Upon the conclusion of Monday night’s NCAA men’s basketball championship game – and as an aside, thank you, Louisville, for beating Michigan – many of my fellow Buckeyes immediately flipped their internal switches to the next sport on the docket – football.
In Columbus, it seems we only have three seasons: football, March Madness and spring football, and despite Ohio State men’s basketball coach Thad Matta’s best efforts, the March Madness season is usually grouped together with winter football conditioning anyway.
Such is life at a university that doubles as a football powerhouse.
Be honest. I know what you were doing last night. You were sitting there, watching “One Shining Moment” put a nice little bow on the basketball season while you planned your road trip to Cincinnati for this weekend’s spring football game at Paul Brown Stadium.
But stop. Stop it right now.
Put Urban Meyer on the backburner for – gasp – two weeks. That’s it.
I understand football is awesome. I love football. I love football more than my unborn future children, who will undoubtedly be twins and will undoubtedly be named Scarlett and Grayson.
I’m not telling you to forget about football. I’m not telling you to bail on the Spring Game. But I am asking you, the OSU student who is probably wearing some article of OSU-branded clothing right now as you read this, to expand your taste palette a tad. Show that Buckeye loyalty exists outside the gates of Ohio Stadium and the Schottenstein Center.
Challenge yourself to use these last two weeks of school and go watch a so-called “minor” sport here at OSU. Some of you, myself included, only have two more weeks left on this campus as a student.
Use it wisely.
Go see student-athletes who work just as hard as our football and basketball players but who receive a fraction of the glory and recognition.
Take a few hours and watch senior attacker Logan Schuss and the No. 13 men’s lacrosse team in action at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Come see the No. 5 ranked men’s tennis team, led by coach Ty Tucker, play a home match. Odds are you’ll see them win, because they haven’t lost at home in a decade. Yes, a decade.
Take a trip to Buckeye Field and watch sophomore pitcher Alex DiDomenico dominate some hapless batter for the softball team. Come to Bill Davis Stadium and see redshirt senior pitcher Brad Goldberg do the same for the baseball team.
Support the men’s and women’s golf and track teams. Show up for women’s tennis and rowing. Men’s volleyball, too. They’re all Buckeyes. They all deserve attention.
You consider yourself a big Buckeye fan, right? Prove it.
OSU doesn’t just play football and basketball. Come watch some of your fellow students do what they love. Come support some athletes who compete every bit as hard as junior quarterback Braxton Miller and junior guard Aaron Craft.
There are 36 different varsity teams on this campus, and they all call themselves Buckeyes. Let them know this university’s fandom runs deeper than football and basketball. They deserve it.