OSU's sizzling celebration
01/19/03
T.C. Brown
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- Buckeye Nation blocked out Mother Nature's cold blitz yesterday, reveling in a joyous victory celebration for its 14-0 national championship football team.
Despite a temperature of 10 degrees when the official ceremony kicked off at 1 p.m., an estimated 50,000 screaming Ohio State football fanatics at Ohio Stadium answered the call to party. Some had arrived before sunup. By 8:30 a.m., lines stretched along the stadium's perimeter, prompting officials to open the gates about 10:30 a.m., a half-hour earlier than planned.
Excitement and enthusiasm ripped like electricity through the bundled-up crowd, which was eager for a glimpse of its football heroes. Despite the garb of many Buckeye nuts - sombreros, serapes and Tostito-chip hats complemented the usual scarlet and gray - this celebration of the Jan. 3 win over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., was serious business. It had been, after all, 34 years since the last national title in Columbus.
OSU alum Julia Fitzpatrick-Cooper and her girlfriend flew in from Chicago in the morning. They were scheduled to be back on the plane headed home last night.
"We left our kids behind and came out," said Fitzpatrick-Cooper, 45. "People at home don't understand the allegiance. People think Buckeye fans are brainwashed."
Some might think they are brain-dead. At least one fan was spotted running up and down the east side of C Deck minus shirt and common sense. Another stood in a T-shirt in the stadium's top row, to the back of the stage, continually waving to the crowd across the field on the west side. Three others unfurled a large banner honoring OSU coach Jim Tressel that said: "In Tressel We Trust."
Many fans see Tressel as a reincarnation of famed Buckeye coach Woody Hayes.
This was expressed on the front of one shirt with the words "Woody's back." The back of the shirt said, "And his name is Jim," a sentiment understood by Becky Bartholomew, 51, of Painesville, who has attended OSU games since she was 7 years old.
"I love Tressel. He does things in a low-key, positive team way," Bartholomew said. "Fans see a lot of traits of Woody in him."
The crowd cheered the replay of the fourth quarter and double overtime of the Fiesta Bowl as if it were a new win. Marianne Krebs, a die-hard Buckeye and Browns fan, jumped up and down tooting on her Browns helmet whistle, happily telling anyone who would listen about her own claim to fame: "I barked on national television."
Krebs, of Columbus, said she was on "the 'Maury' and 'Montel' shows" and got a mention in Sports Illustrated for her football enthusiasm.
But Buckeye fever is sacred in her family, which sat shivering next to her. "No one is allowed to call our house during games," Krebs said.
Stretching between the 40-yard lines, the stage was lined in back with a row of glittering crystal and gold trophies. Football players, dignitaries and two giant stuffed Tostito bears huddled under four umbrella-like space heaters.
Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman led fans in an "O-H-I-O" chant before he unveiled a gigantic green street sign and announced that Lane Avenue, the northern boundary of campus, would henceforth be known as "Champions Lane, yeah, yeah," he said.
Gov. Bob Taft showed off a "Buckeye 1" shirt that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will be forced to wear next month at the national governors' conference because he lost the bet on which team would win.
Archie Griffin, the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy, drew nearly as much wild cheering as the team and Tressel.
The OSU band did a reduced version of "Script Ohio" behind the stage, and a carefully strutting drum major led the team's seniors to gather in a tight circle to dot the "i" on the snow-covered field. Linebacker Cie Grant sang a solo "Carmen Ohio," the school's anthem, sending extra chills into the crowd.
And now, they must wait for the next time, which many, like Tom Roberts of Niles, think may come soon. Roberts, parked at the 40-yard line, attended Youngstown State University and has watched Tressel for years. Tressel won four Division 1-AA national championships at YSU before getting the Ohio State job two years ago.
"His games here were similar to Youngstown. It's a similar blueprint," said Roberts, 30. "This is just the beginning. But to come this soon, this is a bonus."
