For some people, watching football is their favorite part of the Thanksgiving weekend.
Today in 1950, there was a football game that had to be seen to be believed: the Snow Bowl.
Ohio State was hosting Michigan in the city of Columbus, which had just been hit by a blizzard.
Over a foot of snow came down, sometimes at a rate of two inches an hour.
Plus, high wind gusts were blowing all that snow around, while making the already chilly air temperatures feel like it was actually below zero outside.
But whichever team won the game had a chance to play in the prestigious Rose Bowl, so the two teams decided they were ready for some football.
Of course, football in a blizzard isn’t like most other football.
There were fans in attendance, though it was so rotten outside it’s said the ticket takers didn’t bother checking anyone’s tickets, and people started bonfires in the bleachers to stay warm.
And the story goes that the grounds crew had an extra hard time getting the tarp off the field because of the heavy snow on top.
Though if they’d left the tarp where it was, it might not have made much of a difference.
Michigan’s total offensive yardage for the game was 27 yards, all rushing.
They completed no passes and earned no first downs.
Ohio State had 18 passing yards, along with 16 rushing yards and three first downs.
The conditions were so bad that essentially neither team wanted the ball.
Both teams would punt the ball away as often as possible, many times on first down.
They figured they might have a better shot at scoring off an opponent’s mistake instead of making a good play themselves.
And that’s pretty much how it played out.
The final score was Michigan 9, Ohio State 3, with all of the scoring resulting from blocked kicks.
That meant the Wolverines were on their way to the Rose Bowl… at least soon as the giant storm passed.
You may have some Thanksgiving leftovers on hand today.
If you do, know that today is known in some circles as Dine Over Your Kitchen Sink Day.
The people who call it that refer to themselves as “Sinkies.”
I guess they’re saving themselves another round of washing dishes?
Snow Bowl – November 25, 1950 (Weather.gov)
International Association of People Who Dine Over the Kitchen Sink (Weird Universe)
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Photo by Marja S via Flickr/Creative Commons
