College football fans take things like rivalries to an insane extreme on a regular basis, and the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry — nicknamed the “Border Battle” — is one of the biggest examples of that. It can make enemies out of complete strangers, and it did just that on a tour boat in the wee hours of Saturday night on Lake Erie.
13 ABC reported that two couples were arguing about the rivalry in question on a Jet Express boat, which takes people from mainland Ohio to tourist destination islands like Put-in-Bay and Kelleys Island, when things turned physical:
“They were arguing, cursing at each other,” says Ben Freeman, a witness from Cincinnati who was in town for a fishing trip. “As the argument went on, the Michigan fan’s girlfriend stood up, pulled the hair of the Ohio State’s fan’s girlfriend … the wife, actually. He tried to defend his wife by shoving the Michigan fan’s girlfriend. The Michigan fan stood up and tried to defend his girlfriend. And after that they mutually started to fist fight and swing on each other. It was crazy.”
Did we mention this was after midnight on a Saturday? Yeah, rivalry wasn’t the only thing fueling this fight. Only one of the couples was arrested, but they were released the next day. Perhaps Gary Mahoney, a Michigan State fan (YOU STAY OUT OF THIS, GARY), summed it up best when 13 ABC stuck a mic in his face:
“You’ve got to know when to draw the line,” says Mahoney. “Sports are good, but when it reaches that point, obviously it’s way overboard.”
Well put, Gary. And bonus points for the nautical pun.
(Via 13 ABC)