01/19/03
T.C. Brown
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- Buckeye Nation blocked out Mother Nature's cold blitz yesterday, reveling in a joyous victory celebration for its 14-0 national championship football team.
Despite a temperature of 10 degrees when the official ceremony kicked off at 1 p.m., an estimated 50,000 screaming Ohio State football fanatics at Ohio Stadium answered the call to party. Some had arrived before sunup. By 8:30 a.m., lines stretched along the stadium's perimeter, prompting officials to open the gates about 10:30 a.m., a half-hour earlier than planned.
Excitement and enthusiasm ripped like electricity through the bundled-up crowd, which was eager for a glimpse of its football heroes. Despite the garb of many Buckeye nuts - sombreros, serapes and Tostito-chip hats complemented the usual scarlet and gray - this celebration of the Jan. 3 win over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., was serious business. It had been, after all, 34 years since the last national title in Columbus.
OSU alum Julia Fitzpatrick-Cooper and her girlfriend flew in from Chicago in the morning. They were scheduled to be back on the plane headed home last night.
"We left our kids behind and came out," said Fitzpatrick-Cooper, 45. "People at home don't understand the allegiance. People think Buckeye fans are brainwashed."
Some might think they are brain-dead. At least one fan was spotted running up and down the east side of C Deck minus shirt and common sense. Another stood in a T-shirt in the stadium's top row, to the back of the stage, continually waving to the crowd across the field on the west side. Three others unfurled a large banner honoring OSU coach Jim Tressel that said: "In Tressel We Trust."
Many fans see Tressel as a reincarnation of famed Buckeye coach Woody Hayes.
This was expressed on the front of one shirt with the words "Woody's back." The back of the shirt said, "And his name is Jim," a sentiment understood by Becky Bartholomew, 51, of Painesville, who has attended OSU games since she was 7 years old.
"I love Tressel. He does things in a low-key, positive team way," Bartholomew said. "Fans see a lot of traits of Woody in him."
The crowd cheered the replay of the fourth quarter and double overtime of the Fiesta Bowl as if it were a new win. Marianne Krebs, a die-hard Buckeye and Browns fan, jumped up and down tooting on her Browns helmet whistle, happily telling anyone who would listen about her own claim to fame: "I barked on national television."
Krebs, of Columbus, said she was on "the 'Maury' and 'Montel' shows" and got a mention in Sports Illustrated for her football enthusiasm.
But Buckeye fever is sacred in her family, which sat shivering next to her. "No one is allowed to call our house during games," Krebs said.
Stretching between the 40-yard lines, the stage was lined in back with a row of glittering crystal and gold trophies. Football players, dignitaries and two giant stuffed Tostito bears huddled under four umbrella-like space heaters.
Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman led fans in an "O-H-I-O" chant before he unveiled a gigantic green street sign and announced that Lane Avenue, the northern boundary of campus, would henceforth be known as "Champions Lane, yeah, yeah," he said.
Gov. Bob Taft showed off a "Buckeye 1" shirt that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will be forced to wear next month at the national governors' conference because he lost the bet on which team would win.
Archie Griffin, the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy, drew nearly as much wild cheering as the team and Tressel.
The OSU band did a reduced version of "Script Ohio" behind the stage, and a carefully strutting drum major led the team's seniors to gather in a tight circle to dot the "i" on the snow-covered field. Linebacker Cie Grant sang a solo "Carmen Ohio," the school's anthem, sending extra chills into the crowd.
And now, they must wait for the next time, which many, like Tom Roberts of Niles, think may come soon. Roberts, parked at the 40-yard line, attended Youngstown State University and has watched Tressel for years. Tressel won four Division 1-AA national championships at YSU before getting the Ohio State job two years ago.
"His games here were similar to Youngstown. It's a similar blueprint," said Roberts, 30. "This is just the beginning. But to come this soon, this is a bonus."
