My Ohio State vs. Michigan memories – monks

I’ve spent more than a few holidays away from home: Easter in Bangladesh, 4th of July in Guatemala, Halloween in Thailand, and Ohio State vs. Michigan in Nepal living with monks.

Ohio State vs. Michigan might not be a holiday to you, but then you must not be from Ohio or Michigan.

Yesterday’s game, which OSU won, reminded me of being in Kathmandu watching the evening news with my monk friends. The news is kind of boring when you don’t know what the heck they’re saying. So, when images of Columbus, Ohio, erupting in riots following a particularly heated OSU vs. Michigan game flashed across the screen, I perked up.

“Isn’t that where you are from?” Asked my buddy Dorjee Lama.

“Yep.”

Then silence as drunk painted people turned over cars and lit fires. The rioters made radical Maoist rebels look reasonable.

I guess I could try to explain the images to Dorjee: All this world is suffering, especially when your team loses. Instead, we just sat and watched.

Monks are peaceful. Buckeyes and Wolverines are not.