival schools, the CU/ CSU game means taunting, teasing, betting and bantering. Come Saturday, the shots will fly and school spirit will shine as the Rams and Buffs go head to head at Invesco Field in Denver.
“It’s just as entrenched as it was when we were in school,” Nik said. “It’s kinda like the Civil War.”
At 28 years old, the brothers are both now married. Alex has an 18-month-old son, works as an account manager for Lipper and lives in Broomfield. Nik has settled in Fort Collins, working as a media specialist at CSU. They talk on the phone every day and even play in a fantasy football league together.
“We are both football fans,” Alex said. “We grew up playing backyard football. Once we got to college and assimilated with the teams, it was a natural progression to become fans of our respective schools.”
But don’t ever think of asking the guys to watch the CU/CSU game together. They will both be there, but in different colors and on different sides.
“We tried going together one year, but that didn’t work out too well,” Alex said. “My brother ended up having to get up and scoot over to some other seats. I don’t know if we will ever be able to sit down and watch the game together.”
When the brothers were still in school, there was a lot more bets and practical jokes.
“There’s always a lot of phone calls, e-mails and text messaging,” Nik said. “We stopped betting because he never paid up. It got a little too intense.”
But Alex remembers it a little differently.
 “One year we bet that the loser would have to eat six pounds of apple sauce,” Alex said. “I don’t think it was ever money, just audacious pranks. Since we’ve gotten married, it’s slowed down considerably.”
One year Nik didn’t get tickets to the game, so he and a friend went to Alex’s apartment in Boulder. Alex did get tickets, so he was at the game in Denver. CSU lost in the last couple minutes, so Nik trashed his brother’s apartment in spite. His redecorating wasn’t quite up Alex’s alley.
Of course the brothers aren’t the only ones who get into the feuding. Friends and family often join in. Their father went to CSU and they have an older brother and younger sister who went to CU.
“We have three black sheep in the family,” Nik jokes.
 Though the brothers couldn’t disagree more — Alex thinks Bradley Van Pelt is egotistical and Nik thinks Jeremy Bloom is too small to play pro ball— they enjoy the tradition of the rivalry.
“It generates a whole other dimension of the game for me,” Nik said. “I’m nowhere good enough to be on the field playing, so this gives me an emotional attachment to the game.”
Coming from rival schools gives the twins their own identity and is something that separates them as individuals.
“I think being at different schools in different cities made us even closer,” Alex said. “It’s made us value each other more. We’ve definitely become more confident in who we are.”
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|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
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| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
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