When Michigan Wolverines Go To War
When Michigan Wolverines Go to War By Robert Korczynski When the British redcoats tried to mock colonial soldiers during the Revolutionary War, they sang "Yankee Doodle Dandy" to brand the Americans as foolish country bumpkins playing dress-up. The colonists said, "Thank you." They took the song, embraced it as their own battle hymn, and sang it right back at the retreating British. Decades later, during the border dispute over the Toledo Strip where Michigan eventually traded it for the entire Upper Peninsula, Ohio tried the same trick. Aiming to insult Michiganders as greedy, uncivilized, and vicious frontier brawlers, Ohioans called the Michiganders "Wolverines." Michiganders said, "Thank you." They looked at the fiercest, most relentless creature in North America and claimed the name as an eternal badge of defiance and grit. Most people probably think that the Michigan Wolverines are just the football team at the University of Michig...