Columbus is hell on earth. I didn't think you could be arrested for jaywalking but within 30 minutes of arriving for the 1992 game, I was arrested along with 4 of my friends for jaywalking. Then held in a paddywagon for 2 hours before being given a $25 ticket. Do you think it was because we were wearing our Michigan hats?
When I took the bar in Columbus, I wore my "Michigan Law" tee shirt to jog around the downtown for exercise. I had three soda bottles and a sub hurled at me during the jog, as well as numerous "F--- Michigan" chants. When I returned to the hotel, a large man told me to "get off the sidewalk, B---_." When I refused, he took a swing at me. This was during daylight. No fanbase in America, even in the deepest south, is as White Trash as OSU's.
You know they aren't real football fans when their hatred of the rival exceeds their love of beer.
Especially because that guy probably worked a whole week for that one.
"We ended up in Dayton after a missed turn..."
LMAO
That sucks Brian, but it also sounds like an average Saturday at WVU or UConn. Next time grab the crutch from your friend and start swinging.
You people astound me. I've been to Ann Arbor for The Game five times. My visits sound decidedly similar to your visit to Columbus. I'll give you one example and leave it alone so I don't stoop entirely to your pathetic level: I was 14 years old up at The Game with my father. We were exiting the hole and since we were at the bottom, per the custom, we had to walk up the aisle, through you people, to simply exit the hole. I was hit in the head with a beer bottle.
I've never seen a kid get hit by anything at OSU or anything approaching such pitiful behavior. I've yet to visit your hole where I was treated like a human. So get over yourself. I'm coming up this year and I know what to expect from y'all.
It's because of people like me that the world tolerates people such as yourself.
- One of the "truck drivers"
The worst (best?) part about the OSU-Texas game this year was all of the message board posts from Texas fans... discussing how uncivilized OSU fans had been prior to, during, and after the game.
I made my one -- and only -- sojourn to Columbus for the 1992 game. I was a UM junior, so I think I found humor in the fact that middle-aged men would throw full beers at us merely for wearing Michigan gear on the way to the stadium (then again, maybe it was because we reminded them of the '91 game by doing the Heisman pose every few steps). I didn't get too fired up over anything that happened, but I certainly recall sensing that there was an edge to the crowd that was different from anywhere else. It's no accident that I haven't been back.
I'll go to Happy Valley any year, dress in my full Wolverine gear, and make 10 new best friends by Saturday night. That is a road trip destination.
Speaking of poor sportmanship, can you explain to me how the Ann Arbor police officer who controls the intersection between Pioneer HS and the Stadium can mock/make fun of all of the Ohio State fans. As a police officer I would think his job would be NOT to encite a riot. After seeing commercial after commercial from the Big Ten conference in regards to sportsmanship I'm still miffed at this one. It's one thing for fans to be dicks...but when someone who represents the university community, and whose job it is to keep peace is actually enciting the crowd I just don't get it.
BTW - I've been to AA numberous times and I've been cursed at constantly and spit at. In 1999, some drunk white trash Michigan fan (from Detroit I'm sure) was sneaking his friends into his seats (w/o tickets), his solution to the space problem was to have officers come check our legitiment tickets...multiple times. And I'm sure somewhere a Michigan fan has picked a fist fight w/ an OSU fan. It's not right by any stretch, but look in the mirror.
We have a large tailgate for homegames and we routinely welcome fans from the opposing teams who just happen to be walking by. Fans we don't even know and will never see again. You are more than welcome in 2006...just email me.
i've been to The Game in AA "numberous" [sic] times as well and have never witnessed such incidents that jr and rob miller describe on the scale that i've seen it in columbus. my sister moved to c'bus a couple of years ago with her husband for work. her first trip to the mall (in january), she came out to find a milkshake spilled on her windshield. her husband made her remove the Michigan license plate frame. no problems since.
i was in men's glee club (yeah, go ahead and laugh) and we had a bi-annual trip to c'bus. the first year we were there (november '94), the town was dead except for a few students that cursed at us and showed us a variety of fingers (none of them positive).
at The Game in '96, my roommate had to get stitches because he was hit in the head with a C battery.
ohio state could not be less gracious, in victory or defeat.
michael taylor apparently feels the same way:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/ne...adel&
type=story
correction: ohio state fans could not be less gracious.
WVU, I understand. I usually avoid physical altercations at all costs, during the 8 AM tailgate for the UVA/WVU Tire Bowl, I had acquired two mortal enemies by 10, simply going by the names of "Mustachio" and "Backstreet's Back." Be careful who you use the term "kissin' cousins" around.
But UConn? Bill, you're gonna have to explain that.
Oh yes, the police officer who makes smartass comments like "you Ohio State fans, have a safe trip back to your trailer parks". That's the precise moral equivalent of beating up a guy with cerebal palsy.
Having been to Columbus, the real problem isn't that most fans misbehave--most fans are fine there. It's that nobody on the OSU side has the guts to intervene to settle down the OSU lunatic fringe. Where, among that group of 20, was the person who said "Jesus Christ, that guy's on crutches, get off him"?
I've seen plenty of jerk fans in Ann Arbor, East Lansing, South Bend, etc. But the difference is that the vast majority who are sane in those towns are far more likely to jump in and tell their nutjob fans to behave.
In Columbus, other than a few quiet apologies, the normal OSU fans seem to be intimidated by the violent Buckeye fans (and probably with good reason). That's the difference in a nutshell.
I think the places where the tailgaters congregate are a safe place for both Ann Arbor and Columbus. The student section gets bad during the game at Michigan Stadium because everyone's standing up, half the students arrive just before kickoff, there's a bunch of chaos because lots of people wind up unable to sit in their actual seats, and everybody is desperately concerned with the game to a degree that just doesn't apply against Minnesota or Iowa. So I can believe the stories about drunken yahoos inside the stadium.
