Ohio State Buckeyes: September 2006 Archives

On being a Buckeye

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OK, here's the deal. Mama-Lu and I, upon the arrival of our first-born, struck a number of compromises. Fortunately, we're both Catholic, so there was no need to debate that matter. Sports, on the other hand...

I grew up on the north side of Chicago, about a mile away from Wrigley Field, so that was a no-brainer. Our boys will be raised Cubs fans. I don't give a rats rear about any other professional teams*, so no problems there.

College, on the other hand, presents a problem. We're both U of I alumni, but Jenny is a sort of "first-generation" transplantee from the world's greatest football town: Columbus. The compromise was suprisingly easy to strike: the Buckeyes will get the boys for football, but we will be an Illini basketball family. I think this will be a nice way to bring the boys up in the winningest tradition in each sport (and hopefully make up for the emotional scars that rooting for the Cubs will inflict upon them).

So yes, I am a Buckeye fan. And rooting for them this past week was surprisingly easy. It's been a long time - all my life - since I had a winning college football team to root for.

Stuff like this, though, gives me pause.

Couches and mattresses were set on fire outside houses in Ohio State University student neighborhoods and three people were struck by a car following the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes' 24-7 win over No. 2 Texas.

There were 35 to 40 fires set in student neighborhoods Saturday night, said Columbus police Sgt. David Howson, whose department arrested about 17 people, five of them on arson charges. A trash bin also was set ablaze, burning two nearby cars, he said.

Battalion Fire Chief Kevin O'Connor said he was treated for bumps and bruises after he and two others were struck by a car that came through a temporary command post set up in the driveway of a student union building.

What the freak goes on over there? Is there something my wife and in-laws aren't telling me about Buckeye sub-culture?

* Once, a long time ago, I was a rabid Bull's fan. But when the first season you ever follow the sport, your team wins the first of six championships in eight years, unreal expectations are created. I might have hung in there, but the NBA has become an embarrasment. If they want to have a future, they need to stop drafting teenagers.

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This page is a archive of entries in the Ohio State Buckeyes category from September 2006.

Ohio State Buckeyes: November 2006 is the next archive.

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