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...)

OH-IO!!!! A Buck-Eye's View of The Scarlet and Gray Craze

(This is the first of several posts regarding the "scarlet & gray."  I hope you will check them out!)

Greetings! 

We are soon entering the season where everywhere in the world (that has deciduous trees)folks will enjoy the flow of color from green to russet, orange and yellow.  Everywhere except Central Ohio that is, where the landscape turns scarlet and gray.  

Yes, I am an alumnus of "The" Ohio State University (why do they insist on using the "The?") but there are thousands upon thousands of people who aren't that are way more hardcore Buckeye football fans than I am.  I do watch it, but don't always make it through the games awake:) 

I'm not sure what the "Urban Nation" will bring.  The football program has been through the wringer.  It's disgraceful that it took the horrific events at Penn St. to draw attention away from our long-standing penchant for giving "superstar" status to folks who turn out to be common thieves, thugs, malcontents and ne'er-do-wells.  Let's face it, it's been going on since Art Schleister, (the star at the time I went there) who can't make an honest buck to save his life, then Maurice Clarett going to jail a decade-ish ago.

It's just this last fall from grace group took out a coach and a program with them (and years of wins and millions in income.  Thanks guys!  At least Woody did it to himself!)  I have to say that although Coach Tressel isn't the saint everyone thought he was, I think he was a good person who had a whole lot of pressure from the athletic dept, the school, the community and heck, the world.  There is no doubt others knew and he was forced to take the fall.  He obviously is smart enough to know he could contact the school's legal advisors without giving up confidentiality.

My niece Abby hanging out with Brutus Buckeye!  (I must admit I am a bit jealous!)

There are pros and cons to "Buckeye Fever."  

The PROS:
1)You can shop anywhere you want without waiting on game days, just don't be by the stadium before or after the game.  This also applies to away games, but that day you can shop anywhere!

2)The central Ohio grocery stores sell tons of food for tail-gating and snacks.  There are folks with grills bolted on to their truck bumpers driving around!  You can smell cookouts everywhere.

3)The local economy also gets a boost from sales of the perfunctory jerseys, hats, and foam fingers.

4)In a tough Ohio economy, it's cheap entertainment (except for the jillion dollar used-to-be hard to get tickets), something to take folk's minds off their troubles and be part of the larger picture.  Since attendance was so high, the games were almost never blacked out on TV.

5)You get to hear that awesome TDBITL (the best damn band in the land) OSU Marching Band!  They work as hard as the team, but without the perks (and the NCAA sanctions!)

Watch this OSU Marching Band's Script Ohio link!

and there are many more... but the CONS:

1) The rest of the world has to ration red dye and clothing because we use it all.

2) "Normal" people turn into lunatics wearing face paint, no shirts, wigs or whatever in public and/or scream wildly at the TV.  They sometimes are superstitious about ridiculous things.  (I was once one of them, thinking I couldn't leave the kitchen because every time I did, something awful would happen.)

3) If you aren't part of this, you are stuck with it on every media outlet 24/7 for 3 months.  There are games, pre-game shows, post-game shows, re-runs of the games on Sunday, "Buckeye Fever" shows during the week, etc.

4) I feel sorry for folks on other local college teams.  They are pretty much swept under the rug (most with good reason though.)  I can't prove it, but I think OSU football has more fans than either, or maybe both of our NFL teams.

5) The "stress" probably sends folks to the hospital since we are famous for 4th Qtr. disasters (and infrequent last minute miracles.)

No doubt there are several more cons also...

Well, that's enough for today.  I have to be at work early.  If you have additional comments, please post them through the comment section. I'd love to hear from you!

Until then, "Go Bucks!"  

Gale
OSU Class of '83

P.S.:  Saturday is a pre-season game day against Miami!

Go Bucks!  Eat Michigan!

After going 12-0 in 2012!

Legendary Coaches: Woody Hayes, Jim Tressel, Earl Bruce and now Urban Meyer.