I have seen a lot of smack-talk on the street in Ann Arbor, and drunken yelling and abuse by students. However, I have never seen 12-year-old girls and senior citizens get into it with the implacable seriousness of a minority of Columbus fans. (I realize not everyone is to blame.) I have never seen fisticuffs in the street in broad daylight in Ann Arbor, but I have in Columbus. I have never seen out-of-state cars with windshields smashed in and beer poured on car seats in Ann Arbor, but I have in Columbus. At closing time on Friday night, I grant you there are probably some fights in Ann Arbor, but that's why you shouldn't go to the frat bars; frat boys at closing time are useless everywhere. I can give OSU fans who aren't looking for trouble some alternate bar recommendations if they want, there are lots of other good bars.
Finally, if you seriously fear a riot will break out because the traffic cop is talking smack -- and in my experience, this usually happens BEFORE the game, when people are 50 yards from the stadium and you'd think would rather get to their seats than throw down!! -- then you maybe need to try living in a safer community. The only post-Vietnam riots in Ann Arbor happen in the summer when a lot of out-of-town posses hit the bars.
It is a unique place and one I'll only visit once. Once is enough.
Well said about Hayes....through his actions and words the many OSU miscreant fans have justification for their actions. He took a fairly decent rivalry and made it beyond bitter.
Brian, I don't know if anyone's ever given a fan pep-talk before, but after reading that, I'm ready to go bust a few heads.
Now who's comin' with me?!
Georgia Blue -- I was in the UMMGC from '99-'02, and we went to some choral convention in Cincinatti where the Ohio State Glee Club was performing. We were the last group to go on, and when we were making our entrance the OSU Glee Club hissed at us.
Hissed! Who hisses!? What kind of person HISSES!?!?!
Needless to say whenever someone would describe an encounter with a dumb, white-trash, or otherwise classless person, we'd ask, "Did they hiss at you?"
I will say this for OSU fans -- they're not PSU fans. At least people in Columbus appear to have a fairly large population from which they draw their fans; the geographic isolation of State College appears to both cause massive inbreeding and allopatric speciation resulting in a new species that resemble homo sapiens to the untrained eye but have an insatiable need to sing and chant very, very loudly.
And Brian, how is this the one time in your life that you managed to stay out of a fight? For chrissake, remember the tussle in the *UM STUDENT SECTION* with *UM FANS* against ND? Much less provocation there. And don't give me the nonsense about being outnumbered, that's never mattered before.
I have a funny story about the U-M Glee Club, while we're getting all glee-tastic. Not sure in what sense I mean funny, but you'll see. I went to undergrad in the height of the Cooper years. Every year, the school that would host the game would also host a joint glee club concert that weekend. For Michigan, it would be the Glee Club's Fall Concert, only every other year OSU would appear to open the show as guests. They would also come out at the end to do a couple of joint numbers.
So after we sang there in '96, the week of the Shawn Springs slip, and OSU came to Ann Arbor in '97 (sang the night of the game, with all of us wearing roses in our tux lapels), we were supposed to go to OSU in '98. Only there was a squabble in Ann Arbor over use of Hill Auditorium, and the Glee Club got shafted (I think there was some kind of special event that fall), and the only weekend in November we could do a fall concert was the weekend of the OSU game. So we had to tell them, with regret, that we were gettting screwed over and we couldn't make it down there.
Well, naturally, Cooper finally gets a win over Michigan in '98, his second and final such win. And the OSU glee club -- the seniors of which have done three joint concerts in a row with Michigan the weekend of OSU losses -- apparently were SO BITTER that they missed the chance to have us there the year they won, that the cancelled the joint concert tradition. Permanently. Apparently it was just a crafty conspiracy by our glee club, who just KNEW that was the year Cooper was going to get a win and cleverly managed not to be there...as opposed to '96 when OSU was undefeated yet we still were confident of victory. And to my knowledge the tradition was never revisited.
Brian,
Alright looks like we getting things heated up!!!!
I needed some refreshing to get my OSU hating psyche in full gear for the weekend.
I liked your comments on the after game transformation... experienced this in its full splendor at Madison this year. The whole city turned from a pack of wolves following through the streets with chants of 'A**Hole' echoing off the buildings; into a mob of people saying good game and some courteous hand shakes.
One thing I think factors in this situation is that when you go on a road trip.... And lose there is some nature to be in a bad disposition and take perceive actions differently (I am not making this specific to your story). This can, of course, be exacerbated by your degree of team spirit.
Example, on my Madison trip one of my die hard buddies was convinced everyone in the city has being a complete ass to us, while I took most people as being relatively cool. (BTW cute frosh and soph. girls there love showing sympathy to ridiculed out-of-towners).
Anyway, no excuse for the physical violence for any fans that is just ignorant. They should have their nuts stapled to a stump, and be pushed off backwards.
Back to breeding hate!
~rlc
And to ngorski, I see how awful the PSU fans are on the web boards, but I stand by my feeling that they were friendly and reasonably articulate on the street and in the stadium on Saturday. Except when they were engaging in their idiotic cheer...yes you're Penn State how special for you. But that just means they need to write a better cheer...I don't see how incessant cheering and singing is a bad thing for any fanbase.
As a Notre Dame student and a Minnesota native, I have been in Ann Arbor for two different games under very different circumstances.
One was a Gopher game in the early ninties during which the Gophers were, unsurprisingly, dismantled. I was about 7 years old and wearing my Minnesota sweatshirt, and I had beer thrown on my outside the stadium.
The other was the Notre Dame game this year, undoubtedly a bigger rivalry, a bigger game, and a closer one. I arrived in Ann Arbor weary because of the stories I had heard. I had a green jersey on, and was a much more viable target as grown individual on my own. Yet I had no major issues and was treated pleasantly by everyone except for one drunk who, in all fairness, just rambled harmlessly if gratingly about our team being Ty's players.
My conclusion from this, as well as my experiences with fans from many other schools both at home games and away (Tennessee, Pitt, Purdue), is that almost every team has good fans and bad fans, and it is unfair to generalize about the fans of any school.
