• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

Mirror Lake Jump (official thread)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
One of my traditions during Michigan week is to go down to the beach, and jump in that big lake known as the Pacific. Of course, since the weather will be in the 80's, I'm not quite sure it's the same feeling that some of you will, (or have in the past), experience(d). By the way, if I run into any UM fans, should I give them, as Tress would say, a little "nudge" into the ocean? :wink2:
 
Upvote 0
Now, I don't remember anyone jumping into Mirror Lake but...

The following is a true story:

Thursday night Nov. 18, 1982 before "The Game."

I was living in Bradley Hall on South Campus but at around 10 PM I was in Stradley Hall when a pep-band version of TBDBITL started playing in the parking lot between Siebert and Stradley. They were hoping to get followers as they marched around campus. I ran down and joined some friends that they grabbed from Bradley and the band led us up 12th Ave. towards High Street getting as many followers as possible. The crowd grew as we passed Baker and Steeb. The Columbus Police had threatened a "Blue Flu" the next day on Friday so the band didn't expect any problems. So, when they reached High Street the band marched onto the street and started North towards 15th Ave. At first we were marching in the North Bound lane but motorist were still driving South. The Columbus Police blocked off High at 9th Ave. As we proceeded North we began to spread into the South Bound lane when just before reaching Hagerty Hall a brand new Cadillac Eldorado with Michigan plates tried to pull passed us and 4 "idiots" inside wearing business suits yelled "Ohio State Sucks!!" Now, let me paint the picture. It is 1982 and Cbus at the time was a "Cow Town." So, everyone male and female for the most part wore cowboy boots. Got the picture? Anyway, the angered crowd ran over and began punching the "idiot" driver as he tried to get his window up. Others were kicking and punching the car as he tried to escpape(myself included ofcourse). Finally he drove onto the sidewalk. Now, anyone who has been on the Campus side of High Street knows the sidewalks are very wide but also the curb is higher than most. Picking up speed he began dragging some people as they tried to overturn his now less than shiny new Cadillac. As he attempted to get back on the street the "high" curb grabbed his exhaust system and ripped it out from underneath leaving it laying in the South bound lane. :biggrin:
The cheers were as loud as they are on Saturday at the Shoe. We continued North now in both lanes and the police had blocked off High at Lane Ave. There was traffic backed up at both ends now for as far as you could see. When the band reached 15th and High they turned right and headed up Sorority row. The "pep band" managed to get many of these greek women out of their houses in their night gowns to join the mob in a huge circle and kick line as they played "Hang On Sloopy" right in the middle of the street at 15th and High. After they played "Buckeye Battle Cry" they marched off to the Oval and out of sight. My friends and I proceeded back to Bradley but on the way we threw a friend into Mirror Lake because it was his birthday. He was a little intoxicated and since Mirror Lake isn't very deap he hit his head and came up bleeding and had a knot on his forehead. When we got back to Bradley we broke out some Vodka woke up some other friends and made Strawberry Daquiris until 4:30 AM. Needless to say I didn't make it to any classes on Friday. But, it was well worth it. The Columbus Police did not strike and on Saturday the Bucks rolled to victory 24-14. A memory that will never be forgotten...

:osu:


:oh:
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Students are not the only ones paying a price for the Mirror Lake jumps. Last year's Mirror Lake jump cost the university more than $11,600.

"The cost to repair the turf, stone walls and ground cover was $9,505," said Stephen W. Volkmann, university landscape architect, in an e-mail to The Lantern.

The total cost of staff time needed to clean up debris and mud caused by the Mirror Lake jump prior to last year's Michigan game cost $2,100. According to the e-mail, the cost to repair the Mirror Lake fountain was not available - but preliminary estimates from last year placed the total damage between $20 - 30,000, said Dave Sweet, administrative assistant for marketing and communications for Physical Facilities in an interview last year.
Click to expand...

How come the fraternity/sorority and other student organizations don't help out with the cleaning up process? Or take some money out of their coffers to help offset the cost of repairs/cleaning?

Other than physical injuries to themselves and the possibility of destroying university property, students must also consider other dangers before jumping into the lake. The water itself could be hiding diseases such as Salmonella.

"The big thing about it is that like any big natural body of water, it's not sterile. If you take a big mouthful of it, you're going to get what's in the lake in your mouth," said Dale Harmon, a public health sanitarian for the Columbus Health Department, in an interview conducted last year. "Birds fly over it. Animals run near it. There's going to be fecal matter in the water. There's always the risk of pathogens."

According to a June 1, 1970 Lantern article, an unidentified junior who went swimming in Mirror Lake several times that spring was diagnosed with tetanus twice in two years. At the time, "the average total coliform bacteria count for the lake was 18 times the acceptable level for swimming," according to the article.
Click to expand...

This is absolutely disgusting. I've done some stupid, stupid things when I was drunk but ducking myself into a steaming cesspool of disease has never been one of them. When the beaches in Cali get a sewage leak like this, we close the beaches.

Tradition or not, no way would I fling myself into Mirror Lake.
















Does sound like a blast to go watch OTHER idiots do it, however!!! :biggrin:

Here's a whole crapload of youtube videos of this activity.
 
Upvote 0
OCBuckWife;994566; said:
How come the fraternity/sorority and other student organizations don't help out with the cleaning up process? Or take some money out of their coffers to help offset the cost of repairs/cleaning?



This is absolutely disgusting. I've done some stupid, stupid things when I was drunk but ducking myself into a steaming cesspool of disease has never been one of them. When the beaches in Cali get a sewage leak like this, we close the beaches.

Tradition or not, no way would I fling myself into Mirror Lake.
Click to expand...

Not to mention the cold water and cold weather. Fuck that. I'll stay home and be warm, thank you very much.

OCBuckWife said:
Does sound like a blast to go watch OTHER idiots do it, however!!! :biggrin:
Click to expand...

No that's an idea I could get behind. If we could get a live telecast and I could wach it from my nice, warm house, I'd be all for it.
 
Upvote 0
I'll be jumping in tonight. This will be my 5th time. It's gonna be a chilly one, but I don't think it really matters when you have half a bottle of Wild Turkey running around in your body. :) The time to usually go is around 10:30. It really picks up around 11-11:30 and it's buck wild around midnight. I remember two years ago Girls Gone Wild was there, there are rumors circulating around campus that they will be back again this year.

GO BUCKS! BEAT M*CH*GAN!
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top