The vitriol between Ohio State and Michigan may have never been at a higher level than what it is today, and that’s saying a lot since Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler had it at the nuclear level during the “ten-year war.”
The Wolverines beat the Buckeyes for the fourth-straight time last season, and after the game, men with grudges and axes to grind met at midfield when Michigan tried to plant a Block M flag in the middle of the field inside the ‘Shoe. That was after the Buckeye players allowed the same to happen after a 2022 win by the maize and blue. And, might I add, that team heard about it from former players and from fans alike on allowing that to happen on the banks of the Olentangy.
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So, that wasn’t about to happen again, and instead, tempers got the best of both sides. The Michigan flag was ripped off its pole by Jack Sawyer, pepper spray was used by Columbus’s finest, and both teams were fined $100,000 for their part in the postgame Donnybrook that ensued.
Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore addressed the incident immediately following the game, calling for both sides to be better going forward, and has decided to take it further after being asked about it at Big Ten media days. He is putting a stop to flag planting as we know it.
“We definitely addressed it. There’ll be no more flag planting. There’ll be no more grabbing the flag,” Moore said. “Our new tradition — what we do when we win a game — it’s go meet the band, go sing our Victors, and stay over there until after the other team departs. That’s how we’ll operate. Shake hands after the game, show sportsmanship, be cordial. A lot of guys in college football know each other. All these guys, they’re kids. At the end of the day, they’re 17 to 22-year-old kids, and most of them are friends. A lot of them talk before the game. So let them have that, but then as a team, go be together as a team and leave as a team.”
This is a good move and one that college football should adopt going forward. Rivalries are great and there’s always going to be some tempers that flare, but creating a situation that can instigate further emotional responses don’t need to be a part of the game. Sportsmanship can say a lot about the culture of a coach, player, and team, and sometimes that has to be displayed in winning and losing.
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Let’s hope that it’s Ohio State that has to refrain from doing unsportsmanlike things after beating Michigan and putting an end to the four-game skid the program has against That Team Up North.
This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore won’t allow flag planting anymore
