At first I thought this story in USAToday Sports – about Ohio State University trying to trademark the word “the” – was just an opportunity for some good-natured ribbing of friends and family currently residing in the Buckeye State. Then after thinking about it for a bit, I realized this sort of thing is not all that uncommon in the hallowed halls of academia. Or at least not in schools with fans who follow big time athletics.
Well, the trademarking part is definitely a little over the top. But consider the University of Miami. Their sports logo is a green and orange “U.” And their pro players all say they played their college ball at “The U.” Then there’s Penn State. Their football fans used to do a call and response across Beaver Stadium: <one side> WE ARE…. <other side> PENN STATE. Now, all the PSU sportswear and trinkets say simply “WE ARE.”
It’s not, as the article slyly suggests, that these fans are especially pretentious, smug, or even insecure. Of course, by the law of averages – and the huge sample size – SOME of them certainly must be, right? But it’s endemic to the very nature of being fans (which after all is shorthand for fanatics) to be a bit myopic – even parochial – when it comes to one’s assumptions and language.
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Still, ya just gotta love it when another school comes along and turns those assumptions and language upside down. That’s what the OTHER Ohio-named institution of higher learning did in response to THE Ohio State University’s trademarking gambit with the following hilarious Tweet.
Good morning from THE first university in the state of Ohio. 
Maybe there’s hope for higher ed in this country after all…
Let’s make it great again, ya dang fanatics!
