ABJ
Tradition is a charm for Ohio State Buckeyes rewarded with gold pants for beating rival Wolverines
By George M. Thomas Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Friday, Nov 16, 2007
Michigan spent years beating the pants off Ohio State.
Then Francis Schmidt arrived in Columbus in 1934 to resurrect the moribund OSU football program. Legend has it that during his interview, when asked how his teams would do against Michigan, he simply replied: ''They put their pants on one leg at a time just like we do.''
It was then that Schmidt gave OSU one of its greatest traditions. Since 1934, every Buckeyes player and coach on a team that beats the rival from the north receives a gold pants charm. It's a coveted piece of sports memorabilia, with one pair having sold for $1,000 on eBay recently.
Veteran players concede that they were confused about what the charms were when they arrived at Ohio State as freshman.
Cont...