Best line of the day

Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press begins his column:

Among the University of Notre Dame’s many purposes — inspiring movies, polarizing college football fans, and, like, educating people and stuff — is measuring our local teams every September.

In the next two weeks, we will get a feel for how good Michigan and Michigan State are. U-M visits South Bend, Ind., on Saturday, and Notre Dame goes to East Lansing the week after that.

The two state programs have some similarities. (I know, I know: It kills you to think your school has ANYTHING in common with the other one. Michigan fans don’t think Michigan State should be allowed to have the words “Michigan” or “University” in its name; Michigan State fans don’t think Michigan fans should be allowed to have breakfast, lunch or dinner. But let’s play nice for a few minutes, OK?)

Rivalry, as in so many states.

It pained me for decades when asked where I went to school and answered, “The University of Arizona.”

And the yahoo would respond, “Oh, Arizona State.”

“No. The University of Arizona. That other school is Tempe Normal to me.”

Arizona State was founded in 1885 as the Tempe Normal School for the Arizona Territory. (A normal school trained high school graduates to be teachers, setting teaching standards or norms, hence normal school.)

Only in 1945 did it become Arizona State College. It became Arizona State University in 1958. (Sun Devils is a cool name, though.)

The University of Arizona was established as The University of Arizona in 1885.