An Ohio lawmaker clearly wasn't very happy with the Michigan Wolverines trying to plant their flag at the centre of Ohio Stadium.
According to a report from Anthony Shoemaker and Erin Glynn of the Port Clinton News Herald, Ohio State Rep. Josh Williams wants to make it a felony to plant a flag at the centre of Ohio Stadium — the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team.
Williams introduced the O.H.I.O. Sportsmanship Act on Tuesday, and the bill would "prohibit planting a flagpole and flag in the centre of the Ohio Stadium football field on the day of a college football game and to name this act the O.H.I.O. Sportsmanship Act."
The bill's introduction comes less than two weeks after a massive brawl broke out between Ohio State and Michigan players because the Wolverines tried to plant a flag on the Buckeyes logo at centre field.
Michigan stunned Ohio State with a 13-10 upset, and tried to punctuate the victory by planting a team flag at midfield. But the Buckeyes weren't having it, and confronted the Wolverines.
Police used pepper spray to break up the players, who threw punches and shoves. One officer suffered a head injury when he was “knocked down and trampled while trying to separate players fighting,” a police union official said.
Two days after the incident, the Big Ten Conference announced it fined Michigan and Ohio State $100,000 each for violating the conference's sportsmanship policy for the on-field melee.
Williams is clearly of the mind that punishment wasn't enough, but House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill. doesn't seem to think the bill has much hope, at least this year.
Ohio lawmakers are wrapping up a two-year General Assembly next week, and any bills that don't pass by the end of 2024 will have to be reintroduced in 2025.
"Well, it's not gonna have time to be passed, you know, this late in the game," Stephens told Shoemaker and Glynn.
Flag-planting skirmishes also broke out at several other college football venues on rivalry weekend.
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