Ohio State Sports Information Office - "The first game of the 2010 season will be played on THURSDAY, September 2nd, 2010."
Buckeye Nation - "Huh? Wait ... say that again? "
Ohio State Sports Information Office - "The first game of the 2010 season will be played on THURSDAY, September 2nd, 2010."
Buckeye Nation - "The Buckeyes are opening on a Thursday?!?!?? OMG!"
I am probably not giving Buckeye Nation enough credit because I'm guessing a majority of Buckeye fans are kind "meh" about the whole thing. I have to admit my first reaction was negative but not due to the reasons I've seen on the O-zone forums. So far I've seen the following general comments:
Against
We are now the Big East!
Tradition > Money
I can't come to the game on a Thursday because I live out of state!
You are killing the gameday experience!
ForThe official Buckeye announcement from Gene Smith said:
A game that would have been a noon kick on the BTN is now on national television.
Nothing better than a night game under the lights!
Two Extra Days for Miami-FL!
“Along with providing maximum national exposure for our Rose Bowl champions, this unique starting date and time allows our team and fans to escape the heat of the day, and breaks up a string of four consecutive Saturday home games to start the season. “It will allow fans to enjoy other events throughout the Labor Day weekend. We see it as a treat for Buckeye fans and an exciting way to open the 2010 campaign.”These are all good points but my gut reaction is still negative and I admit it isn't for any rational reason. The Buckeye's have played in only one other regular season game that wasn't on a a Saturday. In 1997 the Buckeye's played on a Thursday night game vs Wyoming and I remember being extremely excited to see the game. If you've never had season tickets then you may not realize that every type of game is a bit different.
Night games vs day games - Night games are the best because the team looks good under the lights and the extended tailgating that occurs beforehand.
In school vs out of school - Some may not realize that the student don't usually arrive on campus until mid-September. The first 2-3 game of every season replaces 10-20,000 student ticket holders with alumni or has a public sale so people that never can see the Buckeyes actually have a chance to go. The rowdy (i.e. - drunk) students vs the one-time visitors make for a big difference in the game day atmosphere.
Conference vs out of conference - Conference games have history and history makes games more interesting.
Ranked vs un-Ranked - Ranked means more media and the chance that College gameday will show up on campus. There's no better feeling than beating a worthy opponent.
A Saturday night game in October vs a ranked conference foe is about the best non-Michgan gameday experience. If the Buckeyes are ranked high, more than likely College Gameday will be there and the atmosphere is just electric. Comparing this against a September game vs Marshall is just unfair. Still....
I was really excited for the 1997 Wyoming game. My best friend from high school had gotten some tickets and I gave my season ticket away so I could go with him. He was really excited because he had never gone to a Buckeye game and I wanted to be his tour guide. The game started at 8pm so the plan was to meet down at 5pm.
At the time I had a job on the east side of Columbus that was about a twenty minute drive to the stadium so I decided to leave the office at 4pm. Unfortunately a management employee isn't always in control of their schedule so I wasn't able to change and leave the building until about 430pm. The optimist part of my brain thought ... "it's only a twenty minute drive ... perhaps I can make it on time". Things were moving pretty well on 670 but when I got on 315N on my way to the stadium I saw the ominous sign of cars stopped in the distance. 5 minutes later I was at a dead stop. We were going to meet at Fawett Center so I was going to get off on Lane Avenue and park nearby. As I slowly drove over King Avenue (this was before the exit was made), I realized the problem. Ohio State is not only the largest university in the nation but it is only one of the biggest employers in the state and those workers were now trying to get home. Ten thousand cars were leaving the university just as ten thousand cars were trying to get on the campus. The result was total gridlock. The Lane Avenue ramp was closed and I was forced to go to the next exit. The police seemed to have a plan as they were pointing cars in a confident manner. After a bit I was headed south but instead of following a bunch of cars onto a field that I'd never seen used before I drove on to my normal parking spot and found it full. Now I found myself at the mercy of the traffic cops and did a circle tour from Ackermann to Olentangy to Lane to Kenny back to Ackermann and ending up at the parking lot I'd passed about 45 minutes earlier.
I had purposely avoided looking at the clock up to this point but now took a quick glance. 6:15PM. Over an hour late. Keep in mind that this is in the era before cell phones were commonplace so now I needed to get to the Fawcett Center and find my friend because he also had the tickets. Luckily walking was a much faster form of travel on this day so I got there about 10 minutes later to find my friend was nowhere in sight. I remember thinking that it was hard to blame him as I certainly wouldn't to have wanted to wait that long. Then suddenly I see someone smiling at me holding a 12-pack. He didn't look pissed and he was smiling as he handed me a beer so I felt a little better as I sheepishly apologized. "No biggie ... I only got here about half hour ago", even though I knew he was lying to make me feel better. I gave him a quick tour of Hineygate and tried to get into the Skull Session but by the time we got there the band was done. So we sat in the parking lot and finished off the 12 pack before going into the game. Everything felt rushed and I bought him a hot dog and coke (soon to be spiked with whiskey) and found our seats. The game itself was pretty much a non-event and as we walked away I felt a little sad as I felt the beginnings of a mini-hangover coming on and hoped that traffic was light because I had to get up early for work (it wasn't and I didn't).
I tell this personal story to give a little insight as to why I'm not really excited about the Marshall game. Gene Smith is right in that the game does give us national attention. He is also right that it gives families time to spend with each other during the Labor Day holiday weekend. Another good thing is this makes it easier for Ohio State to host the Kirk Herbstreit high school classic (the real reason for the move IMO). Still, I don't like the change because it reminds me of a day I'd rather forget and I definitely will be watching this one from home.
Post-script - I made up to my friend for the Wyoming gameday debacle by inviting to a season opening game a few years later. We got to the game extra early for the 3:30pm kickoff and were actually able to watch College Gameday on TV at a table at the Varsity Club. I showed him all the Buckeye landmarks, hit a few other friend's tailgate parties, and were able to watch the band's skull session. We watched the team walk into the stadium then hurried to our seats to watch them warm up and see the band march onto the field. The game that day was especially memorable because a true freshman tailback ran all over Texas Tech and they never were a threat. I told him to save the ticket since someday he would be able to look back at it and say "I was there". 4 months later I am at his house and he shows me he still has the ticket stub. A few hours later, we are watching the same Buckeye team on TV and are literally on our hands and knees praying that the Buckeyes can make a stop. When Cie Grant's pressure made Ken Dorsey's 4th down pass fall harmlessly to the ground I remember being quite happy. But that is another story.....
No comments:
Post a Comment