Not that I don't understand the phenomena of letting bad experience fuel a big rivalry.
The Hissingest Damned Glee Club in the Land?
it is unfair to generalize about the fans of any school.
No, it isn't. It's important to do so when warranted. As an ND fan, I'd hope you take pride in the fact that my main problem when visiting your campus is that you people are just too damned nice. There is a vast difference between the two fanbases. In South Bend I walked to and from the game with nary a harsh word exchanged. In Columbus violence hung in the air every step of the way and materialized in two separate instances.
Ask Andy Geiger about Ohio State's fans. Ask the people who went to a special NCAA summit on fan behavior:
...perhaps the most compelling presentation came from the Ohio State contingent of President Holbrook, Geiger and Mayor Coleman. They focused on actions that occurred before, during and after the Michigan game. Holbrook showed videotape of some of the pregame behaviors, including derisive behavior toward visiting fans and public drunkenness. "These types of pregame activities -- which often begin the Wednesday or Thursday before Saturday games -- are the foundation of our postgame, late-night problems," she said.
Her presentation also included clips of the riots, where flames from overturned cars plumed while the growing crowd cheered the wrongdoers on.
Geiger, who said his staff spent long hours and thousands of dollars trying to provide safe alternatives for fans before and after the game that would divert the temptation to celebrate violently, said he vividly remembers the euphoria he felt after Ohio State's hard-fought victory and going to bed thinking things were well in hand.
"Then I get a call at 6 in the morning saying we've had the worst night after a football game in Ohio State history," he said.
Columbus Mayor Coleman said the riots "brought national shame to our city." However, he said the tumultuous night may have led to a new day for the community, which Coleman said "wasn't going to tolerate that behavior anymore."
...
At issue seems to be resistance from several parties -- students and student-athletes included -- about significantly altering the competitive environment. That has become apparent to those who have tried to implement change.
For example, Ohio State President Holbrook said that before the Michigan game when she urged students to "think, use moderation and show respect," her office was flooded with
e-mails criticizing the suggestion. "They thought I was attacking or trying to take away the very essence of Ohio State football," she said. Holbrook said students even regarded PSAs using former Ohio State great Archie Griffin touting proper fan behavior as "offensive."
"All of that reaction just because of a mild request," Holbrook said.
Coleman understood the Ohio State CEO's dilemma when he urged tha
(continued)
Coleman understood the Ohio State CEO's dilemma when he urged that letters be sent to all Ohio State students' parents asking that they tell their kids to act responsibly before, during and after the Michigan game. "I received written responses saying, 'What do you mean telling us not to let our children behave this way?' " Coleman said.
It is different. To claim otherwise is to deny reality, unless you can find evidence of riots in Ann Arbor in 1997.
But UConn? Bill, you're gonna have to explain that.
Uconn fans use the tailgating for target pratice. Opposing team bus -- throw rocks, chunks of ashpalt whatever at it. Opposing fans -- throw empty or full beer cans at them. See a car with an opposing team's sticker -- the Huskie football fans will key it, bust the window, knock off the rims. Ask any fan in the Big East. UConn fans are new to this, but they wore out their welcome a long time ago.
I had a similar experience at the one and only buckeye game I attended in C-bus (1991). A day full of dodging bottles, getting soaked by beers, inundated with f-bombs, et cetera.
The thing that kills me is the familiar buckeye response "Oh, the same thing happens to us in Ann Arbor." Bullshit. I'm sure that there are some isolated examples of poor conduct by Michigan fans at every game; with 110,000+ that is inevitable. But it is not isolated at OSU. It is totally accepted and acceptable that Michigan fans are "scUM" and deserve to be treated that way. The enmity simply does not run in the opposite direction. Want proof? Click on any OSU message board and then take a look at a Michigan board. Every page on the OSU boards will be filled with declarations of hatred against Michigan, disparagement of the Michigan players and coaches, and the usual assortment of "clever" pet names (scUM, meatchicken, TSUN, and all the other usual suspects). The same is not true of the Michigan boards. Not even close.
No, Buckeye fan, everyone else does not act this way. No, it is not just "part of the game." No, it is not just a few bad apples that spoil the reputation of good upstanding Buckeye fans everywhere. It is a pervasive attitude, and it would be a much better and enjoyable rivalry if it would just go away.
Dillon,
Speaking as a Notre Dame fan who attended the OSU game in Columbus in 1995, I can assure you that it really is worse than other places.
I agree, though, with another comment. The biggest problem is that the majority of decent Buckeye fans just stand idly by, giving the sociopathic elements silent consent.
Brian, If you find any good OSU message-board threads responding to this post, please link them. I'd love to read their responses.
I've heard some horror stories but nothing like that. Fortunately I never had to deal with those types of problems I doubt I would've been able to walk away, especially after the 2002 loss. I was getting pumped up last night thinking about all that crap that I've dealt with but it pales in comparison to your story, now I'm getting even more jacked for this game.
mayday: fine, fine they're not that bad. But they were *really* annoying the Friday night before the game, even if they fall on the friendly side of the good/evil spectrum. Mostly, I just like poking fun at them because they're so unbelievably pissed off at the zebras.
I mean, seriously, as a Michigan homer I just find the idea of the refs being in our pocket hilarious.
Speaking of which, Brian: what's the status of the pool?
Awful. Just awful.
You think it's bad to be a visiting fan...It's brutal to have to live in Columbus. My wife's a Michigan fan who works for the shithole of a university here, and you wouldn't believe half of what she has to deal with on a day-to-day basis. All because of the football team she cheers for.
I just cringe when college football fans ask me where I'm from. I'm almost apologetic: "I've lived in Ohio all my life and I live in Columbus now, but really! I'm not one of them!"
I don't really like Michigan all that much, but this is the one week a year I am unabashedly in your corner.
Go Blue!
Fuck Ohio State!!!!
