Ohio State, Michigan Handed $100k Fines for Post-Game Melee

ZANESVILLE, OH

It was a disappointing and disheartening result in Columbus on Saturday afternoon. Coming in as the heavy favorites to defeat their long-time rivals, the Buckeyes had expectations that the 120th edition of “The Game” would fall in their favor, but that was not to be.

The team up north secured its fourth straight victory over the Buckeyes in a 13-10 final, but that was not the final action at “The Shoe”.

Wolverine players planted the school’s flag at midfield during the Buckeye’s traditional signing of “Carmen Ohio”, and the Buckeyes responded immediately with strong words, and several minutes of physical blows all over the field.

The situation was finally defused with all glares and words still being exchanged, while several others were trying to clear their eyes of pepper spray deployed by local police.

In response to the ugly post-game fracas, the Big Ten conference has issued fines of $100,000 to each school. In a statement, the conference determined that “the actions of both teams following the game violated Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy. Not only did the actions of both teams violate fundamental elements of sportsmanship such as respect and civility, the nature of the incident also jeopardized the safety of participants and bystanders.”

In a statement of it’s own, Ohio State says “We respect the Big Ten Conference’s decision in this matter…Good sportsmanship is always important in everything we do at Ohio State. Moving forward, we will continue to examine and address our post-game protocols to ensure our student-athletes, coaches, visiting teams and staff safely exit the field.”

The Buckeyes now await their playoff fate after dropping in the AP top 25 college football poll from number two to number seven.