Ohio State Football

This past weekend I had the grand pleasure of attending Ohio State university's last home game of the season. It was a tremendous experience to stand on the fringe of so much focused attention. I deplore tedious details and think they should play no part in honest blogging, but I must supply a few here now or the true impact this event had on me might be lost:

- OSU is the largest campus in the states right now followed by Texas A&M with one hundred thousand students..give or take

- The OSU Buckeyes (a poisonous nut) was 10-0 going into the game, number one their league.

- Buckeye fans, which include every single last resident in Columbus Ohio (even those recently deceased who are bening buried that day), all where red and grey on game days.

-The drinking age in the U.S. is 21

- Many signs on the freeways, interstate highways, and local roads around Columbus have the word 'football' written on them

- Half of the students are not 21

Needful to say, the walk to the stadium was hectic. Fortunately I had visited a local department store earlier that day and bought a red and grey Buckeye shirt and fit into the sea of other people who seemed to have also visited that store at some earlier point. Drunken freshman, tipsy sorority sisters, sleazy scalpers...it was an epic walk through campus.

These vehicles started appearing the closer we got. It was a luxury, corporate sponsered tailgate party. The Rv's must have costed 50 grand each with satelites and flat screen Tv's set up on their side panels under their felxi-awnings.

It became super funny as we got closer to the stadium and the tailgaters and the drunkie froshers starting mixing. "No, none of this food is for sale!" cried one woman to some guy drooling over her tinfoil steamdishes of mac and cheese and sausages.

We didn't have tickets, never intended to anyway, so we just walked across the main row and settled in a lovely beer tent. Crushing tin under our feet at every step, I made it to the beer ticket counter and got to again present my Ontario ID to the lady. Getting carded in the states is very unusual for me. I get a different reaction all the time, mostly indifferent, but still different. This one was alright and chatty. 16oz. can in hand, I proceeded towards the big screen.

The stadium was right behind me.... how was this possible...

Ah ha!Thank God for cell phone cameras.

Well, it got cold so we left at the half. Buckeyes lost 24-21 or something. I think they were playing Illinois.

Go nuts!