For Ohio Stadium ushers, game day is pay enough
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Dennis Fiely
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Leo Oberting?s first ushering assignment was on D deck, under the Ohio Stadium press box, against Northern Illinois. The Columbus steelworker waited four years before he got the call to report.
What do you call a guy who works long hours on Saturdays for no pay? Lucky, if he?s an Ohio State University football usher. "I feel like I hit the lottery," said Leo Oberting, a Columbus steelworker whose number finally came up this summer after four years of waiting.
The length of the wait is typical for what may be the most-coveted volunteer post in central Ohio.
"One of three things happens when I call," said Jim Norris, superintendent of ushers. "Applicants have moved, forgotten they applied or they break out in tears (of joy)."
This season, the 56-year-old Oberting is one of 50 rookies among the 700 ushers who staff each game.
He happily paid $50 for his uniform ? a cap, polo shirt and black jacket with "USHER" emblazoned in white on the back.
The price is a bargain compared with the $413 it would take to buy a ticket at face value for each home game.
"Tickets are too hard to get and not affordable for me," said Oberting, who has attended only a few games.
This year, he has a chance to see them all ? including his first Big Ten game today, when the Buckeyes host Penn State.
"I?m pretty excited," Oberting said.
Known as Blackcoats, the ushers work only football games. They support the Redcoats, university employees who perform various duties for different sports.
The Blackcoats couple their love of Buckeye football with service to the university.
Three fly to Columbus from Florida, Norris said. Another drives from Duluth, Ga.
Oberting has a long way to go to catch up with the experience of some veterans.
A fixture in section 23C, Carl Raidiger has missed one game since 1945.
"It was against Iowa back when (Coach) Woody (Hayes) was still here," recalled the 84-year-old Clintonville retiree. "I had a problem with my ankle and was on crutches."
Robert Mitchell began volunteering in 1940 as a 12-year-old Boy Scout.
A move to Virginia after the season will close the curtain on his seven decades of volunteering.
"I like the game and the band, but I?ll miss the people more," said Mitchell, 78, of Westerville.
For his first game, supervisors assigned Oberting to a nosebleed section beneath the press box.
"I never thought I?d end up there," he said, "but why not start at the top? "
It turned out to be a plum placement, one he hopes to receive again this afternoon.
"D deck is a cherry," said Oberting?s supervisor, portal chief Glenn Abel. "It?s a small deck, under roof and a good place to break in rookies. The worst place would be the student section."
Ushers report to the stadium 3? hours before kickoff and are in position an hour later ? 30 minutes before the gates open.
They do not have seats and are not permitted to sit down.
"Standing is the hardest part," said Mary Barna, 51, a 15-year veteran from Perry County.
The rookies are especially enthusiastic.
"It was hard for me to sleep last night knowing that this was going to be my first day," Steve Sparks said shortly before the Sept. 2 opener against Northern Illinois.
When he put on his uniform, the 46-year-old Hilliard resident said, "I felt like I was suiting up for the game."
Commitment and reliability are built into the usher?s code: Three absences are grounds for dismissal, according to the 20-page Usher Manual.
Consequently, John Murray, 43, of Dublin, will be working the Michigan game on his son?s seventh birthday.
"We?ll have to do something special for him the night before," Murray said.
Some ushers foster a festive atmosphere.
"We get upset when the people around us do not cheer," Barna said.
Bliss Harlan, 65, of Pickerington, showered her section in 19D with candy after each Buckeye touchdown against Northern Illinois.
"I think I have my people spoiled," said Harlan, who also dispenses cookies she bakes the night before. "I?m the only usher who feeds them."
Having arrived to the opener early, ushers Mary Kay Van Dette, 52, of Laurelville, and Johanna Quick, of Columbus, had time to inspect the empty stadium.
They noted dirty restrooms on an incident-report card.
"If they?re not cleaned before the next game," Quick said, "we?ll write up another report."
Customer service remains the priority, but the role of ushers has expanded since 2001, when the renovated stadium opened three weeks before the 9/11 terrorist attack.
The university demands more oversight and professionalism.
It formalized guidelines, mandated photo IDs and instituted a preseason training orientation focused on disability services and terrorism prevention.
The training included exercises to sharpen observational skills.
The Blackcoats, Penner said, "are part of our homeland security."
The ushers also are expected to be on guard for unruly behavior. When they cannot resolve problems quickly and peacefully on their own, they follow a chain of command that ends with intervention by a law-enforcement officer. Oberting finished an uneventful first day with one minor incident. "We caught a young man trying to sit in the wrong seat to be next to his girlfriend," he said. Otherwise, he stood as a silent sentinel, with a bird?s-eye view of the 50-yard line. "This is fantastic."
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