Well, isn’t this just the softest thing ever?
Twice in 2024, Michigan football had the opposing team plant a flag at midfield at The Big House, but you never really heard about it because there was absolutely no uproar. Both Texas and Oregon took their turns celebrating in Ann Arbor and no one said a word. No punches were thrown, no words were exchanged.
But in Ohio? They’re a little salty.
That’s because 2024 was supposed to be Ohio State’s team of destiny, a team that would right the wrongs of the past three years. But unranked Michigan came into The Shoe and upset the then-No. 2 Buckeyes and then followed by doing exactly what it had done two years prior in planting the block M flag on the midfield block O. What resulted was an all-out brawl, as Buckeye players rushed the gathered Michigan contingent.
Now, an Ohio-based lawmaker is trying to make what Michigan did a felony. Via the Dispatch:
An Ohio lawmaker wants to make it a felony to plant a flag in the center of Ohio Stadium.
The move comes after a fight broke out between Ohio State and Michigan players after the Wolverines tried to plant a flag on OSU’s field after defeating the Buckeyes 13-10 on Nov. 30. The Big Ten fined Ohio State and Michigan $100,000 apiece for each team’s role in the fight.
State Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Twp., introduced the O.H.I.O. Sportsmanship Act Tuesday. He could not be reached for comment.
If you don’t want an opposing team to plant a flag, you have an excellent recourse that is not even remotely litigious: beat them on the field. And by beat them on the field, that doesn’t mean literally, as Ohio State players attempted to do in the postgame by throwing hands.
Perhaps the good representative should work on a law that deals with physical retaliation after the other team innocuously celebrates? Or is that a bridge too far?