Ok - just kidding, not really. Of all the Big 10 fans i met while at Penn State, the Wisconsin fans visiting State College were the best - they would be friendly and even buy a round of beers. OSU fans would walk into town and shit all around the place - they were worse than the central PA mouthbreathers that were fans of my school...
I do have to agree that the general sentiment (a few bad apples) is the norm. That being said, I have been to games at all Big 10 venues except Iowa and Wisconsin. The Michigan guys were always nice when they would put me and my PSU buddies up in Ann Arbor (thanks Defrank, Big Country, et al). Illinois, NW, Minnesota, Indiana - all pretty hospitable, if not friendly. East Lansing - could have been nicer, but they seem to have their reasons to be pissed off at the world. But OSU - about 50% inoffensive, 50% lunatic. And i definitely agree with the assessment about the quiet half not stopping the idiots. It is no surprise that I learned how to give people the finger when my family drove through Columbus in 1987 with our Michigan stickers on the car...
Honorable mention for worst fans not in the Big 10: Pitt - they are loutish, assholes who leave piles of garbage behind in the lots (usually on fire), pick fights, don't understand the game and support a team that absolutly blows. I wish they could join the big 10 so that they could become Michigan and Penn State's bitch.
In all the times I have mentioned stories like this to Buckeyes, they give the same answer which goes something like "its not OSU grads, in fact its usually people that didn't even go to college." Supposing this unverifiable statement is true, where are the OSU grads in coming down on this kind of thing? That article about the U Presidents and the letters they sent out to parents is unbelievable, yet believable.
At any college campus a few students and a few disorderly drunken locals will start trouble. The difference is that in c-bus, they don't stop being dicks when they stop being students. I (not yet a student at the time but probably looking like one) had a guy come up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders, shake me, push me, try to pick a fight, and say "people used to mess with me when I was a student and went to Ann Arbor." I turned around to note that the guy was about 45 and walking with his wife. I hadn't had anything to drink that day, (its a good idea not to drink in c-bus) so I just asked the guy not to put his hands on me, and kept walking. I haven't had anything more serious than that happen in c-bus in the 3 times I've been there.
Has anyone ever been to c-bus without seeing someone passed-out-drunk on their way to the stadium?
So Rob, did you make it back to your trailer park safely?
sheeeeeez - i thought half the state went to OSU.... who are the bad guys if not the OSU alums? The folks who couldnt make the stringent (chortle) admissions requirements of OSU - scary thought.
"The folks who couldnt make the stringent (chortle) admissions requirements of OSU - scary thought."
Scary, yes, they're in East Lansing!
C'mon now. You can mock Sparty for a lot of stuff, but there are still people who don't get in there. Until a very few years ago, EVERYONE with an HS diploma in the state of Ohio was admitted to the Biggest Little Car Cremation in the World. I know there are some smart people swimming amid the detritus in Columbus, and Craig Krenzel is going to cure cancer and all that stuff. But the dumbest student in Columbus has to be, as the Coen Brothers would say, "high in the running for stupidest man worldwide."
Also, shocked that the Andy Geiger-attended conference Brian cited mentioned College Park, Maryland -- but not East Lansing? Who's had more riots in the last five years?
I've had drinks spilled on me and bottles thrown at me when I've been to the shoe. Last year when i was leaving the game with my dad an OSU man grilling some food left what he was doing to come follow behind us and yell shit at us the whole way out of the parking lot.
I was at that game along with my sister that Brian's event takes place. My sister (17 at the time) had to leave a little earlier than me for some reason I froget but upon leaving the stadium and walking home (we live within 2 miles of the shoe) she was thrown up against a wall and threatened to be raped by a group of OSU fans. Living in this shithole of a city truly sucks. Our cars have been egged, our Michigan flag torn from the house and burned in the street, grown men with their families around yelling "Fuck Michigan" not even on gamedays. It is sad and OSU fans are the worst. There is no arguement.
"Click on any OSU message board and then take a look at a Michigan board. Every page on the OSU boards will be filled with declarations of hatred against Michigan, disparagement of the Michigan players and coaches, and the usual assortment of "clever" pet names (scUM, meatchicken, TSUN, and all the other usual suspects). The same is not true of the Michigan boards. Not even close."
You haven't been reading the Michigan boards this year, they've been quite disparaging of Michigan's players and coaches.
Brian,
Great story. I believe every word of it. I myself went down there last year with a group of six and have many similar stories to yours and others that have been posted on this thread, so I won't waste space being redundant.
I would like to respond to all the OSU fans that claim "this stuff happens everywhere". Partly true, but not with the same frequency, nor with the same extreme level.
So far I have been to OSU, NW, Notre Dame, and Iowa (I plan to attend at least one game at each Big10 venue and form my own opinion). So far it is not even close. NW was pretty much a joke since more than 75% of the stadium was UM fans (not an exaggeration). Notre Dame fans were so nice it almost made me sick. Their people treat us better than our own! Iowa kind of fell in between. Most of them were very friendly especially before the game (I went this year) but after the game I noticed quite a change in their attitude and did get a few f-bombs. But OSU took the cake. You literally could not walk more than 100 feet without being told to "fuck off" or something to that effect. Even as we entered the stadium a grown man with his young child on his shoulders (3 years old?)gave us the finger and told us "Fuck Michigan". They are teaching them at a young age in Ohio.
Now I am sure there are UM fans that act this way also. Maybe someday I will go to a game with an OSU sweater on purely for research purposes. But there is no way in hell that UM or any of the other venues I have been to even comes close to OSU.
PSU is next year, so I am looking forward to that. I have heard they treat their visitors well.
wow, more glee club alums than i would've guessed - like more than just me. weird.
ok, i really have nothing else to say about the whole "osu fans are a bunch of thugs or passive-aggressive do-nothings" thing.
i'll just say this: i love kyle king's take on The Game.
