The transformation from my freshman year til now is just stupid.. I am a big big big believer in winning.
We got thrashed by Northeastern my first day on campus.
and by Northwestern on mine.
Yeah, but the Northeastern game was home.
My first Ohio home game. My brother, an alum and pilot, flew me and another frosh down on Saturday morning with classes not starting till Tuesday in late September. We circled the campus coming in from the north and saw the land mark Convo from a distance and then Peden. (on the flight through central Ohio I recall seeing the strip mining and the landscape forest and hill tops looking grotesque, ripped open to get the goodies) Landed at the old Athens airport once located on E.State where the Athens rec center and Walmarts is now.
Ohio opponent was Kent State and Kent had their greatest team ever and perhaps one of the MAC's best ever too--Greg Kokal at qb, who had started as a 16 year old a year or two before, Jack Lambert at LB and Gold Medal Olympian in the 4x100 relay at flanker, Gerald Tinker. I'll never forget the almost cartoon like play when Kent had the ball moving towards the street endzone--or moving left to right for the student section. It was cartoon like because of the speed of Gerald Tinker and how silly he made the two safeties look. Tinker took a button hook over the middle, behind the linebackers and under the safety coverage. Tinker was motionless at a dead stop taking the pass between the hashes. He turned and it was like he was shot out of a cannon. He took off straight for the goal post with the two Bobcat safeties moving off each of their hash mark to make the tackle. The two safeties converged on Tinker and before they arrived, Tinker had sped through them and the two Coyote safeties crashed helmet to helmet not catching Road Runner....The only thing I didn't hear was Meep Meep as the flash went for 6 untouched! Fall 1972.
Now completely off subject was my first night in the dorm later that evening. My experience growing up in Medina was that I had never had a beer and only heard of classmates who had smoked dope but I'd never been around it. My roommate was from Oxford, his father a professor at Miami. I was somewhat suspicious that someone would pay to go away to school when his would have been free by staying at Oxford Tech. He had two friends visit our barely appointed dorm room--I left to eat. I came back to the room in Pickering on the old South, after grabbing my first New South Green, Old Nelson, meal at the dining hall. The three of them, a guy and a girl were the guests, were standing at the window doing something with a razor blade. Cutting something. They said you want to do some? I said do some what? They said, some WindowPane. I am walking closer now, and very confused, I'm thinking what the hell is windowpane, did they scrape something off the glass with that blade or what and why would they want to do some? Then I spotted this little red cellophane looking thing no bigger than your thumbnail. They where chopping this red, square shaped thing into four pieces using the marble window sill as the cutting board. They asked me again do you want to do some and me in a complete fog said do some what? They replied each with a different term, the first saying WindowPane, the next saying THC man, Acid. Then it started to register on me. They each licked their finger so to have a little red square stick as I looked on and the girl said try some. Then they each stuck it directly onto their eyeball and as I'm staring in disbelief they almost immediately start tripping. Only a few seconds later the two guys are falling towards the bed and the girl starts chucking all over them and the floor. I am thinking yes, give me some of that! Gerald Tinker may had the fastest move that day but it had a close second I found another place to sleep that evening and as luck would have it the roommate of the guest in my room had an earlier run in with the group trying to do the drugs in his room, and the druggies suggested the straight roommate move in with me. We had a wonderful relationship and outstanding experience--all except for one night Late September back in 72. Sorry for the narrative but some things are unforgettable.