The rivalry between OU and Miami has been dubbed Battle of the Bricks, and fewer than 200 miles separate Athens from Miami’s main campus in Oxford.
Paula Flum’s car has an Ohio University bumper sticker on one side and a Miami University bumper sticker on the other.
Her children, Jacob and Lauren Flum, attend Miami and OU, respectively.
“Lauren’s always fearful when I drive my car through town that I’m going to get egged or something,” Paula said. “I gotta show support for both my kids.”
The rivalry between OU and Miami, sometimes dubbed the Battle of the Bricks, can cause some families to have a divided household.
Ohio University Police Department Chief Andrew Powers received his undergraduate degree from Miami in sociology and worked at the Miami University Police Department for 18 years before coming to OUPD.
“It’s more a humorous rivalry,” Powers said, adding he is not a huge sports fan.
His brother, who is two years younger than Powers, is an OU alumnus.
“I used to tease my brother about it,” Powers said. “I would buy his kids Miami sweatshirts and things for Christmas and stuff like that which I had to stop doing after I got this job.”
Powers said he generally gets a "boo" from people at OU when they learn that he is a Miami alumnus.
“I think that OU is a little more engaged in the rivalry than Miami is,” Powers said.
Lauren, a freshman studying journalism at OU, is from the Oxford area and said many people from her high school go to Miami for college.
Her brother Jacob, who is a junior studying chemistry at Miami, said he found out about the rivalry between the two schools during his freshman year of college when the Bobcats played the Redhawks in football.
The OU-Miami rivalry is “almost definitely” a bigger deal in Athens, Jacob said.
“Part of it might be that students just have given up on sports teams here because traditionally they haven’t been that great, but it would still be fun to get behind a rivalry kind of situation, and that’s normally when people go to games,” Jacob said.
Lauren said when she has visited Miami, students tend to end the conversation with her after she mentions that she goes to OU.
“A lot of people at Miami don’t really see it as a rivalry for some reason,” Lauren said. “They are like, ‘I feel like OU is a lot more into it than we are,’ or, ‘I feel like OU is a lot more competitive,' and I’m like, ‘I don’t know, because I get a lot of crap from you guys.’ ”
Paula said despite going to rival schools, her children don't have a rivalry.
“I don’t really think about (the schools) being rivals,” Paula said. “When Lauren first started at OU she told me that Miami and OU are rivals. I really don’t think about it that much.”
After OU beat Miami in football 34-3 this past year, Lauren said she informed her brother of the Bobcat victory.
“We’ll normally text each other about the progress of the game,” Jacob said. “Sometimes, we’ll try to go to it if it’s at a reasonable time for both of us.”
OU graduate student Justin Foote received his master’s degree from Miami, but that didn’t stop him from buying a ‘Muck Fiami’ shirt.
“I thought (the shirt) was just kind of funny,” Foote, who is working to get his Ph.D. in communication studies, said.
Foote said he tends to root for the underdog when OU and Miami play against each other.
“I think the rivalry is more playful than it is intense,” Foote said. “Plus, I’ve never been to either school when they’re both super good at one sport.”
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During the first day of class each year at OU, Foote said he tells a story about himself and his history.
“I always make sure to include I got my master’s degree from Miami just to kind of hear the reaction from the class, like the groans,” Foote said.
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