OSU's Image Outside of Ohio

[EidoloN]

Since I've been here (Feb '03), I have not heard one negative comment towards tOSU. My house inside and out is decorated with Buckeye peraphanilia (spelling..?) and have gotten no hate, although the Kansas fans out here gimme jokes all out of fun. My Kansas friends do have the utmost respect towards our program. I have met many Buckeye faithful here at my base and on deployments, its amazing how many of us are out there!

 

[Steve19]

I only heard people say good things about Ohio State during the time I lived in North Carolina last year. People in South Africa are positive about Ohio State, although most don't know much about it.

 

[bassbuckeye07]

Just got back from Lexington, Ky..... I was actually told by one of their fans they have as much talent as us but play in the SEC so dont win as many games..... Dont worry by the time I was done with fact stating he was befuddled. I deal with that kind of crap on a regular down there.

 

[CentFlaBuckeye]

It is funny living in Florida, you would think that I would catch crap all the time. I have several OSU stickers on my car and a flag out in front of the house year around. The only person I have talked to that bashed OSU (good natured kidding aside) was an OSU alumni. He told me OSU fans are assholes and he would never go back to Columbus for a game again. It was an interesting conversation to say the least.

:osu:

 

[Coqui]

I only heard people say good things about Ohio State during the time I lived in North Carolina last year. People in South Africa are positive about Ohio State, although most don't know much about it.

Is that where they've sent the Ohio State National Championship T-shirts the past two years?


(Don't dock me too much for that joke)

 

[Born a Buckeye]

Maybe there's something worthwhile about the east coast afterall


Seriously though: when I first arrived in Tallahassee I had just spent a few years in California, most of it pre-Pete (Carroll). I really appreciated being able to talk college football. People here do it all year; pre-Pete it was never done in Cali.

Now, if I want to talk football it has to be about ACC or SEC football. Anything north of that is not respected enough to be a part of the conversation. If it's brought up, the conversation simply ends.

So yeah, in some sense the lack of respect does have an impact on my life. But hey, when we win the crystal next January they won't want to talk football with me at all. And I will SO not care.

Can someone please explain to me when this SEC lovefest with themselves began ? I mean, I know they've won the last two title games at our expense, but prior to that they haven't exactly dominated college football like they seem to think. I know florida won in 96, and tennessee in 98. But there have been other confrences in between that have titles. Talking to them one would think they have every national title since football began. In the last 28 years the SEC has won 8 national championships. The Big 12 has 7, yet you never hear Big 12 school fans ramble on about how great their conference is and how schools from supposed weaker conferences would finish in the middle of the Big 12. This seems to be a phenomenon found in the SEC, and I'm tired of it. Just seems like we were never having this discussion prior to the title game debacle with florida. And I like how another poster said a Georgia fan said they take their football seriously in the south..... I got news for him, football is a religion here in the North, and especially the midwest. Schools from the north and midwest were winning championships long before most of the south had running water and electricity. Heck, pro football was invented in this part of the country ( i learned that at the football hall of fame, which is also located here ). Interestingly enough, the college football hall of fame is in the midwest too. All I'm saying is football is just as big, and probably bigger, here in the north and midwest.

 

[TheIronColonel]

Hey, we copied racism, illiteracy, and crushing poverty from the south, so they copied football from us. Seems reasonable...

I jest, though. I've said it before and I'll say it now: this is all backlash from Auburn getting snubbed. Similarly, when it was either Florida or Michigan to play OSU in '06, there was heavy lobbying. It's a self-perpetuating marketing scheme, really. People believe the SEC is good, so they vote for them in the polls; when asked to justify why the SEC is good, they point to high ranking in the polls.

Now, that isn't to say that the SEC isn't very good right now. They are very good right now. But anyone who points to 0-9 or claims some kind of long term conference superiority is full of shit. The fact that South Carolina beat OSU in consecutive Outback Bowls ('01 and '02) had less than no impact on the championship game in either '06 or '07. People just like to quote that kind of BS frequently. Given that neither team had any players on their roster who were on the team for both of those games seems to make no difference to people.

