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Where’s the Thessalonica of the Midwest?

George Will on Ann Arbor (in an old anti-affirmative-action column): “The Athens of the Midwest, if it does say so itself, and it does.”

So are the Michigan State Spartans a conscious rebuke of A2? And where does Ypsi fit into all this?

7 Responses to “Where’s the Thessalonica of the Midwest?”


  1. MSU was originally Michigan Agricultural College, and the team was known as the “Aggies”.

    It was a sportswriter who started calling them Spartans, in the 1930s, I think. The college/university didn’t come up with it.

    posted by Larry Kestenbaum on December 4th, 2003 at 3:14 pm

  2. Where does Ypsi fit in to this Greek connection? Well, the city was named for a Greek man, Demetrius Ypsilanti, who played a key role in the Greek war for independence in the early 19th century. At that time, in 1822, one “Judge Woodward” heard of Ypsilanti’s valor in that war and impulsively named an entire city after this guy. The other city name on the table at that time was “Springfield.” I shudder to think of referring to myself as a “Springfieldian.”

    posted by Laura on December 5th, 2003 at 1:24 am

  3. Wow, Athens of the Midwest? If having a Sunglass Hut and some overpriced sandwich shops makes you Athens, then the Mount Olympus must be somewhere in Tysons Corner, VA.

    posted by Nick on December 5th, 2003 at 9:13 pm

  4. Annarbour might actually be better than Athens. I’ve never been to Greece, but I bet you’d be hard-pressed to find just *one* Jimmy Johns, whereas by my count Annarbour boasts 142. And how many Bill Knapps are in Athens? Well, the late lamented Bill Knapps is a bad example, since it’s passing has been the cause of much mourning in this town. But Old Country Buffet — how many OCBs are in Athens? And is there a single Meijers in Greece?

    posted by Boris on December 6th, 2003 at 9:24 pm

  5. well Old Country Buffet no longer exists, they are now called Home Town Buffet, the salad bars are offer a fraction of what they once did, and the chicken is like microwaved. OCB, you will be missed *sniff*

    posted by Hass on December 7th, 2003 at 12:08 pm

  6. Bill Knapp’s and now OCB are dead–I can’t help but suspect Granholm secretly played a part in these twin tragedies in a quest to make Annarbour a “cool city,” the 287 (by my count) local Jimmy John’s franchises notwithstanding.

    posted by Laura on December 7th, 2003 at 11:09 pm

  7. Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.

    posted by Roma Gary on January 20th, 2004 at 11:28 pm