The Miami Student, Miami University’s student newspaper, published an article about the relevance of the Ohio University and Miami University rivalry.
The rivalry is primarily rooted in the OU-Miami football game, called the “Battle of the Bricks,” and has garnered so much attention that it’s inspired a Wikipedia page. The football rivalry started in 1908 and there have been 96 games with Miami leading.
The article states that the rivalry is one-sided from OU.
“Our rivalry is very interesting. OU takes it so seriously, (and) Miami really doesn’t care,” A source in The Miami Student article said. “I know OU is more of a sports-centered college, and so the Battle of the Bricks is more of a big deal in Athens, but no one cares about OU at Miami.”
Mary Cheadle, the owner of 10 West Clothing Co., used to sell a “Muck Fiami” T-shirt but has since stopped selling that version.
“It's been a couple of years that our licensing company notified me – well, they sent me a cease and desist letter, which meant that I couldn't sell them,” Cheadle said. “But additionally, I did a follow up call and several conversations with just kind of the agreement that they would prefer I not do it. Because they allow me to be licensed with the Ohio University, I really felt like I had to kind of follow the rules. So, I did stop selling them.”
Cheadle then started selling a shirt that said “Uck Iami who needs the mf?”
“…it really bothered me when I would talk to people and they would tell me that they thought it was pretty crazy that I was told not to do that...,” Cheadle said. “I decided to come up with another idea that maybe would be more agreeable with not only my licensing company, but perhaps with Miami and that maybe they wouldn't be as offended.”
Cheadle said the shirt is a funny take on the tongue and cheek rivalry. The shirt initially sold pretty well, but then the sales died off. It is still available to buy.
“I don't promote it like I probably should or could just because I'm trying to be respectful,” Cheadle said. “I obviously don't want to do anything that hurts any feelings or creates any more drama than is necessary. It truly is just supposed to be part of the fun of having a rivalry.”
Cheadle has been with 10 W. Clothing Co. for 33 years and said from the very beginning, the rivalry was all talk.
“I don't know that I can put a finger exactly on why it is our rivalry and what it is about Miami that we dislike,” Cheadle said. “I've never necessarily figured that out. I've heard lots of people talk this way or that way about it, but [there hasn’t been a] definitive answer.”
Cheadle’s father, who worked at OU for over 30 years, was a Miami grad and didn’t care for the shirt but found the humor in it, Cheadle said.
Maizy Crandall, a junior studying political science at Miami University, doesn’t think there is a rivalry.
“I think I got more information from teachers about the rivalry that I actually knew about myself,” Crandall said. “I see two things on social media once a year when we play football. I wasn’t really aware that there was a rivalry, and I don't really see it that often. It might just be (because) I'm a hockey person anyway, so I don’t really pay attention to (football) all that often. It's just not my main thing.”
Maggie Moreda, a junior studying nursing at OU, thinks the rivalry is rooted in advertising and merchandising.
“I can’t tell you how many ‘Muck Fiami’ T-shirts and other products I’ve seen at Uptown shops, but I’ve never actually seen one worn,” Moreda said. “I think it’s just used as a way to try and build school spirit. They had to raffle semester-off tuition to get people to pack the stadium, which is a whole other conversation about allocation of funds.”
