Posted on 11/17/2006 12:50:23 PM PST by gobucks
TOLEDO, Ohio — Tim Keil and Heather Rogge celebrated their wedding last Saturday. They'll be on opposite sides of the room this Saturday. He's an Ohio State fan. She cheers for Michigan.
The No. 1 Buckeyes and the No. 2 Wolverines will play Saturday for a spot in the national championship game. The rivalry parts families, neighbors, co-workers and yes, even newlyweds. "We might start out together," Keil said. "We'll tease each other, but we won't get nasty." Nowhere else is the rivalry more intense than in Toledo and its suburbs that border Michigan. The northwest Ohio area is a dividing line of sorts, and it's not unusual to see flags of both schools flying in front of the same house. Even Keil and Rogge's wedding displayed those divided loyalties. The groom wore a scarlet and gray tie and vest, and the bride pulled on a Michigan jersey at the reception.
"It amazes me how people are really very split," said Dr. Coral Matus, an Ohio State graduate who shares an office with a Michigan grad. "Everybody gets involved and picks a side even if they really don't care." Every year, the office is split down the middle with streamers, flags and signs. Some patients schedule their visits for this week just for the spectacle.
"They think it's a lot of fun," Matus said. It shouldn't be surprising that the area is so divided. Michigan and Ohio battled over Toledo and the surrounding counties in 1835 in the "Toledo War." The boundary dispute ended a year later, with little bloodshed.
Ohio got Toledo, and Michigan received the western end of the Upper Peninsula. Dana Stachura, a Wolverine fan from Toledo, knows what's at stake if Michigan loses — "a year of hassling."
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
(a respectful nod, btw, to the passing of Bo ... of course, he timed it just about perfectly. In no way will a loss to U of M tomorrow be due to that of course, but I'll bet the game is going to be closer than it would have been.)
Like much of the rest of Ohio's communities, we're having a big bash to watch the Buckeyes anihiliate once again that team from up north---and then, for the last 5 times the two played together, the record will be 4:1 wins for the Bucks.
Just like their honeymoon the buckeyes will be on top. LOL!
It's a sure bet that if you go to a shopping mall in columbus ohio today it will be pretty empty. LOL!
Woody Hayes burns in hell. Bo has taken over gridiron practice in heaven.
Tomorrow, though, an awful lot of sweatshirts are going to be sold!!
The game was a bit too close for comfort...I was thinking that Smith might have actually been sand bagging a bit there in the 3rd qtr...
But, oh, this win is so so sweet.
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