Shutting off utilities to the Michigan football team's hotel before the big game / other instances of state-sponsored rivalry behavior?
I've been checking out the LSU/Clemson fan scene here in New Orleans as we get ready for tonight's big game. In discussing the Michigan/Ohio State rivalry with some LSU fans, we got to trading anecdotes about traveling to enemy territory to see rivalry games. I mentioned to them that many years ago when the Michigan football team would travel to Columbus, the city would shut off the water and electricity to the hotel the Michigan team stayed at. They found that hard to believe because it's one thing for fans to act atrocious, but doubtful that a city government would get in on the action. I started to doubt myself, too, having only heard it from Bob Ufer, since Ufer is a man who, although a fountain of historic football knowledge, may also be the sort of man who, like me, tends to exaggerate for attention.
So I tried to corroborate it. Here is Ufer talking about how in 1978 and again in 1980 the water was shut off at the team hotel, and that the hotel staff blamed it on a water main break.
And it appears to be a multi-decade thing. Here is George Canter's book, A Season in the Big House, which suggests that the water was indeed shut off at the team's hotel, but it is unclear from the quote if it was fans or the city. Also, this appears to have happened before 1950. (link to the quote). So maybe it was a biennial water main break that mysteriously appeared every two years, for decades.
Questions for the MGoCommunity: Are there other instances of city- or state-sponsored rivalry behavior like this? Were any of you around to witness or hear about the biennial water main break?
It is one thing for fans to act like idiots towards opposing fans and players, but it seems like another thing entirely for city governments to act this way, so I'm just curious if MGoFolks have other stories to share.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:17 AM ^
Not state-sponsored, but in my many trips, it is a fairly routine occurrence for the fire alarm to go off in the hotel at 3:00 a.m. the night before the game in Columbus.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:17 AM ^
a large part of that fanbase is sick....
a State Farm agent actually pays for a billboard that says "If you damage your car running over Wolverines"
i had the displeasure of being married to a native for a few years, spending time down there was painful. Cbus is kind of a nice city, it's just inhabited by some sick people.
January 13th, 2020 at 11:04 AM ^
Columbus is a shit hole of epic proportions...
January 13th, 2020 at 10:21 AM ^
How about the all pink visitor's locker room at Iowa ?
January 13th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
That’s just awesome gamesmanship.
January 13th, 2020 at 1:12 PM ^
Which in this day and age of the professionally offended and outraged classes, I'm shocked that nobody has protested the pink locker room for being anti-woman.
January 13th, 2020 at 2:35 PM ^
Maybe its pro-breast cancer awareness?
Also its supposedly based on psychology not just "make them sit in a girly room"
January 13th, 2020 at 3:00 PM ^
girly room
That's my point.
I'm not saying I'm a SJW but considering what seems to be protest-worthy test days, how has someone not claimed misogyny for using a "girly" scheme as a negative. By way of comparison, we have people now who claim cheerleading is misogynistic because it's where girls are held back to cheer on the boys as they are the ones doing all the real work -- Again, not my belief; I'm just sayin'.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:36 AM ^
John Cooper allegedly ordered the field maintenance crew to over saturate the field in 1992. They’ve pulled all sorts of stuff over the years when the Wolverines are scheduled to play. Three in the morning fire alarms. Ohio state troopers pulling over Michigan media members for speeding who were driving down for the game (i.e. Frank Beckman).
January 13th, 2020 at 1:13 PM ^
EDIT: Didn't scroll down far enough... @GOBLUE4EVR beat me to it.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:37 AM ^
That's for breast cancer awareness. ;)
January 13th, 2020 at 10:37 AM ^
We're all pink on the inside.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:38 AM ^
That is one of the things I was talking about with the LSU fans. I think that sort of low-grade rivalry stuff is fine. I think shutting off electricity or water goes beyond what is acceptable. And in other countries some soccer fanatics hurl stuff at opposing player buses. Thank god we have not degraded to that level of behavior yet.
January 13th, 2020 at 1:43 PM ^
The MMB buses have gotten hit with eggs in Columbus, got rocks thrown at them in Happy Valley, and almost got tipped over in Champaign.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:28 AM ^
what year did tressel have the drug sniffing dogs check the buses and players when they go the stadium? didn't the marching band buses get pulled over going down to cbus?
January 13th, 2020 at 10:32 AM ^
I don’t recall the year, but yes, that happened. The bands busses were stopped and searched by dogs after everyone had to disembark.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:32 AM ^
I believe that was 2002.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:44 AM ^
It was 2004.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:55 PM ^
2004 is correct.
2002 you may be confused that this video came out : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PahHn2WxUlI&t=163s
January 13th, 2020 at 10:45 AM ^
he actually did that to distract them from terrelle pryor's Nissan 300 zx
January 13th, 2020 at 10:44 AM ^
I want to say that happened in 2006.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:43 AM ^
I'm gonna be that guy, MSU has claimed the hot water has not worked in the Michigan Stadium visitors locker room mutiple times. Hard for me to say they don't deserve it...but just saying before it turns into another Michigan high horse thread.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:46 AM ^
oh I suppose next you're going to try saying 'lil bro showers after football games....
WHATEVER
January 13th, 2020 at 11:05 AM ^
January 13th, 2020 at 12:37 PM ^
So you can kind of understand that the EL residents would be upset that they don't get to enjoy their biennial* shower in AA. 24 months of dirt builds up.
*Yes I had to look up that biennial means every other year while biannual and semi-annual both mean twice a year.
January 13th, 2020 at 11:20 AM ^
When Oklahoma played at Miami in 1986 the hotel voluntarily kept patching phone calls through to the Oklahoma players rooms during the middle of the night so the players couldn't sleep. I think if you watch the 30 for 30 ("The U") they mention that some of the people calling were actually Miami players
January 13th, 2020 at 12:04 PM ^
That's what happens when you are too dumb to unhook the phone.
January 13th, 2020 at 11:29 AM ^
My parents had the worse fan story. In the 1980's, they drove to Columbus in a caravan of 3 station wagons filled with Michigan fans (cars with Michigan license plates). They parked on one of the main roads but a walk to the stadium (i.e., very public place). After the game, they went to their cars and found the middle car flipped on its hood ... yes, turned up side down !
The police laughed and said they should have known better and parked the cars in an attended lot.
January 13th, 2020 at 4:41 PM ^
In pre-modern Arabia, when two factions waged war on each other, no matter how much they hated each other they would never interfere with each other's access to the well. Because water was so scarce in Arabia, wells were few and far in between, so if the nearest well was located on territory controlled by one of the parties, that party would allow the other to re-hydrate there without interference or harassment. It would make for some awkward interactions because there would be instances in which soldiers from both parties would be using the well at the same time shortly after they had been trying to kill each other on the battlefield.
January 14th, 2020 at 12:01 AM ^
The 1959 game between OU and Northwestern several OU players became violently ill after dinner at a restaurant and were blown out in the game. There were allegations of mob involvement in both betting and the illnesses.