... courtesy of the History Channel.
I'm a geography junkie. Maps are my thing. Can I get an atlas?
So when I accepted a job covering Michigan football at the Blade - in Ohio - I got a lot of funny looks from people when I told them. And I got asked something along these lines:
"So, wait ... if you're in Ohio ... then why are you covering Michigan?"
There's plenty of Michigan fans in an area that's closer to Ann Arbor than to Columbus, but plenty of Ohio State fans, too.
For those of you not necessarily up on your 1800s maps, here's a reason - as I wrote in today's Michigan End Zone. Toledo was once almost part of Michigan, and became hotly contested property.
So much that it incited a war over the skinny piece of land that stretches from the Indiana border to Lake Erie - and included a shipping port, a key part of commerce in the 1800s.
What's the saying in real estate? "Location, location, location."
I'll leave the rest of the explanation up to Ohio native Brian Unger, who hosts one of my favorite television shows: "How The States Got Their Shapes."
(h/t Mgoblog.com)
So if you're new to the area and wondering about all that scarlet and grey mixed with maize and blue on your street, there's a historical - and a cartographical - reason for it.
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Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you're spending the day with loved ones and friends ... and getting ready for "The Game."
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