CFB AM: Ohio State's vet school has Michigan fire hydrant for dogs

Published Mar. 31, 2015 9:00 a.m. ET

Teddy Mitrosilis

The best rivalries in sports don't have an offseason. We all know this, which is sort of a basic litmus test for how serious your favorite rivalry is.

A second test is how far the rivalry extends beyond sports and into areas of life where, you know, we really should not care so much about such trivial things, although we do.

Ohio State-Michigan is the perfect example of a rivalry that passes both tests.

Here's the latest brilliant example: The Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine just completed a construction project, and one of the new additions is an area for walking dogs.

What is in that dog-walking area, you ask?

Yes, a Michigan fire hydrant for dogs to piss on.

Here's photo evidence, courtesy of Eleven Warriors.

Bravo, Ohio State vet school. You can't even make this up.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Nick Saban comments on Jonathan Taylor. The Alabama coach met with the media on Monday after spring practice and gave his first public comments, beyond a prepared statement issued on Sunday, on Taylor, who was dismissed from the team over the weekend after his second arrest for domestic violence. Many fans and media have called for Saban and Alabama to take responsibility -- whatever that is -- for bringing a man with a history of domestic violence into the Alabama community. Well, if you wanted Saban to fall on some kind of sword, you didn't really get that. He apologized for the incident that happened and was sorry "it didn't work out," but he made it very clear he's not apologizing for giving Taylor an opportunity. Saban cited over the years how many players have turned their lives around from getting those chances in his program, and he isn't going to stop trying to help troubled players in the future.

You can read a lot of Saban's quotes from the press conference here.

2. Oklahoma running back Keith Ford suspended indefinitely. Bob Stoops announced on Monday that Ford is out for an indefinite period of time for academic and team rules violations. We'll see how long the suspension runs, but for now it thins Oklahoma's running back crop and may put additional pressure on Samaje Perine, a breakout star last year, in 2015. OU does expect to have Joe Mixon -- the star recruit who sat out last season after an off-field incident in which he punched a woman -- as well as Alex Ross and freshman Rodney Anderson (currently out with sprained MCL) in the mix come the fall.

3. Ivan Maisel's eulogy for his son. I don't know if you've been following this story or not, but if you're a fan of college football, you almost surely are familiar with the work of ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel. He's a talented writer and a central voice in the college football community. More importantly, he's a kind and generous man. I had the pleasure of working with him at ESPN before coming to FOX Sports. Ivan's 21-year-old son, Max, went missing in February, and after an extensive search, they presume he drowned in Rochester, New York, on Feb. 22. Last Friday, the family held a eulogy for Max in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and around 900 people showed up. After Ivan gave the eulogy for his son, many people asked for copies, so he decided to post it online. You can read the whole thing here.

It's equal parts beautiful and gut-wrenching, but I ask that you take a few minutes to read it, think of the Maisel family and continue to send love their way if you have any way to connect. The family is just now beginning the second stage of their grieving, in which they try to resume their lives, and while time will help heal, this stage doesn't promise to be any less difficult than the first.

Teddy Mitrosilis works in content production at FOX Sports Digital. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.