Toledo athletics welcomed behind enemy lines for drinking water

John Turner

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Toledo athletics welcomed behind enemy lines for drinking water image

Toledo, Ohio, as you may have heard, is having some problems with its tap water. 

As in, you can't drink it, prepare food with it or brush your teeth with it. You can't boil it, either. That will only "increase the concentration of the toxins," according to the city's urgent notice for residents.

This news was a problem for Brian Jones, the University of Toledo's director of sports medicine. Among his responsibilities are ensuring that the school's athletes have water to drink, and with fall camps starting Sunday, his group didn't have a ton of options.

"The biggest thing is I don't want to take 25 cases of bottled water from Kroger," Jones said. "Our community needs that right now."

Twenty-three miles to the south, sworn rival Bowling Green State University was happily drinking its algae-bloom-free H2O. In many instances, they weren't shy about shoving it in their enemy's faces, either.

BGSU's director of sports medicine Alfred Castillo knew this was no joke for his colleagues up I-75. So when Jones called to ask if the Falcons could help load the Rockets up on drinking water, Castillo's response was a "no-brainer."

"We said 'come on down,'" he said. "I know that it's a tense rivalry, but in my area, we try to take care of the other team as best as possible. Rivalry aside, they needed something. They'd do the same for us."

Jones' team made the 20-minute trip to BGSU's campus in a large van stripped of seats and packed with enough empty water jugs to quench a university-sized thirst.

The rival Falcons were waiting with hoses and smiles, according to Jones. The Rockets filled up with "probably 500 gallons of water" early in the morning before heading back north.

(Source: Brian Jones, Toledo athletics)

"There probably are some rivalries out there that would not do that," said Jones, who's entering his 18th year at Toledo. "If that's the case, in my world, that's a damn shame."

"People are all, 'I hate BG,' and 'I hate Toledo,'" he continued. "I'm used to it by now. My issue is this — when it comes down to it, we need to protect the health and safety of these athletes."

Castillo and the Falcons have offered to furnish the program with water as long as necessary, but with the water in Toledo reportedly improving, they may return to their smack-talking ways sooner than expected.

"We take care of each other," Jones said. "But yeah, when the ball goes up in the air in November, I want to whoop them."

John Turner