This was in Sunday's Dispatch. Part of an article on cab drivers and their various experiences:
Bandit had been driving his cab all evening when he answered his cell phone just before midnight on a Friday three months ago.
A group of half-drunk regulars ? professional men he often drives to Ohio Stadium on football-game days ? was on the line.
"Hypothetical question," one said: "If we ever wanted to go on a long road trip, would you do it? "
Bandit knew that Ohio State was playing the University of Iowa the next afternoon.
"You want to go to Iowa? " he asked. "I?ll be there in 40 minutes."
He took the three Buckeyes fans 10 hours to Iowa City, much of it past dark cornfields, before reaching their friend?s house for a quick pre-game nap.
The fare on the meter for the one-way trip: $947.20.
Later, as Bandit pulled up near Kinnick Stadium with the trio, some students harassed him for giving the scarlet-clad fans a ride. Then they noticed the license plate ? and stared in shock.
Two of the Ohioans bought scalped tickets. Bandit and the third guy, who wears red spandex and calls himself "Bucknutty," watched the game at a bar.
Bucknutty was punched by a woman and hit in the face with a full bottle of beer by another Hawkeyes fan.
"It was definitely a hostile environment," Bandit said. "I ended up being more of a bodyguard for him than a cabdriver."
The group slept at the friend?s house and headed for home on Sunday.
Bandit ignored the meter. He was paid $400, plus gas and food, for the round trip.
"I just like having fun," he said. "It?s a really entertaining job for me."