"Ohio State at Michigan - This is how it's supposed to be, isn't it? Ohio State and Michigan meet with a shot at the Big Ten title riding on the outcome. Lloyd Carr and Jim Tressel provide a plain vanilla coaching matchup, but the players on the field provide some sprinkles and a cherry on top. If you're a football fan, this should be fun to watch. Both teams have momentum, but Michigan has the home field advantage, so I like the Maize and Blue to get it done. (For a more detailed exegesis of the game, check out MGoBlog. Brian Cook breaks down the squad from Ann Arbor so thoroughly, even I am in awe of his number-crunching.) Afterwards, the Wolverines' band will add insult to injury by taking the field in the Big House, spelling out Michigan, and dotting both I's. "
Back in the day, I lived for three years in Columbus. I was but a wee tyke, and we moved just before my 6th birthday. Which isn't to say I wasn't a rabid Michigan fan then, as we had tapes of games that had had to be watched on TV due to the move away from Ann Arbor. Every ND, MSU, OSU and Bowl Game from 88-93, actually.
In any case, we hung our flag and I do recall our house being egged as a result. This, of course, was not anywhere near campus, but I wanted to dissuade folks of the idea that you have to be within the vicinity of the horseshoe to get shat upon by retards.
Those people down there are animals. We were met with the "Fuck Michigan" chants everywhere we went. I told them to show some respect because they'd be working for me someday. My uncle had a full can of beer pegged at his head from about 30 feet away. Luckily that guy was about as accurate as Navarre and it missed.
When we went back for the hockey games last year, pretty much everyone was cool. You better believe I took the Michigan license plate frame off my car though, and backed into parking spots that were against a mound of snow.
I went there in 92 and had similar experiences. Walking to the Stadium we were greeted with the usual "Fuck Michigan" salutes. Things got uglier as we approached the stadium. The closer we got to the gate the more physical things were getting. Suddenly about 50 Ohio State Trooper show up and and begin moving the crowd out of the way - the Michigan band was coming in we slid in right behind the band with the troopers between us the and the animals. The game ends in a 10-10. Walking back the car the abuse continues, Michigan gets the Rose Bowl, we decide to buy roses from a street person. I have found situation where Fuck Michigan won't do for a Buckeye - When a Michigan fan is waving rose in your face saying you can't even smell it this year
I've been down to Columbus for The Game twice...no major problems, but I certainly heard my share of "Fuck Michigans", had a few loogies hocked my way, and took an unprovoked elbow to the chest from a guy in red. A few jerks out there, but I'd be lying if I said that the majority of people weren't cool to me.
The craziest thing, to me, is how the university seems to support the bad blood. The first time I went down there, we watched the OSU band march in to the stadium--their official procession in to the Horseshoe--singing "We Don't Give A Fuck About the Whole State of Michigan". That seemed a little off...why wouldn't your band play your fight song? Chant something positive about your team?
ND Grad here--I've seen UM fans run around our campus jumping into our fountains after a win, chanting "Fuck the Irish", wearing shirts with a wolverine bending over an leprechaun--all things I thought pretty classless. But at least we've got a rivalry with UM, and I'll admit I've seen quite a few "Muck Fichigan" shirts done in gold and blue.
The OSU gaggle that came for the game in 1996 at ND was probably the worst bunch of visiting fans I've ever seen. As many have noted, ND fans try to be gracious hosts--you gotta do a lot to get into a fight at ND. tOSU idiots managed to start fights at at least two of our evening drinking establishments in South Bend. It's one thing when you're on your own turf--who goes to a visiting team's place and starts the fights? Sad.
Please beat them, because I really want them out of the BCS at-large conversation. I'm hoping for an ND-Alabama matchup, and don't want to have to deal with OSU if possible.
Went to the game last year with my brother-in-law, sister, a friend from work, his wife, and their 5 year old. OSU fans tried throwing beer on us twice, managing to hit the 5 year old child once. I can understand being upset whey you lose and maybe hearing some stuff, but to get violent when you win? I don't understand this.
Payback in AA this year!
OSU fans who defend people for classifying them as jackasses need to get their heads out of their asses. My sister's friend attends OSU after growing up in Ann Arbor, frat guys there have threatened her in the past.
The saddest thing is what people have pointed out, no one that sees this shit stops it really. I don't even trust the cops down there to save me from crap if stuff goes down. Andy Geiger and the U's president send letter to tell people to behave calmly. Give me a break. Andy Geiger is a bitch. When was the last time he took a stand on anything other than firing Cooper?
If OSU really wanted to put an end to fans behaving out of line, they would have the cops lined up with tear gas ready. Anyone who got out of line who get gased up and beat down. Its definitely less costly than the 32423423434323 lbs of trash and broken windows they have to clean up they have the next day. And if OSU fans are too stupid to realize their University could care less about this (and in fact promote it by not doing anything about it)... all the jokes about OSU's educational standards are true.
And lets face the fact... on a warm June day in Ann Arbor or anywhere in Michigan for the matter, you'll hardly ever find a person who would curse at you and hold it against you that you went to or cheer for OSU. People like that exist all over Ohio. I met several people through a friend who went to OSU who refused to talk to me just because I went and grew up in Michigan.
OSU crazy fans suck a big fat monkey's left nut. And anyone who tries to defend them needs to smacked across the face and open up those crimson and gray shaded eyes and realize OSU has its issues. UofM has its issues, and I will the first to acknowledge them.
Bri,
I have witnessed firsthand the abuse of which you speak. They are complete assholes down there. No other way to say it.
All schools have their share of asshole fans usually identified by their clever teeshirts that usually has some derivative of fuck in it and equally witty vocabulary . OSU fans seem to have and travel with a larger share of assholes. I have heard this in every Big 10 venue I have been too.
I found it interesting that this story was on the local news last night.
http://www.nbc4i.com/news/533009...097/
detail.html
I'm a ND fanatic who lives in c'mbus and works in the belly of the beast (in fairness,the physics department where I work is hardly a hotbed of the white trash buckeye fan base that you speak of).
