Its Been a Crazy Month Buckeye Fans

A few Saturdays ago, I found myself in the not so friendly Happy Valley with my girlfriend, holding two tickets for the much hyped battle that night between THE Ohio State Buckeyes and Penn State. It was an early birthday present from her, and I couldn't have been more pumped, looking at Beaver Stadium as one of those rare places that is just special to see a game. What happened that day set the stage for exactly how I felt two weeks later, and set the course for my journey as a fan this past month.

After getting into State College and getting parked, we chose to walk around to see the area and take in the whole experience. Don't get me wrong, I expected to be heckled, screamed at, and called many names. But what came more was just obscenities being used instead of our team name (I'm sure you can figure it out), groups of people literally running up to you and screaming in your face, and yes having people throw not just beer, but half to 3/4 full beer cans at us and any Ohio State fans. I've been to quite a few games in Columbus, and some big ones, but I had never seen people treated in such a way before. It made me mad, angry, frustrated and downright disappointed to see other fans/students/people treating each other that way.

I would learn afterwards that the reason the band didn't make the trip was because the last time they went to Penn State they had "blood and urine bombs" thrown at them in the stands. Disgusting and disgraceful. (And for any one that says the beer throwing incident was isolated, it wasn't. I saw the video of it being at a party, and I saw it happen right on the main street across from the stadium. And it happened in 2005 too. That university needs to get some things straightened out over there before someone gets hurt.)

Needlessly to say, the result went the right way, and it was a privilege to sing Carmen Ohio with the players after the game and having a group to answer our "O-H" with a very big "I-O". That day started with me being angry, frustrated, disappointed and ending with me being excited, thrilled, and full of National Championship dreams.

Fast forward two weeks.

Stunned. Thats the only way to describe the crowd walking out of Ohio Stadium. I walked into the stadium that day feeling the same way I walked out of Beaver Stadium, excited, thrilled and full of National Championship dreams. I walked out angry, frustrated, and disappointed...shocked that Ron Zook got us again, shocked that it happened inside the Shoe, shocked that just like that, it was all over. It was a long drive home, where I explained the..."finer" details of the BCS to my girlfriend when she couldn't understand why it was fair that we'd be ranked lower than LSU, when they lost to a now unranked Kentucky team, and we lost to a now ranked Illinois team. I had to tell her that we needed a "Tiny Tim" miracle to have a chance at a National Championship. And after that most of the 2 and a half hour ride home was spent pretty quiet.

Fast forward 9 days.

2 down (to Arizona and Texas Tech no less!), 3 to go! And folks, its not so crazy anymore. LSU has to deal with Darren McFadden and an SEC championship game that will have to go through Georgia (hopefully) or Tennessee, which is no easy task. Kansas-Mizzo play Saturday so one is gone, and the winner of that game will most likely have a very angry and non-concussed Sam Bradford and Oklahoma. West Virginia has to play an upshot UConn team and then a rivalry game against Pitt to end the year. There isn't a cakewalk for anyone. Except the Buckeyes that is. They finished their job, securing a spot in Pasadena no matter what, and left themselves an open window at a title shot. Is it likely? Maybe not, but it is certainly possible.

We still need breaks, but being a Buckeye fan these past few weeks made me reminisce back to the 2002 title team. It wasn't easy at any point that year, and at times it looked like it was gonna end. But they persevered and got their shot in Tempe. And when no one said they could do it, no one said they could beat Ken Dorsey and the Hurricanes, they found a way. If this team gets a shot, catches some breaks, and gets their opportunity...they will find a way. It's not over yet, and while it's not how I thought things would be walking out of Beaver Stadium 3 weeks ago, it's all I could ask walking out of the shoe last week.

So Buckeye fans, break out your UConn Huskie shirts, Oklahoma Sooner hats, Darren McFadden Jerseys, and start nicknaming your dogs Smokey and Uga...we're gonna smell like roses no matter what...but let's see if we can cheer our boys to the Bayou instead.