October 1, 2005

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Michigan, which makes me a rabid Wolverine fan.

As anyone who follows the Big Ten knows, there is no love lost between the Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes. We hate each other. We live to destroy each other. The biggest football game of the year for both teams is always the weekend of Thanksgiving, and there is much Monday-morning quarterbacking the week following the game.

Interestingly enough, Ann Arbor (home of the Wolverines) is about four hours directly north of Columbus (home of the Buckeyes) on US-Hwy 23.

It’s so bad, that when an Ann Arborite gives directions to Columbus, we say, “Head straight south until you smell it.” I’ve seen t-shirts for sale in Columbus that say “Ann Arbor is a hole.”

A friend of mine used to have a plastic toilet seat that, when raised, said, “Flush twice…it’s a long way to Columbus.” (Obviously, a Wolverine fan.)

Anyway, my point is: it’s nauseating for a Wolverine fan to travel to Columbus and spend any length of time there…and that’s just what I had to do this past week.

I was attending a week-long training class in the not-so-fair city of Columbus and as soon as they found out I was from Michigan…no, Ann Arbor…the remarks started to fly.

Unfortunately, Michigan is not doing itself justice in this year’s football season as of yet.

I digress.

I spent my week in Columbus, but I will forever hold one of the best memories in my life in that city. That’s because on Wednesday morning, while running late to class (and hung-over to boot), I got a phone call that changed my life.

My literary agent called to inform me that not only had she sold my book, but she had actually sold two books, for a “very nice” deal, to a large New York publisher, to an executive editor who loved the story.

Needless to say, it was agony for me to finish out the next two and a half days in class, where I had to sit and pay attention to things like IBRPs and 529 plans and other financial products…but I made it.

And it’s for that reason that I will now forever love Columbus….unless the Wolverines are in town.