Anyway, I wholeheartedly agree that OSU fans are the absolute worst,and I have little doubt that the bulk of the stories here are true. As much as I'd revel in seeing ND to drop 45 on OSU in the Fiesta (incidentally, 45 is also the differential in the respective graduation rates), I'd take an almost fiendish delight in seeing UM do the same, as this would no doubt be far more humiliating to the typical slack-jawed member of the "buckeye nation". Go Blue.
How funny, the cbus station trying to show how opposing fans are treated. I'm sure they are about as objective as the North Korean ministry of propoganda. Let's see what happens when they dress up their reporter in UM clothes and send him around town. Hope they have a good workman's comp plan.
This problem of fans who aren't alumni and cannot behave is endemic to college football at the large state schools. Georgia has the same problems as tOSU, and my experiences at Sanford Stadium are basicall the same as Brian's in c-bus.
It's a problem all across college football, and people related to the schools (alumni, faculty, students) need to step up and take responsibility for it.
What do you expect. I got the crap beat out of me before an OSU football game once and I'm an OSU fan. Its a problem with all the white trash that lives in central ohio.
For the first time in years Michigan has to win the game just to salvage the season and some pride, and for the first time in years, Ohio State is clearly the better team (not that that matters a lick in this game--but it has to be scary for you).
So you choose to talk about this?
I've been to four games in Ann Arbor and seen atrocious behavior from U of M fans--including having a woman spit in my face when I had no logo gear on, was not discussing the game, was doing nothing except washing my hands in a restaurant. My friend, a Michigan alum, mentioned that I was an OSU fan and the woman freaked out and ended up spitting on me after a profanity laced verbal attack.
Nasty fans are a problem for every big sports program.
But go ahead and distract yourselves with this trash talk. It's gotta be easier than thinking about the game.
In response to casualman...the Columbus Dispatch actually did that last year during the UM game and the guy did an article. The guy got a lot of comments and glares I believe. He was not assulted however.
I've been thinking about this some more.
There really isn't a problem at Ohio State when say Northwestern, Miami (OH), Indiana come to town. I've read many many comments from these fans who had a great trip.
However when it's a big game, the game just gets so hyped here some fans get jacked up the whole week and basically all gets released on Saturday. It's not right at all, but I don't think OSU is the only instition who has these problems.
Basically what I'm getting at is this...your experiences at OSU are limited to when Michigan comes to town. Which inevitably leads to the worst behavior. Then you compare it to how visiting fans are treated in Michigan in general, which I would bet is much better. However if you saw gameday atmosphere at OSU for an entire season you would see a different environment for the most part.
I'll add one last thing, I've tailgating across the river from the 'Shoe for over 12 years, a lot of fans walk by each week as they make their way from the parking lots, and yes I've heard some loud obnoxious fans yelling at the visitors (usually as I stated before for Michigan, Texas, and games of that magnitude) but I have never in 12 years seen anyone assulted in person. I know it's happened, but this blog makes it seem like it happens every 2 minutes. That certainly is not an excuse, but it is my observation.
Hmmm. Scared by the awesome track record of the Buckeyes scoring machine, as evidenced against Northwestern, Illinois and Minnesota? No, I'd have to say that doesn't apply to me. Keep trying though!
As far as Michigan having to win to salvage the season, that's definitely true. Are you going to try to tell me the same isn't true for Ohio State? Anyone who's ever met any OSU fans, crazy or not, knows that one isn't debatable.
I'd have to say the woman in the restroom sounds like she was having a profoundly traumatic episode, to do that at so little provocation. WOuld you be willing to provide any context? Perhaps her eyes looked puffy, or it was right after the 2001 game or something? The point is that a segment of OSU fans are prepared to be hostile and profane and even violent to Michigan fans REGARDLESS of context -- win or lose, blowout or nailbiter, winter/spring/summer/fall, "before, during and after the game."
Are there obnoxious Michigan fans engaging in "atrocious behavior?" Sure, in large numbers, if you count yelling, swearing, sexual innuendo and getting blackout drunk. They're called college kids. But you know that's not what this discussion is about, right?
I will say this: if you want analysis of the Michigan-OSU positional matchups, and were frustrated not to find it here, look at one of the big message boards. Brian has plenty of links. For Monday through Thursday, this site has mostly been devoted to pageantry and humor, I think you'd find if you asked Brian.
As Penn State fan I've been to Columbus, and for the record they replace "Fuck Michigan" with "Penn State Sucks"
I my experience in Columbus wasnt nearly as bad as a Michigan Fan's. Except for a endless barrage of "Penn State Sucks" calls.
Speaking of which, I went to this years PSU-UM matchup in Ann Arbor. And even after a last second win, UM fans were nothing but class acts, a couple even patted me on the back and told me everything was going to be ok.
You're welcome in Happy Valley anytime.
I've never been to Columbus and, god willing, will never have occasion to go.
I have to say, though, it's not such a great idea for OSU fans to get tickets in the student section at the Big House, especially if they've got little kids. In an ideal world, no one would bother them, and we'd all just hoot at the field like baboons. Unfortunately, a lot of kids do show up absolutely stonkered, and there's a certain type of belligerently drunken frat boy that's going to abuse anyone in his vicinity if they're wearing the wrong color, regardless of age or gender or number of limbs or what have you. I realize tickets are hard to get an' all, but I always wince when I'm walking into my section and see some opposing-team-attired parents towing a couple of tots into the same entrance.
"...a couple even patted me on the back and told me everything was going to be ok."
Heh. I wonder how magnaminous they would've been had the last play turned out differently, or if they hadn't won the past 6 meetings.
Well, if Henne and Manningham hadn't made the last play, the Michigan fans certainly wouldn't have blamed Penn State fans for it. It just would have confirmed the national impression going into that game: that Michigan was lousy. We've all been pleasantly surprised that they got up off the canvas.
I don't recall anybody on this board expressing any strong distaste for the Penn State fans. If anything, we're happy they've returned to prominence on the national scene. It does the conference credit and gives us the pageantry of a matchup that was very glamorous and pressure-packed during PSU's early years in the conference.
