What will it take for OSU's head coach Jim Tressel to jump into Mirror Lake tonight?
"Probably have to shoot me and throw me in there in November," Tressel said. "I'm not 19 anymore. We'll let the 19-year-olds jump in."
The football players, similarly, will not be jumping into Mirror Lake, even if some of them are 19-year-olds - but there are some who would if they could.
"Those people look like they're having so much fun, I probably would be in there jumping into the lake," said defensive lineman Nader Abdallah, who saw the jump last year.
"Last year I went over there and just looked at it," Abdallah said. "I had a chance to walk around and look at people do their stuff. It's amazing because it was freezing cold out there. People were jumping in the lake and everybody coming together and having a great time. It shows how much it means to people."
Other players share Tressel's sentiment.
"No amount of money is going to get me to jump into that lake when it's 20 degrees," linebacker Marcus Freeman said. "But it shows the tradition and the amount of respect for the Ohio State and Michigan game."
None of the players would commit Monday to going to watch the famous tradition, but linebacker James Laurinaitis said it was his favorite part of Michigan Week, besides the game, of course.
Having not attended since his freshman year, Laurinaitis said he will consider going to watch the festivities tonight.
"Mirror lake is pretty sweet," he said. "Not sure if I'll go this year, might have to because it's senior year."
Laurinaitis has a theory for what drives some students to leap into the campus landmark.
"A lot of liquid courage" he said.
No matter what motivates students to take the icy plunge every year, the team takes the tradition as a compliment.
"It's great our students and our fans having that much enthusiasm for us," corner back Malcolm Jenkins said. "It's a great tradition to get everyone wound up for the Michigan game and get everybody's morale boosted."
The first time wide receiver Brian Robiskie saw the jump his freshman year, he did not expect so many people would jump in.
"When I heard about, I thought it was only going to be a handful kids jumping in and a lot of kids watching," Robiskie said. "But as I watched, more people were jumping in and some people were getting pushed in and it was just a ton of people out there and I think it was a real cool experience to see it."
Then there are those who take a practical approach.
Punter A.J. Trapasso said he wouldn't take the jump because of the inevitable freezing walk home.
"Some of those people walk from where they live to go over there because there's nowhere to park by there," Trapasso said. "I think about being wet and cold and walking back to my house. I would hate that. You got to hand it to them. They show a lot of spirit and pride jumping in there."
Will Toman can be reached at toman.7@osu.edu.
Be the first to comment on this article!