Ohio State Game Day: An outsider’s perspective
Forging love for the Buckeyes across state lines
Game Day at Ohio State is something we Buckeyes take for granted. It’s loud, energized, and filled to the brim with Buckeye pride.
Any student who spends every weekend cheering for the Scarlet and Gray gets used to the droves of people coming to campus, the hundreds of tailgaters hanging out around The Shoe, and the dozens of “O-H!” cheers you hear walking down High Street.
But for anyone who has never been a part of an Ohio State football weekend, the experience can prove to be a bit out of the ordinary.
Bobby (on the right) visiting The Shoe summer 2013
Meet Bobby: California’s biggest Ohio State fan that never attended Ohio State. He also happens to be my cousin. Ever since my brother and I were accepted to OSU, Bobby has swore every year he would make the 2,000 mile trek to Old Columbus for a football game and he finally made it here for the game against Michigan State.
We started off Game Day like any other, with a good, old-fashioned tailgate at a friend’s house. Endless amounts of food and cheap beer were had, along with an infinite supply of camaraderie among friends and strangers.
Parents we had never met offered us sandwiches and cookies, while fellow students flagged us over to join in games of Flip-cup and Boom. Bobby commented between rounds: “It’s like we’ve all been friends for years. This is so much different from tailgates at home.”
When it came time to walk to the game, a light drizzle was beginning to fall from the skies. By the time we were climbing the steps to our seats, the drizzle was starting to resemble a downpour, but that wasn’t going to stop the students from crowding into the student section.
Bobby looked down at the field and all around the stadium before quietly remarking: “This is absolutely insane.” I looked out at the same sea of Scarlet surrounding the field and agreed that it was all a bit insane, but it was also very normal.
From kickoff to those heartbreaking last few seconds, Bobby was fully immersed in the tradition that is Ohio State football. Myself and the students around us taught him all our cheers and chants, shared high fives after touchdowns, and linked arms for the final “Carmen Ohio” in The Shoe for the year.
For about two hours, Bobby wasn’t a random kid from California. He was a Buckeye. He was family. Even though Ohio State fell to the Spartans, Bobby was able to see what makes Game Day such a significant part of Ohio State. It’s a time for all of us to come together with pride and love for our school, for a place that a lucky few of us can call home.
Regardless of the fact that Bobby isn’t a student at our great university, he was able to call OSU home for the short time he was here, all thanks to the great love we share for the best damn team and school in the land.