For those who don't mind the long read, this was my first game ever and I really wanted to share my experience with you all:
So this past Wednesday night my brother, who goes to Ohio St., half-jokingly IM's me and says, "hey, I've got an extra free ticket for the game on Saturday, wanna come and use it?" Now I am at school in Montreal with homework starting to pile up, and I tell him to hold up while I check airline prices. (I mean, are you serious?!?! Big10 opener vs. a top25 team!!! I had to find a way.) I go check and find a pretty sweet deal, call him, and tell him I'll see him tomorrow. He was shocked--I was as giddy as Mark May at a Pittsburgh sausage-fest. The reason being because after following the team randomly--I live in Boston--though religiously through tv, since the galloway, glenn, eddie days, this was to be my first game ever in person!
I get into Columbus early Thursday morning, and went to sleep while my brother went to class, and found a ride to pick me up at my hotel. All rested, he gets me at 5pm that night and we go grab some dinner (he "pays" on those ever-so-handy Buck-ID's you guys have). We walk around campus for the next couple hours and I was very, very impressed with the beauty of most of the buildings, and the sheer size of the athletics facilities. It was just a picturesque campus, especially around the Oval area.
Friday was a bit of a blur because I was drinking by 330 (yup, 4 kegs, beat the clock--something I "had" to do), and didn't really stop until about 1am Saturday morning. Then came GAMEDAY!!!!
I was so scared, that the lightning/thunder which woke me up in the early hours was going to linger and cause the game to be delayed or cancelled, Fortunately everything was meant to work out, and the rain finally ended by the time we walked out the door of my brother's friend's house at 1100am. Anyway, that morning, the house I crashed at was playing the fight music, everyone was decked out in the S&G, I was getting so anxious and pumped. I had the dumbest smile on my face, but I didn't care I was so happy.
We walk over to the game and get up to his student seats. I was blown away by the sheer size of the 'Shoe inside, and the beauty of the field. Like Ace Ventura says to Ray Finkle's parents, "this is my graceland, sir." It was truly an amazing sight to behold. At 1155am, the band starts onto the field--holy [censored] they were amazing! I had never actually seen the whole show because abc only shows the dotting of the i, but I was so impressed. The crowd was getting pumped up, finally the team lines up by their tunnel, and come onto the field. It was so surreal to see all these guys running towards me before my own eyes. I put my camera away up until the end because I did not want to miss a second of the action.
Then the game...First off, I was shocked to see Iowa wanting the ball first versus our D, but hey, whatever. D holds, and we get the ball. We start off with a sweet drive coming towards our seats. 3rd-goal from around the 8 or so, and you could tell everyone was thinking, "oh no, are we seriously going to stall in the red zone again?" I then proceed to say, why don't they throw the friggin slants? We have the quickest wr's in the country, no way they can keep up if we break press. BAM, slant to Gonzo, TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!! I went nuts, the crowd went nuts. IT WAS AWESOME!!!
I think everyone knows the rest of the game, but I can't believe my luck at seeing 4+ sacks, Tate look like an idiot, a Whitner pick, a punt return td by Ginn (nullified by the 'penalty'), Pittman look like the stud most of us thought he was, Holmes reel off a couple nice catches, Ginn shake a bake for some key first downs, Smith finally figure it out for the most part, huge hits by Hawk, and just an overall dismantling of a decent Iowa team.
Also, during the game I was so amazed to be a part of the O-H-I-O going around the stadium (we were the I), singing Carmen, Ohio for the first time with 105k+ (gave me goosebumps), yelling O-H-I-O with the kickoffs. It was also the S&G game, so at halftime I got to see them fill in the Ohio State logo with the athletes. Those traditions are so cool, and enhanced the game experience to the nth degree. I was on such a high that on my flight back to school I was seriously depressed to have to go back to the real world--I really did not want to leave. I just want to say that you guys go/went to a great school, with awesome traditions, and obviously a WICKED KICKASS FOOTBALL TEAM!! I have always rooted for Ohio State, but now I feel that I am a part of it. GO BUCKEYES!!!!!
Link to pictures from game/campus:
http://community.webshots.com/user/ohiostate74
