Spring Game Shenanigans
This is a practice. I repeat: PRACTICE!!
This is the Allen Iverson “we’re talking about.... practice” kind of practice.
And yet, come Saturday afternoon at Ohio Stadium, some 70-90-thousand fans will gather, decked out in their scarlet and gray to watch.... practice.
This is the one day of the year when Buckeye fans prove their true, overwhelming devotion. Tell me another sport where even 20-thousand people would pay $5 each to watch a team play---itself. Outside of European soccer, I’m not sure that passion exists elsewhere.
But here’s the scary part… it’s not that uncommon in college football. Take Alabama, for example. The Crimson Tide packed in a mere 92,000 fans for its spring game last year (consider OSU had 75,301 for its game). Several other elite college programs attract more than 50,000 people to spring practice.
What’s this mean? Fans of this sport want to be more involved and more educated. They want to appreciate the “why” of a game without someone telling them. They want to know who the next guy in the game might be. Buckeye fans know the backups--by name and number. No better place to learn their info than the spring game.
So in Columbus, it’s more than just… practice. It’s a warmup to a promising year. So buy a program and study up. Your buddies will.
