Dispatch
No. 1 plates
Fans hold tight to letter combinations that reflect their loyalty
Saturday, September 16, 2006
By Joe Blundo THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Ohio State fans love to wear their hearts on their license plates. The state has at least 22,000 motorists with OSU specialty plates, regular plates with an OSU message or both. When the Buckeyes host Cincinnati today, the game will feature No. 1 vs. No. 2 ? in specialty collegiate license plates.
OSU is the most popular collegiate plate in Ohio, with Cincinnati a distant second (18,065 versus 2,191). Of course, fans can ? and many do ? send Buckeye messages even on regular plates. That process became easier in the 1990s, when the state began allowing seven characters. Suddenly, prized combinations such as BUCKEYE and GOBUCKS ? not to mention TBDBITL ("The Best Damned Band in the Land") ? were up for grabs. Not for long, though: Attentive fans snapped up the most obvious combinations. Hence the alternative spellings seen on cars of the less quick: BUCS, BUKS, BUX. Here?s how some Buckeye backers with plates 2 DIE 4 landed the placards.
No. 1 plates
Fans hold tight to letter combinations that reflect their loyalty
Saturday, September 16, 2006
By Joe Blundo THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Ohio State fans love to wear their hearts on their license plates. The state has at least 22,000 motorists with OSU specialty plates, regular plates with an OSU message or both. When the Buckeyes host Cincinnati today, the game will feature No. 1 vs. No. 2 ? in specialty collegiate license plates.
OSU is the most popular collegiate plate in Ohio, with Cincinnati a distant second (18,065 versus 2,191). Of course, fans can ? and many do ? send Buckeye messages even on regular plates. That process became easier in the 1990s, when the state began allowing seven characters. Suddenly, prized combinations such as BUCKEYE and GOBUCKS ? not to mention TBDBITL ("The Best Damned Band in the Land") ? were up for grabs. Not for long, though: Attentive fans snapped up the most obvious combinations. Hence the alternative spellings seen on cars of the less quick: BUCS, BUKS, BUX. Here?s how some Buckeye backers with plates 2 DIE 4 landed the placards.