I’ll start with an anecdote: In my senior year of high school, (many) years ago, my chemistry teacher asked what college I would attend. I told him I was going to Ohio State for football.
“You’re not good enough to play there,” he said.
“I’m not going to play,” I replied.
I applied to one school (yes, at the time it had a good journalism program; I think that mattered. I can’t honestly say).
And there’s also this: I will never, EVER, dress my kids in blue and yellow (or maize as that other school calls it). And I get annoyed every time my mother-in-law buys such color combinations for our kids. Doesn’t she understand? Those are Michigan colors, for crying out loud.
A bit deranged? Maybe. But I have much company in that thinking. I come from a state, Ohio, that almost demands its residents think this way.
OSU routinely draws 60,000 for its spring game. A hundred thousand fans without tickets turned out for the Michigan game this year, just to be on campus — the same was true in 2002. One Buckeyes Web site had a million hits a day during the fall. We love calling it The Ohio State University. It’s dotting the I, sweater vests, Woody Hayes hats and the Horseshoe.
Other fans want their teams to win. Ohio State fans need the Bucks to win — even more so after the John Cooper can’t-beat-Michigan years. We’ve spent our lives defending a state we love — economical reasons, pro sports teams, river burnings, you name it. Ohio sorely lags behind when it comes to job growth.
The Buckeyes, who draw statewide support because they’re the only elite Division I program in the state, are an equal source of pride and hope. So losses feel very personal.
Here’s the thing. Ohio is where football was invented and, where we believe, perfected. And that passion for OSU football is passed down as a treasured heirloom in families. (Just ask my kids. On our drive to Cleveland for Thanksgiving, they watched the DVD of the 2002 Fiesta Bowl. My wife is a Buckeye, too.)
Friendships are based on a shared passion for OSU, as I and my best friend, Chris, can attest.
The pro sports teams in the state are, at best, up and down. Heck, despite having six pro sports teams, Ohio has celebrated just one championship in the last 30 years — and that came in 1990. In my hometown of Cleveland, there hasn’t been one since 1964.
Ohio State football is the one team you can depend on — the Buckeyes’ last consecutive losing seasons occurred in 1923-24. That’s not a misprint.
Yes, I’m bragging. When you’re from Ohio, you don’t always get that chance.
It’s only a game? Maybe someday I’ll believe that.
Until then, Let’s Go Bucks.
Examiner staff writer John Keim graduated from The Ohio State University in 1989. He has already called in sick for tomorrow.
