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Buckeyes planning invasion
Thousands without tickets may be descending on Austin next week.
By John Maher
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, August 28, 2006
Ohio State has been allotted just 4,000 tickets to sell to its fans for the Sept. 9 showdown with the Texas Longhorns, but there'll be far more people wearing scarlet and gray in Austin that weekend.
"We're projecting 35,000 or 40,000 people," said Bruce Brandel, vice president of the Austin chapter of the Ohio State Alumni Association.
If things go as planned, fans of the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes will be taking over the Erwin Center, partying at Stubb's, cruising on boat tours, watching the bats and going on pub crawls.
"It's not uncommon for fans to just want to be where the team and other fans are, especially when it's a big game, out of state, against a highly ranked opponent," Brandel said. "People will treat it like a minivacation."
Most of them probably won't even get into Royal-Memorial Stadium for the game, a rematch of two of college football's top five teams that is being touted as an early barometer of the national championship race.
"You'll probably have 10,000 people coming down hoping to get a ticket at the last minute," said Randy Cohen, owner of local broker Ticket City. "This is giant — $1,000 a ticket? We used to pay $5 at Randalls. I could see 30 or 40K (Ohio State fans). These guys will drive their suburban tanks down here. I don't know where we're going to put them. It could be like Halloween on Sixth Street."
Actually, their aim is turn Austin into a slice of Columbus, at least for one weekend.
On game day in Columbus, one of the highlights is the Skull Session for the Ohio State band, a combination dress rehearsal/pep rally held a few blocks from the stadium at St. John Arena, once the basketball facility for Ohio State.
Hmm . . . the Erwin Center, where the Longhorns play basketball, is a few blocks away from Royal-Memorial Stadium.
So, for $10,000, the Ohio State Alumni Association has rented the 16,000-seat Erwin Center for an afternoon pre-game party Sept. 9.
Erwin Center Director John Graham said other visiting schools have rented a part of the building, but he can't remember anyone ever taking the whole place.
"We'll play for our alumni and friends and then march over to the stadium," said Ohio State band director Jon R. Woods, who is bringing his entire 225-piece ensemble.
Archie Griffin, a two-time Heisman Trophy winner and Ohio State alumni president, is expected to speak at the Erwin Center event. And the Buckeye Corner, a popular Ohio State T-shirt and souvenir vendor, will set up shop there.
In Columbus, about the only pre-game tradition better than the Skull Session is the partying at the Varsity Club, which on game days has a big outdoor lot packed with beer drinkers.
Hmm . . . Stubb's has a big outdoor amphitheatre.
So, with some help from the Varsity Club, the Buckeyes have lined up Stubb's, the combination barbecue joint and music venue on Red River Street, for Friday night and Saturday.
"It'll be just like being at the VC!" the Austin alumni chapter's Web site urges.
The Stubb's hub will serve as sort of a staging area for Buckeyes. They'll leave there for the Erwin Center and the game.
Well, at least some of them will head to the game. They have been calling ticket agencies here, but many will find themselves priced out of the market.
"They're pretty frugal, but they'll pay when they have to," Cohen said. "These are the two biggest-spending sports schools on the planet. There isn't any game that has been in Austin that compares to this, not Nebraska or Notre Dame. This is the World Cup of football."
Many Buckeyes will end up at a hotel, restaurant or bar and watch the game on TV with their scarlet and gray friends. Last year, at the first Texas-Ohio State game, police in Columbus estimated that 100,000 fans were partying around the stadium — in addition to the 100,000 inside the stadium.
Warns the site
www.gobucks beattexas.com: "Austin and UT have never experienced anything like Buckeye Nation descending on them!"
