Ahead of another chapter in the greatest rivalry in sports, we take a look at some of the most iconic moments that fueled the hate.
When the Wolverines arrived at Ohio Stadium ahead of the 2004 edition of The Game, they were met by a rather unwelcoming greeting party – police, security, and bomb-sniffing dogs.
The Michigan football team was forced to stand outside Ohio Stadium for more than an hour as bomb-sniffing dogs searched them and every one of their bags before allowing them admittance into the stadium.
Obviously, the delay noticeably disrupted the Wolverines' pregame routine, and Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr was absolutely outraged, believing it to be an intentional delay coming from the Ohio State athletic department.
“I think there is a difference between gamesmanship and disrespect.”– Lloyd Carr on the bomb-sniffing dogs incident
“If it’s going to be the greatest rivalry in college athletics, which so many of us believe it is, then I don’t think it is too much to say, Let’s have great respect for each other. Let’s treat each other like we would want to be treated,” Carr told The Morning Journal. “I guarantee you that the athletic director at Ohio State doesn’t want his son treated the way that they treated our players.”
Carr said an Ohio State police officer told him he was just "following orders" and that the Ohio State athletic department was behind the search, but Ohio State denied that claim, saying that Michigan was subjected to the same search as every other visiting team, but that Michigan was searched at the stadium instead of the hotel because they were late.
“This is all controlled by homeland security. Every team that comes in is checked,” sports information director Steve Snapp said following the incident. “Every team was absolutely checked. Penn State was also checked by dogs because like Michigan, they got there late.”
In any case, Carr was absolutely furious, so much so that he continued to comment on the incident the following year and even the year after that. If you asked him today, he's probably still not over it.
“I think there is a difference between gamesmanship and disrespect,” Carr said a year after the ordeal.
Carr will probably be outraged for the rest of his life, and it surely doesn't help that unranked Ohio State smacked his No. 7 Wolverines 37-21 on that afternoon.