Boy, if you guys played football as well as you whine you'd never lose a game. Enjoy another 4 loss season.
(btw, I still sport my burnt OSU hat that was yanked off the top of my head and thrown into a fire during the 01 game in AA)
I just would like to say I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience in Columbus. I am a student at OSU and go to all of the games, but I have NEVER treated a visting fan with disrespect. I know that there are a lot of assholes but as someone said before, most sane fans are scared to even say anything to the crazy ones. It's hard for me to read all of your experiences, but I have no doubt they are all true. BUT because of the same reasons, is why I will NEVER go to Ann Arbor to see The Game. Columbus has a reputation (even if it is a horrible one). If you didn't want to deal with it, maybe you shouldn't have come here.
Sorry, but hardly any of this compares to Auburn-Alabama. Its not even close, folks.
I guess the overwhelming theme here should be... If you are from Michigan, stay out of Ohio. We don't want you. Go visit Canada...
Go Buckeyes!
If you think about the fan base comparision between Michigan and OSU fans, there is none. The reason for this is what I'd like to call the WTR: White Trash Ratio. While I'm aware that a great deal of OSU fans are only out to have a good time, there are simply too many pieces of drunk white trash in Colombus for this to be true. If you visit the Horse Shoe as a Wolverine, you EXPECT to get your car windows smashed, or for some missing link to pick a fight with you. You may expect to get a shower of "Fuck Ohio State"s in Ann Arbor, but you don't expect to get your ass kicked. The WTR in Ann Arbor is negligable, due to both higher academic standards and socioeconomic factors in Michigan, which are much better than Central Ohio. And no, I'm not being snobby, that's just a fact.
While I would love to follow my team to Colombus for the Big Game, I would prefer to stay in A2, both to avoid getting into a fight, and avoid adding to my already comprehensive rap-sheet by being arrested for assault. It's unfortunate that such a great rivalry is tainted by a minority of hooligans, but that's the reality.
oh yea, GO BLUE!
Eric, someone who aspires to be such a snob should study a little harder until he can write more coherently. Nobody cares about your socioecomic theses about the difference between Michigan and Ohio residents, which sound like you worked them out waiting in line for Halo 2. I think I speak for Michigan, Ohio State, and Auburn fans here. The topic was people going to Columbus. If you haven't been there and don't know anyone who has, you have nothing to contribute, LEAST of all half-assed generalizations.
Odd, I don't remember this horse being so high up when I got on it.
Listen man, this shit happens in every town. And it's not just football, it's other shit. Hell ask them damn soccer fans about fights. Anyway, you gotta stand up for yourself and have a pair of balls. If somebody picks on my friends, whether they are rooting for the same team, opposing team, or a different fuckin country, they are going to get my .45 in their face. That's a little extreme for most people, but just learn to defend yourself and quit writing blurbs on the internet. Thank you. Go Georgia Bulldogs!
Please don't discuss socioeconomic differences when Detroit has had and still has the highest crime rate in the US by a long shot. I can't be the apologist for drunk fans at OSU because really its only one game on one day in the entire year. Something that should be enjoyed, respected and cherished. Think of it this way, would you rather be the Oregon fan and looking forward to Oregon State?? This is the best rivalry in FOOTBALL period. Let's try to keep it moving in a respectful direction.
The University of Michigan is not in Detroit.
Columbus is a smelly, dirty town full of uneducated rednecks, and that includes the students.
The Olentangy river smells like beer piss and ass.
OSU fans are dicks who teach their children to flip people off and tackle cripples.
Woody Hayes went insane and punched college kids.
The vest doesn't mind his players being paid.
But lets keep it moving in a respectful direction.
During my college years I discovered the best way to avoid opposing-team-mutual-fan-nastiness: attend a mid-sized second-tier state school with a half-assed athletic department in a conference full of other mid-sized second-tier schools with half-assed athletic departments. That way the stakes are mild at best; even if your team is having an incredible, undefeated season, it'll be damned lucky to win a berth to the Odor Eaters Bowl. Therefore, there's nothing for you or the opposing fans to get worked up about, games are little more than something to do on a Saturday evening, you and the opposing fans can share your flasks and get drunk together because they know their team isn't going anywhere either, and everyone ends up having a good time without any stress or fisticuffs. After all, that's what football games are supposed to be about isn't it? Frankly, fans of all the high-profile teams could stand to mellow out.
i find this whole post absolutely ridiculous pertaining to the educational standards at osu... last time i checked we are ranked higher than you in just about every aspect. Don't believe me? Just look it up
I have never read such a load of hypocrisy in my entire life. We could change the names put it in ann arbor and everything would remain the same. I made the drive up north(more than once i might add) but thankfully followed some of the rules of engagement. One I dont believe for one minute that there was nothing said to provoke the attack-if that truly was the case i also sincerely apoligize as a diehard buckeye. Two, you admitted many times that you verbally fought back that day-dont do that-that goes for away fans on both sides. Have you ever heard of sticks and stones?
