Ohio State-Michigan: Project Ayhe

I love Thanksgiving, but the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is another one of my favorites.

This year, my dad and Danny volunteered with the kids and delivered some fried turkeys for Fry Out Cancer while I worked a half day.  After they were done, they stopped by Brewdog.

I met up with them in Westerville - Dad went home and Danny, the kids, and I headed down to campus.  First stop, Adriatico's!  The kids had to wait until the Buckeye Bites cooled down so they could devour them (we had some too).

We asked the staff if we could cross out the M in Columbus on the map.

When we made it to campus, we noticed it said, Project Ayhe near the library.  I looked it up - here's what I found!

"The operation known as "Project Ayhe" is quite the task, as it takes weeks of planning and a large number of participants to cover every "M" on campus. Ayhe, which is Mayhem without the "M"s, was started by three Ohio State freshman in 2007. This cult-like event has been done in secrecy ever since.

Late Sunday night, members of a student organization gather at the statue outside of the William Oxley Thompson Library for a night of mischief. The first order of business is to tape the infamous "Beat Michigan" poster to Thompson's chest. Once the poster is successfully placed, which often takes someone standing on another's shoulders, the campus-wide operation begins.

Members of the student organization are separated into groups, with some being responsible for covering campus as far as Fred Beekman park, and others as far north as the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Throughout the night, every "M" in sight becomes covered with red duct tape. At the fear of being arrested for vandalism, students go as far as to hop in bushes at the sight or sound of a passing vehicle. The night culminates with the students returning to the statue to sing Ohio State's Alma Mater, "Carmen, Ohio". "         

I never knew there was a name given to the tradition!

A lot of the Ms were already crossed out, but we found some naked Ms!

Chillin' on the top floor of the library

One of the doors to a building on campus was open - look what was inside!

Mirror Lake was drained and looks really sad.

The kids with their buddy, Brutus.

Until next year!  Hopefully Ohio State pulls off a victory against TTUN next year.  It's been a depressing 3 years.  I looked at the stats - since Danny and I went to Ohio State back in 2001, Ohio State has played Meatchicken 22 times.  Ohio State has beaten TTUN 17 times.  We need to get back to those winning years!