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| The man with the plan was right |
There are a lot of games I could write about that I was at. 2002, 2004, 2006. For me, it all starts with a game in 2001 in A.A. and a promise that was given a few months before.
Let me give you a little back story. I grew up in Columbus in what many would call the dark ages. The Cooper year. Oh F*** it happened again. I miss Earl Bruce, Etc. I had perfectly good school years, elementary school even when you're not supposed to have a care in the world RUINED by the likes of Tim Biakabatittykaka and Anthony 8th year of eligibility Thomas. The first and only time I had to bite down on a bar of lava soap was after the 1995 game. It's not that I don't swear, it's that those were things that an 11 year old shouldn't say. Entire teams worth of NFL talent for not, wasted by the last game of the year. David Boston v Charles Woodson, Desmond the turd burglar, Lloyd Carr, before there were three L's in LLLoyd. This probably explains a lot of my general disposition, right?
I could even say that the 2000 game was the best because it got Coop fired, but I'd be lying and I think Coop gets enough of the blame even though a decade has passed and the ultimate cure, winning, has been given to we who have suffered long and hard. For me the 2001 game was the start of a new era, when sun light would break through the grey Ohio sky and start to make up for the awful 90's.
I was at my grandma's house in a small western New York town, Cattaraugus (shortest wiki page ever.) to be exact. One traffic light, lot's of cows etc. You get the picture. We were up early for Thanksgiving. I was actually prepared to not watch the game, something that is punishable by death, because I didn't think it would be on. Besides, the Buckeyes weren't having a very good year and why would this year be any different? I know Coach Tressel promised that we'd be proud in 310 days, but would we? I could feel Buckeye indigestion building inside my 18 year old stomach(little did I know it would prepare me for 2002).
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| And, GONE |
Before I knew it Ohio State was up 7 by virtue of a Jonathan Wells Touchdown. A few minutes later 14-0 OSU by the same. 21.... 23..... How was this happening? Have you ever been so happy that you didn't know what to think or how to act? a 23-0 half time lead seemed unbeatable, but Michigan came storming back. I thought that the excellent first half would all be wasted, but the Buckeyes held on to win for the first time in A.A. in 14 years. Things had changed, I could feel it.
Looking back on that game, I was right. Things had changed. Since then we've only experienced one loss to TTUN and some would argue that it was due to putting Craig Krenzel in with a numbed arm. As OSU fans, we've become spoiled and accustomed to our successes, and we all know how I feel about that. Let's not forget when it started, how it started and how we felt back then.