I like to think this is the fault of ESPN. They're like some kind of simple child - they find something shiny and keep carting it out to show off in front of the camera. No matter how obscure their new statistic is, they seem to think it's the most salient, insightful thing ever presented on sports television. If Tim Tebow only threw more than 2 interceptions on days he ate ham sandwiches and listened to Easy Like Sunday Morning you can be damn sure that they would have mentioned it at least 10 times per broadcast.

The point is, the SEC is king of the hill right now. It hasn't always been and it won't always be. They just happen to be more vocal than the Big XII, PAC 10, and Big Ten were during their reigns of supremacy.

 

[Born a Buckeye]

I hear what your sayin. I know the SEC hasn't always dominated college football, and they are currently holding back to back national titles. But SEC lovers will have you believe that schools like arkansas, ole miss, mississippi state, or even kentucky would handily defeat Ohio State, Michigan, or even Illinois, which I refuse to believe. The SEC has some top programs in the country. But listening to SEC fan , they would have you believe their worst is better than our best. The big tens time will come again, and when it does, I want every one of my fellow Buckeyes who live below the mason dixon line to give all SEC fans hell.

 

[Yertle]

Well, currently I'm in Amsterdam for some customer visits. Anyways, tonight I'm wearing my black Woody O hat while walking through the red light district and some dude sitting on a bench outside a bar says "O-H"... I think we all knoq how I responded. Anyways, he replied with a louded "O!!!! H!!!!" and I yelled back "I!!! O!!!" and this time with the hand motion. So, long story short, me and this guy made a scene doing the OH-IO chant back and forth in front of hookers and stoned 18 year olds. It was awesome.

Moral of the story is now Amsterdam loves the Buckeyes.

 

[generaladm]

Don't know if anyone's touched on this yet. I grew up in Dayton, which is a true Buckeye town, and often visited my grandparents in Worthington (Grandpa was OSU class of '33), so I never really thought of rooting for any other team. I have been living in Cincinnati for about ten years and still can't get over the lack of support down here. The Cincinnati Enquirer barely mentions the Bucks during football season (it's a horrible newspaper anyway). The sports radio stations cover Kentucky and Louisville football and basketball games. And many times while sitting in a bar watching an OSU BBall game, I'm subjected to hearing people bitch that they'd rather watch nascar or some MMA bullcrap. I don't think Cincinnatians actually realize that they live in OHIO! I can understand diehard UC and Xavier fans pulling for their team when they play the Bucks, but alot of people just hate on OSU! Luckily, I have a group of true Buckeye fans to watch games with (most are from Dayton, Cleveland, or Cbus). Any other people had this experience in Cincy? Go Buckeyes!

 

[Kwas]

My best friend goes to LSU and plays in their marching band.

Ask me how that went.

 

[Bleed S & G]

My best friend goes to LSU and plays in their marching band.

Ask me how that went.

How did it go?

 

[Kwas]

How did it go?

Very poorly. He's let it go but leading up to the game was really irritating. It's the whole SEC-love affair.

 

[rocketman]

Any other people had this experience in Cincy? Go Buckeyes!

Yeah, it kinda sucks down here. There's pockets of fans here or there, but the whole town doesn't bleed scarlet and gray like the Dayton and Cleveland area do. Probably due to UC being a large school with a fairly strong following. I heard somewhere it had to do with the relatively large Catholic population here, and their deference to Notre Dame, and in the 70's, bridges were burned between Woody and Cincinnati-area high school coaches, namely Moeller. I never understood the UK and UL love down here though.

2006 was weird though. I walked through the mall and saw Ohio State gear everywhere. Never in all my time living down here did I see more support for OSU in Cincinnati than in 2006 (for obvious reasons). Kinda goes along with what DBB was saying. A lot of bandwagon jumpers (if we have them), it seemed. And they jumped off quick after we lost to Florida.

 

[chillinvillian]

Eidolon where you at in KS? I am in Wichita.