As an away fan in this heated rivalry you dont open your mouth, except when talking to your fellow fans and entourage. "Fuck MICHIGAN" may sound personal but it isnt! AS buckeye fans we hate your association with the michigan football team but they dont truly hate you personally. Sidenote: NEVER
go to a buckeye game and refer to the 1-12-1 streak - its just asking to get you ass kicked. ALSO!Don't act like the same thing wouldn't have happened to me in ann arbor. Next time you go to a game in cbus(ifyouevergoback) talk to a buckeye fan about something other than michigan or the michigan series and you might be pleasantly suprised by what happens. Ive seen it so many times-as an away fan shut up about football or you will pay the price in this rivalry....michigan fans claim the game doesnt mean as much to them as it does osu but after going to 15 mich/osu games i couldnt disagree more...mich fans are just as verbally combative to osu fans in ann arbor. Michigan fans take it very personal when you get in a verbal sparring match and are just as likely to start violence in those situations .PERIOD! Next time you go to the shoe ..shut up .. take the verbal abuse because frankly im suprised that you didnt get it a little worse considering you verbally fought back. Once I was attacked in a bad neighborhood-unprovoked-and severely injured-i had seperated from my friends and learned not to do that anymore. have you ever heard of strength in numbers? Going to the shoe with 2-science geek friends dawning michigan flags on your back and spatting back to verbal abuse is A BAD IDEA. In the end though I do believe most buckeyes would agree that if the attack was unprovoked "we apologize" and do not always get the best representation from some of our drunk faithful.note: most of the physical stuff is started by the fans who A.drink too much
an B.arent "true" members of the buckeye faithful who try to always stick to the stickes and stones theory. 5 or 10 percent of fans at both stadiums wearing home garb arent
well educated regulars at the games-when this group gets drunk its a problem because they take ittoopersonal
thanks for reading and if the article discourages any wolverine fans from making the trip who already have tickets-please e-mail me cause i sure could usem.
im out.. go bucks...stay safe...keep your mouth shut when away..travel in big groups.
this years predicition 30-14 a biakabatuka payback !! GOBUCKS!
witster18@yahoo.com
oh......and dont act like bo didnt hate woody and osu just as much!!!
and to the guy that had all the nice things to say about columbus
ive lived in about a dozen different
places and columbus was the nicest and by far had the least # of "rednecks"
ok im not done here.....i thought id bring up something i think is pertinant-having attended 11 michigan(incbus) games i have seen a slew of verbal abuse that is by far more constant and crude than at any other event in sport. However, i have never even seen a punch thrown and i am an all morning tailgater...so i think the violent aspect of all this is getting totally blown out of proportion...reading the responses you can easily assertain that mich fans feel THE SAME WAY about osu fans. this is one of those rare rivalries where different rules apply
IF YOU CANT TAKE THE HEAT DONT GO IN THE KITCHEN! ...but dont sit here and make it sound like columbus is innercity detroit cause its not. that stadium is surrounded by community after community that is big time upscale well-to-do areas. not some so-called centralized cesspool! not to mention that osu fills the stadium with more over 50 alumni and fans than any other team in the country-thats why its such a hard ticket! For the past 20 years i have almost immediately responded with disdain to anything associated with michigan from license plates to t-shirts etc. but I'm not a violent person and would avoid a fight at almost any cost-I think the same applies to the vast majority of the buckeye faithful----know that you michigan fans have a better understanding of the way it works in columbus i can comfortably say FUCK YOU! ....but OBVIOUSLY wouldnt say shit in AA. Cause ya never know what kind of person your talking to when your so alone and far from home.
sure, it was months ago, but I still think it's funny that j has lived in eleven places with larger redneck populations than columbus.
Yeah... Unbelievable -
What arrogance and bigotry -
All the time you are calling people all around you, in their home state and possibly hometown, trailer trash rednecks etc... And yet you have the gull to complain about someone saying "Fuck Michigan?" Unbelievable.
As for the guy getting punched, it shouldn't have happened - Show me, though, a city in America where nobody that shouldn't get punched doesn't, and then I'll agree that Columbus MUST be the worst place ever.
As for you... You just sound like a typical bratty kid (late twenties kid?) who thinks a bit too much of himself... Have fun with that ego...
The problem is that you are referring to the entire OSU fan base. Because you encountered some drunk old men does not mean the entire fan base is like that. And just about anywhere you go, even high school games, you will have chanting between fans. You forget that there are plenty of stupid people out there that back every team so get over it. I once had a transfer through the detroit airport with a class of OSU students. Many of us were wearing OSU apparel and we were harassed just walking through the airport and it wasn't even during a football game. I am proud to be from Ohio State. Maybe you should learn that calling our entire state white trash is not going to make our fans treat you any better.
I can only find one occurence in this story of Brian calling anyone "trailer trash" or a "redneck", and that was towards the end of the story after the game was over. And Brian was a probably a little pissed about the loss, why not a bigger fan and say, "Nice Game" ??
I have done this countless of times at Michigan Stadium, and recriprocated on the road when people have acted classy.
You Buckeyes may not want to believe it, but I've been to Ohio Stadium several times and every time it was a horrible experience. Believe me, I don't walk around talking shit on the road. I know better. I'm confident in my team's ability, but I've never provoked anyone. Yeah that hasn't stopped people from shoving me, throwing quarters at my head....or even had full cans of beer thrown at my friends. I realize that most of you Buckeyes are fine fans and don't do any of this stuff, but I've been around the Big Ten. Although Michigan is easily the most hated team in the Big Ten, I've yet to encounter anything even remotely close to what I've seen in C-bus.
hahaha
you are a fucking moron for wearing the cape; what did you expect, high fives all day?
If I see you on gameday, I'll kick your ass and your cripple friend. I wouldn't waste a beer however...
thank God I'm a buckeye!
I have lived in Columbus Ohio my whole life (34 years), and unfortunately, this moron that left the last comment represents the majority of OSU fans. You see, these 'tards don't have a professional sports team to gloat over like the rest of you idiots. It's not their fault. They just don't have anything to channel that crap energy into. What do "we" have? The Columbus Blue Jackets? I'm no sports guru, but from what I hear, they are Teh Suck. So OSU football is all they have. Professional sports fans are certainly as fanatical as OSU football fans. So let them be in their own pathetic reality. "Go Bucks!" as they say. "Fuck Michigan" as they say, even know I have plenty of relatives up north. Vodka rules.
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well who gives a shit, when it comes down to it Michigan in the overall games played have more wins. So if i know that im going to talk as much shit as i want and until OSU passes us up there fans will just be btiches.
It's called a rivalry and we have true football fans here in Ohio. Michigan fans are the scum of the earth. They don't give a damn about the rivalry when their losing, but when their winning, oh boy watch out. Grow the fuck up, and get some damn balls. Save Carbs, Eat Wolverine!!!
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