I grew up in Grandview Heights. O$u season tickets have been in my family since the shoe was built over 100 years ago because of donations my dad's dad gave for the construction. My dad would take me to 1 game a year during my youth, but like my dad my allegiance was to Notre Dame and we typically rooted against o$u. In the late 1970s my high school buddies and I would walk from Grandview High School on Saturday mornings after watching film of our football game from the previous night to the shoe for a 1 p.m. kickoff. We wouldn't have tickets but would always find a way in, legitimately or not. We would then return on Sundays after church to play tag football on the shoe's astroturf. There would usually be about 4 games going at once, one on each quadrant.

Since the 1980s I have always rooted for 3 teams on fall Saturdays: 1a) Ohio; 1b) ND; 3) whoever is playing o$u.

My wedding, 25 years ago last week, was the night of an o$u/um game. Most of the attendees were Ohio grads (family and friends). "Stand Up and Cheer" was sung loudly and proudly at the reception.

Maybe, OCF. But it sure ain't easy living your whole life in central Ohio as a fan of college sports but not a fan of o$u.

I made a real PITA of myself among the buckeye fans in staff meeting yesterday. They were crying in their coffee, even though NONE of them are alums, I made a huge deal about how OHIO still has a chance for a conference championship. Even threw in "No ridiculous THE required".

The SEC fans on the video call thought it was absolutely hilarious. So did I.