Rivalry
When I was in high school, as well as when I was in college, my schools really didn't have a rival. And while I'm a big sports fan, I've never really understand just how intense rivalries can be.Last week, Rex Kern was on the Jim Rome Show. Kern was the quarterback of Ohio State when they won the national championship in 1968. I tuned in about halfway through the interview, and I immediately noticed that whenever Kern said something about Michigan, he wouldn't actually say "Michigan"--he'd say "that school up north."
Towards the end of the interview, Rome asked him if he just refused to say "Michigan," even after all these years. Kern said "I don't like saying that world."
It was great. Kern wasn't being a dick. He wasn't some drunk getting into a fistfight over the gear someone was wearing. It was all very civilized, but even after 40 years, Kern still couldn't stand Michigan.
I think that may have been the first time I ever had an inkling of what real rivalries are like.
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