It's November. The forecast for tonight is flurries and temperatures feeling below freezing. And yet, thousands of Ohio State students will brave the cold and jump into Mirror Lake. Many will get colds, a fever or even hypothermia, but to them it's worth it. Why?

Not a lot of people actually know why we jump in Mirror Lake the Thursday before the Big Game. Most of what you see today stems way back in the early twentieth century, when upperclassmen would haze freshmen. Freshmen would be dunked in Mirror Lake in the Spring (where the temperatures were a little warmer than 30 degrees).

Then, in 1950, football coach Wesley Fesler was appalled by the lack of school spirit and called for a big Michigan Week pep rally. The band led pep rallies for quite a while until that stopped in the 1970's. An unofficial band still led some pep rallies, but it wasn't quite the same. This unofficial band led pep rally ended with some unlawful action and that was stopped.

In 1990, when the band leader came to yell at the few left in the unofficial band, the band ran away and some jumped into Mirror Lake. The idea became a big hit and several others followed the band into the water.

To this day that tradition continues. We are no longer led by the band, we take matters into our own hands. And thus the tradition of jumping into Mirror Lake is about school spirit and taking pride in the football program, the best one in the land.

So cheer loud, cheer proud and **** MICHIGAN!