Spoilermaker Football

No trip behind the corncob curtain would be complete without going to a Big Ten football game, especially if one of the teams playing is Ohio State.  And yes, although I lived in Boiler country for 36 years, I have remained a Buckeye football fan.  I don’t know what it is about one’s college life makes a fan, but I still get a thrill over seeing Script Ohio played out at “The Shoe” and watching the Bucks play.    

My long-time gal pal and faithful Boilermaker, Tanya, is a Purdue season ticket-holder and kindly invited me to join her and husband Kevin at the Purdue vs. OSU game November 12th.  The Buckeyes were favored to win, but my memory is long on how Purdue is known as “the spoilermakers”.   I was cautiously hopeful, but tried hard not to be an uber-obnoxious Buckeye fan, especially while sitting in a sea of Black and Gold. 

For those of you who don’t follow Big Ten football, let me just say that Buckeye fans are a highly spirited bunch, and that’s putting it mildly.   Often sporting buckeye nut necklaces, face paint, wild red wigs, dressing up their dogs, etc.  Buckeye fans can be really obnoxious, especially when fuelled by liquid courage.   Some fans take it further; years ago, one couple named their daughter Scarlet Ann Grey, as reported in the local paper, “The Columbus Dispatch” (i.e. the Columbus Distort).  I often wondered if her form of rebellion against her parents was enrolling at Michigan.  Yours truly dressed modestly: a red sweater and a Buckeye baseball-style hat; no face paint and no buckeye nut necklace (Tanya was a bit disappointed at the latter). 

Tanya’s seats were in row 13 at about the 30 yard line behind the Buckeye bench.  It was a beautiful, though windy, day for a game.  There were a lot of changes since I last attended a game here:  the band looked to be bigger, which doesn’t make for a lot of room on the field to march around.  The twirling squad added yet another twirler in 2010, known as Miss Boilerette (who performed with a black walking cast on her leg!), sister to the Golden Girl, the Girl in Black, and the Silver Twins.  The flag corps, known as the Golden Silks (OK, I had to look this up), added two men to their corps: another first.  This was the easy stuff to see.   But I missed seeing a lot of stuff:  a bandsman doing a backflip off the Largest Bass Drum; Brutus Buckeye doing a backflip (big soft head and all) and several penalties that occurred away from the ball (I’m too used to watching games on TV).   The event was definitely “stimulus overload” for me. 

Well, for Buckeye fans, it was a “hot mess” of a game, with Purdue leading through most of it.  With only a minute left to play, the Buckeyes scored a touchdown to tie the game.  The whole stadium was on its feet and the excitement was palpable as the Buckeyes tee’d up for the point after kick.  With less than a minute to play, could it be that the Buckeyes would win in the final seconds??    Well, the Buckeye kick was blocked and the game went into overtime.  The Bucks scored a field goal after a failed 3^rd down conversion and Purdue went on to score six points, winning 26-23.  Arrrrrrrrgggghhhhh!! 

And so it ended with Boiler fans rushed onto the field in total excitement while Buckeye fans began their trudge of shame back to their cars for the 4.5 hour drive back to Columbus.  As I walked up the stairs to the exit, I passed one of the old-timers who serve as an usher at the games.  Not wanting to miss a golden opportunity, he got a jab in with me about the long ride home.  Good grief, a retiree trash-talking another retiree.   The Boilers were definitely doing a happy dance while many stormed the field in triumphant jubilation.