Proud to be a BUCKEYE

Well it's officially that time of year for us Buckeye fans. Time for the big game and a whole lot of nail biting, and nerves until the last second has ticked away off the clock...This year it's more than just the game we wait all season for - this year it's a day of reckoning.

Living in the big LexVegas isn't exactly a prime location for this game. Cause see, no one here really gives a damn why we love Woody Hayes, or why when someone says "O-H" we spontaneously reply "I-O." No one understands why we intrinsically are born to loathe that school "up North." Or how we can devote entire restaurant experiences around a college team. Ah, yes. We are Buckeyes and we love our Ohio State football. It doesn't matter if you went to OSU or not...it just is like a right of passage. You are born. You love Ohio State. You are fortunate to have ever lived in Columbus, you are a fan for life. It's in the tradition of game day, the celebration in every victory or the heart break in the RARE defeat (God, I hope I didn't just jinx us). Not to mention the highly circulated emails about how much we despise the school that must not be name, you know...like the 3-year old in his OSU shirt, face painted with the big "O" giving the bird to a supposed rival team fan in the crowd - and how we think that's so precious. There's something to be said about the love of our Buckeye football when the state puts off the final tally of a highly contested election until "after the big game." It's all about your priorities, you know. Or the way you throw your keys on the floor when 24-hours before said big game you come back from lunch and someone says "OH MY GOD, DID YOU HEAR!!!! BO SCHEMBECKLER DIED!!!"

Ah yes. The big game. Numero Uno and that aborhing number 2. Perhaps the biggest game of the NCAA season just a matter of hours away...and my stomach is in knots...my palms are a sweatin' and that team's former beloved coach has just kicked the bucket, giving them more motivation than just about anything.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Well, I'm hoping that a darn fine season, an 11-0 record, a possible Heisman trophy winner, and not to mention the fact that the game is in the "Shoe" (where the fans are as committed to the win as the players themselves) is enough to give us that last "W" and a spot in the BCS Championship Game.

And because it's tradition in that hometown of mine, in honor of Scarlet & Grey day, I've of course got on my OSU Championship sweatshirt from a few years ago, my Go Bucks lucky bracelet, my Buckeye earings, and a pair of red undies on just in case...


You never can be too sure what will clench it for them.



GO BUCKS!