Amazing Family Life

It’s surprising to me that I am writing an article about college football. 

Growing up, I was never a football fan.  Football, particularly OSU football, was on in my house every Saturday.  My dad and brother watched; I could be in the room for the entire game and not know who won.  My dad was a big Woody Hayes fan.  I knew who he was, but when my Dad and brother went to an OSU game in the late 70’s, my mom and I were happy to take a bus downtown and go to Lazarus.

I went to Ohio University, graduating in 1992, and went on to complete my Master’s degree from The Ohio State University in 1999.  In 1998 I decided to see what all the hype was about going to a Buckeye football game.   I loved the band, the excitement, the feeling in the air, but admittedly I still wasn’t the greatest fan of football.  I even went to a couple of bowl games over the next two seasons: The Sugar Bowl of 1999 and the Outback Bowl of 2000. 

At the Outback Bowl of 1999 the fans were very disappointed in the performance of the team under Coach John Cooper and he was subsequently fired.

I was listening to the radio and they were discussing the possible candidates for the head football coach position and one of the commentators was stating that he hoped it went to a little known coach from Youngstown Coach named Jim Tressel.  They said that he had won four NCAA Division II National Championships.  The other commentators did not think he was qualified but the one particular commentator was rooting for him.

Later it was announced that the little known underdog, “Jim Tressel,” was indeed the new OSU Buckeye Head Coach. 

The following season I went to the first game and at the close of the game Jim Tressel and his team, along with over 100,000 fans, met at the goalpost and sang “Carmen Ohio.”  I was hooked.

I even bought season tickets for the first time.  They were in Section 27AA.  Decidedly not the best seats in the “Shoe,” but it didn’t matter, because any season tickets were worth their weight in gold to me.

The following game was cancelled due to the attack on our nation which occurred September 11, 2001.  It was unheard of for an OSU football game to be cancelled but due to national grief and security it was necessary.

When I returned to the following game there was a decidedly different atmosphere in the St. John arena skull session when the coach and the players walked in.  The only word I can think of the describe the atmosphere is “reverent,” not just for our country, the people who died on 9/11, but also for Tressel, the team and the institution of football.  Somehow it was about more than a game of football – it was about showing the world that despite what our enemies had done to us, they had not prevailed.  The feeling in the stadium was also one of a new kind of fear.  I recall prior to the game seeing an airplane fly overhead was common and nothing to give a second thought; after 9/11 the airspace over the stadium was restricted and an airplane seen in the distance was cause for anxiety.

The 2001 season was not remarkable.  Tressel ended the season 7-5 and lost the Outback Bowl again.  Not a great start for this new coach.

The following season was a different story, however.

Due to the cancelled game the previous season, we had 13 games scheduled for the 2002 season. I went to every home game, as well as Indiana and Illinois.  Several of the games in the season can only be described as “miraculous.”  Illinois was freezing cold and went into triple overtime.  Purdue was won by the skin of our teeth.  Clarett was in. Clarett was out.  We had this quarterback named “Craig Krenzel” who was tall, lanky and a good athlete, but not considered Heisman material by a long shot. 

But he was smart.

As most Buckeye fans know, we ended that season 13-0 and went on to the National Championship game in Tempe Arizona, ending with a record-setting 14 -0 season.   And I was there.  I paid more for a ticket than I will probably ever spend on a football game again in my life.  It was a game I will never forget and it was worth every penny.  We were definitely the underdogs to the “shiny, elite” squad of the University of Miami.  I spent nine days in Tempe and there was a definite air of superiority from the Miami fans and team.  We were not expected to hold up against the green and gold at all.

At the beginning of the game the Miami fans around me were almost laughing about how easy a game it was going to be.  But then they noticed the number of red shirts in the stadium, the sold out crowd, the great band and the “Tressel Ball” fans,  I could sense them getting nervous.

I stood at my seat and screamed for 5 straight hours, never leaving to get a drink or even go to the restroom.  By the end of the game I couldn’t talk and I have never been so thirsty in my life. 

We won! We were the National Champions for the first time in 36 years! 

And I remember a Miami fan who was laughing at our spirit at the beginning of the game turning to me, shaking my hand and saying “You’ve got quite a team.  You made me a believer.  You fought and scrapped and you won.”

When Tressel held up the National Championship trophy and the team sang Carmen Ohio, I knew that it was truly the beginning of an era that The Ohio State University had not seen since the days of Woody Hayes.

Admittedly, I am disappointed in the conduct of Coach Tressel, but I truly hope that people remember him for the thousands of things that he did right, not just on the field, but off as well.

Thank you, Coach Tressel.  Go Bucks!