More OH-IO!: A TBDBITL's-Eye View Of The Scarlet & Gray

Hello!

Mary, Audra, me, Dad and Taylor

Last week my Dad, Sister-In-Law, Audra and I went to our first Ohio State game as the family of "The Pride of the Buckeyes" OSU Marching Band.  My son Taylor has worked hard toward achieving his goal to someday being an I-Dotter for "Script Ohio."  Only upperclassmen and celebrity guests are allowed to have this honor, so it is still a few years out.

Scenes from pre-game

We went to the Western Michigan game and bought AA deck tickets that are reserved for band members' families seated right behind the band in the south end zone.  You are very close to the field and can actually make out faces, but you have to be there to support the band.  If you were expecting to watch the game, you wouldn't want those seats.  I must say I felt more "involved" in the game there as Block O is screaming behind us and the band is constantly playing in front with the cheerleaders and Brutus below in the end zone.  Usually, my seats are B or C deck.  But you watch the actual game on the "jumbotron" at the north end of the field.

My dad is 85 years old and had a great time (except for not being able to see much of the game.)  He brought his cane and it was useful for tapping to the music and the shoulders of kids in front (non-band) who would stand for no reason.

The band has been good for Taylor for many reasons.  There is a lot of tradition and regimen that won't hurt him.  They get to travel to London, England in a few weeks for an NFL exhibition game.  They were invited because of their innovative shows designed with iPads (all members get one to use.)  If you aren't familiar with their shows, go to Youtube.com and there are tons of them.  I loved the "Wizard of Oz" one.

There are row dinners (members are not described by instrument, but by the row that instrument is assigned.  In the case of the sousaphones, it is K and L, known by all as KL Row (pronounced as kel-row.)  Though the band doesn't receive a cent of money from the athletic department (a real sore spot with me as they are as important to the game as the team), generous donors take good care of them.  Band members have to know the words to every school song as they are a "singing band" and also ambassadors for the university.  I love listening to the pre-ramp chants and music where they shout "We are Buckeyes...and we are Killer Nuts!" (Buckeyes are poisonous nuts.)  I am learning more about my alma mater now then when I went there in the 80s and it's fun to share it with Taylor.


Each of the sections has a mascot and KL Row's is a banana.  I had the pleasure of seeing it the entire game, instead of football.  Here is our view for most of the game...

The Chiquita Banana watching the game instead of me...

The best part of the day was Dad getting to see Taylor before he leaves for FL in a few days.

Well,  I'd better get to a chore or two, so that will do it for this time!  For a lot more info on the band and it's tradition go to TBDBITL.OSU.edu.  They also have tons of CDs and downloads to purchase, or you can listen free on http://www.sgsosu.net/osu/songs/todays_songs.html  They even have the lyrics and the history of each song.   Thank you Audra for finding this!

Until next time,

Gale
OSU Class of '83


PS:  See also "OH-IO!  A Buck-Eye's View of the Scarlet and Gray", and "We're BAAAAACCCK!" for other OSU stories.

Buck-cat or Bear-keye?: When You Can't Be True To Your School

Well, it was a win-win, lose-lose proposition!  Last weekend, my Alma mater Ohio State hosted my son's school the University of Cincinnati and boy was I conflicted!  Taylor is in the Bearcat band so my sis-in-law (and also OSU grad) Mary and I wouldn't miss the chance to go see him.  She had no problem with cheering for the Bucks, but I felt like a turncoat!  (Though we both wore OSU t-shirts, Taylor gave me a UC button to even me out a bit.)

It was a perfect day to be outside, an easy trip in and out (amazing because there was a new record crowd of more than 108K), we had great seats on the west side of the field (no sun), high enough to see what the bands' formations were and not too far from where the UC band sat.  All was perfect except I'd fallen a week or so before and my knees didn't like the climb to C-Deck (for that matter, none of me liked it, but there were thinner, younger people wearing out as well!)  If I didn't have a heart attack then, it was more of a surprise I didn't at the top of the stairs when I was charged $13 for a bottle of water and a Diet Coke!  Found out later I was overcharged (scary when I was waited on by a college kid with a calculator) and it should have been $11, but still!

Things were going great until mid first quarter when two large fellows took the empty seats next to me and instantly folded me in half, while guy sat forward and blocked my view of half the field.  To add to the fun, he slobbered on my glasses as he sat down...I am still grossed out!  Fortunately, they left at halftime and never returned.

I cheered for both sides and since the last I heard Cincinnati is still part of Ohio, I could freely clap during "Script Ohio!"

The Bearcat band did a pre-game show where the sousas come running out (at their home games, the band runs down the bleachers and nearly always someone wipes out...) and then a post game show which I wish more folks would've stayed to see.

It was a close game until the last quarter when OSU pulled away.  The final score was 50-28.  Those poor ROTC folks had to do a zillion sets of push ups.  Every time we (ummm OSU) score, they do the whole total!  At the end of the game, Brutus Buckeye comes out and does one set, but he did 50 with no problem.

A drunken kid ran out on the field and got tackled by a coach, which watching it was no big deal, but it became a media-frenzy.  So much better stuff to report, but whatever.... We'd never heard of Ezekiel Elliott either, but I'm sure we will from now on!

Here is Taylor--boy was he hard to find among 16 Sousas!

Mary and I!

My view for the whole game!

The half-time show was great!  It was TBDITL's take on the Wizard of Oz (with a Block O!)  Click here to watch: http://bit.ly/1uRTjxC

If you want to read more about OSU football traditions, please check out my previous post "OH-IO!:  A Buck-eye's View of the Scarlet & Gray Craze"

Not to be outdone.... Audra performed her Ohio Wesleyan Senior Recital the next day on the horn.  I will report on that in a future post.  Needless to say, I'm proud of my kids and pooped from a wonderful weekend!

Until next time, enjoy the leaves as they turn!

Gale

P.S.- After all that "suffering," Taylor told me that it was fine to just cheer for the Buckeyes!  LOL.  Audra and I will be traveling to Paul Brown Stadium in Cincy in a few weeks to watch a UC home game.  What a relief to cheer for just one team!  (But I still haven't seen an actual bearcat...)