MICHIGAN! “HER WE GO MICHIGAN, HERE WE GO!” OHIO STATE! “GO BUCKS! O-H-I-O!”
My “Personal is Political” topic for this week is REALLY (and I mean it) strange and controversial. As a student from Penn State, not only am I talking about two of our biggest rivalries, I also did not include anything about Penn State. You might be thinking: “Why the heck is this personal then?” Actually, there is a strong reason. When I was in my senior year, I was struggling to choose a university because I was unable to keep up good grades, hence I (made a bold decision) only applied to two university: One (of course) is Penn State (which I made the right decision) and the other is Ohio State. I saw Ohio State as a really great school because of their sports and education, hence when Ohio State plays Penn State, it was really personal for me. Moreover, my roommate’s family went to Ohio State, hence he was once a supporter of Ohio State. With the background done, let’s move on to the main content:
We have to admit it. “Penn State vs Ohio State” or “Penn State vs Michigan” is no way near the rivalry between “Ohio State vs Michigan”. When they play each other, they are always on live television. Everyone who loves college football is surely talking about them. More extremely, students and faculty around the Ohio State campus will always cross out every “M” that they can find across the campus to show their hatred. The hatred between the two team is unbearable, but when did it all start? I know the two states are right next to one another, but why so much hatred? Why they are called one of the biggest rivalry in college sports history? In order to understand that, we need to go back to 1787.
In 1787, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was enacted by the Congress of the Confederation that planned out ways to settle the Great Lakes area and established that the border between Ohio and Michigan. However, the Congress misplaced and mis-mapped the location, which is known as the Toledo strip, which gave both states the control of the same area. Since Toledo strip was a great access to a great deal of trade, both states tried to establish laws to make that place their own and punish those citizens that submit to the other authority. This eventually led to the start of the Toledo “War” on March 31, 1835 (which actually is not a “war” but just taunting and arresting) that is ended only one year later when President Andrew Jackson called for a compromise. He promised Michigan that they would be granted statehood and given the upper peninsula if they give up the Toledo strip. They eventually agreed, but that did not mark the end of the dispute and argument until in 1915 when President Woodrow Wilson ordered the border to be surveyed and the governors of Ohio and Michigan finally shook hands at the border.
Even though the disputes over the Toledo strip is finally over, as Michigan and Ohio State football met for the first time in 1897 when Toledo War is still fresh in people’s mind, the rivalry turned into football. They now battled their hearts out day-in-and-day-out every single time they play as it is more than JUST football.
In short, it is really interesting for me how the football rivalry is actually more than just football and related to politics and mapping error.
Wow, this blog was incredibly interesting, I learned a lot that I definitely did not know about the Michigan v Ohio State rivalry. I love that you made this blog about a personal connection that you felt to Ohio State, and that you delved deep into the history of the rivalry between the teams to showcase that sports rivalries can be traced back to historical events. I think that we can all relate to the charged nature of a sports rivalry, so it is very intriguing that this particular rivalry can be connected to a part of a historic rivalry between the two states.
This was really interesting, I never knew that the rivalry was based in a political/ mapping dispute back in the 18th century. I also find it interesting how you tied in your experience in applying to colleges to this rivalry. This blog makes me wonder what other big rivalries have a basis in politics or any other source of disputes.