Let's leave aside the 30-45 of us regulars here who will root for O H I O every time and disregard the junior institution in columbus absolutely. We few will root for UO and the gree of Oregon, not columbus. Never columbus.
Then you have the rest of the OHIO contingent, which is, effectively 100% of the OHIO friends/alumni. 100%.
Monroe, I am going to ignore your usual drivel and focus on the above statement. Did you read the article? Are you capable comprehending what you read?
There are two direct quotations from the article I would like to draw attention to.
It's (Athens) also the place where I would get heckled for parading my other team, my hometown pride, my Ohio State Buckeyes.
many fellow students would give me guff. You know how it goes in Athens.
There are still plenty of Buckeye fans in Athens, many hailing from Columbus. You can still find red on the streets (especially in years like this) with fans crowding bars to watch games.
There is also a growing and sizable precentage of the student body that does not support Ohio State. The fact is, it isn't just "30 or 45" anymore that don't support OSU. It is a very sizable number. They wear "The Real O-H-I-O" and "OSwho?" shirts and heckle kids in OSU gear. It is somewhat good-natured, but it certainly isn't just teasing. It is a little deeper than that. There is some real dislike towards Ohio State on campus these days in Athens. This isn't just a lack of support for Ohio State in Athens. This is a rivalry.
"Rival" is a term many of the OSU supporters on this board don't seem to get. "We're not rivals."
It had nothing to do with a university or even football for that matter. It had to do with pride for my state and the knowledge that others around the country had to pay attention to where I was from, even if it was just for a second.
"It had nothing to do with a university"
I think a sizable % of current students don't share that view and that is why more current students would be likely to call Ohio and Ohio State rivals.
Students today are spending tens of thousands of dollars to attend Ohio University. Ohio University students are competing against Ohio State University students when they walk into job interviews. For many current students and recent alumni, that makes it a rivalry between two UNIVERSITIES.
Ohio and Ohio State may not compete on the field in every sport every year, but you better believe we are two competing institutions. Constantly. 100% of the time. Ohio State and Marshall are almost identical in distance to Ohio University. The two closest Division One schools. Our local rivals.
I understand that kids growing up in Columbus and even the state of Ohio are going to root for the hometown and homestate team. That makes sense.
What also makes sense to me is giving absolute support to a school you have invested a lot of your time and money into.
A friend spoke with Rod McDavis on ICA spending and McDavis remarked that he felt you should want your school to be the best that it can be in every area possible.
I could not agree more. I wish that statement was on the record. I would root for Ohio University in football, a Classics and World Religions debate, chinese checkers, women's chinese checkers and tiddlywinks. I don't think it is only 30-45 people who agree with me. I think a sizable precentage of Ohio University students and alumni believe Ohio University is THE premier higher education institution in the state.
Lost in your crusade against the current coaching staff seems the "rest of the story." Something is happening in Athens. They aren't building a team. They are building a program.