Wendy Reeves dotting her first ‘I’ at the Ohio State football game against Illinois Oct. 10, 1992. Credit: Courtesy of Wendy Reeves
When The Ohio State University Marching Band performs its legendary “Script Ohio” at halftime during the football game against Michigan State Nov. 11, sousaphone player Jake Blevins, a sixth-year in music education, will strut out to dot the ‘I.’
Blevins said he has been dreaming of the day since the seventh grade, when he first discovered the illustrious tradition through his middle school band. Now, over a decade later, Blevins is mere weeks away from accomplishing his long-term goal.
“It means so much to me,” Blevins said. “Ever since I learned about it, I knew that is what I wanted to do, so finally being able to do that is really huge for me.”
Blevins isn’t the first to have a dream fulfilled by engaging in the beloved Ohio State custom.
The first occurrence of the marching band dotting the ‘I’ was recorded Oct. 24, 1936, according to the University Libraries’ database. Since that day over 85 years ago, Buckeye sousaphone players have been battling it out for their chance to shine on one of college football’s biggest stages.
In fact, the ‘I’-dotting tradition has become so cherished among band members and fans alike that it was deemed the best game-day tradition by The Lantern’s readers in this year’s “Best of OSU” polling.
To determine who gets to dot the ‘I’ at specific games, a system of rank is used. Rank — accrued based on how often an individual marches — is assessed every week during rehearsals, Frank Cosenza, a five-time ‘I’ dotter between 2009 and 2010, said.
Each week, Cosenza said band members are challenged to determine if they will march at that week’s game. Namely, those who play the sousaphone are tested to determine if they are qualified and prepared to dot the ‘I’ on game day.
“Just because you make the band does not mean you have a spot on the field, so every single Monday you are fighting for your spot to march,” Cosenza said.
For many ‘I’ dotters, the journey begins well before these challenges, and even prior to acceptance into Ohio State’s band — or, as it is affectionately known, “The Best Damn Band in the Land.”
“I set the goal for myself to dot the ‘I’ when I was 11, and I chose the tuba as the instrument I would play in the band,” Wendy Bauer Reeves, a three-time ‘I’ dotter and 1993 Ohio State graduate in music education, said.
Reeves first dotted the ‘I’ Oct. 10, 1992, in a game against the Illinois Fighting Illini.
“There’s lots of anticipation,” Reeves said. “I had 72 people that specifically came to the game to watch me. Of course, you’re nervous. You don’t want to mess up. It’s this iconic tradition.”
The following year, Reeves and her husband became the first married couple to dot a double script — wherein the band performs two mirrored “Script Ohio” marches at once — as college students when the band marched at Cleveland Stadium on Nov. 7, 1993.
Reeves, who received her master’s in music education from Ohio State in 1998, returned to dot the ‘I’ earlier this year for the Sept. 9 game against Youngstown State.
“I had more fear this time because in 1992, there was not the internet like we know it,” Reeves said. “Anything you did would not be preserved forever online. I was mostly worried about falling down or somehow not doing a great job and ending up on the internet for everyone to see.”
Unlike Reeves, Cosenza’s first ‘I’ dot in 2009 is preserved on the internet for everyone to see. A clip of his moment garnered internet buzz after an encroaching cameraman was caught in the crossfire of Cosenza’s instrument.
“As soon as I got out there and got planted, I saw him right below, and I knew when I do my bow, my bell is going to crush him,” Cosenza said.
Cosenza said he had a split second to scoot back as much as he could without disrupting the rhythm and yell out a warning, but it was too late for the cameraman.
“One of the mantras for the band is ‘drive through it,’ so I drove through it as hard as I could, knowing full well that I was going to hit him,” Cosenza said.
Video footage of the incident continues to sporadically gain online traction, with different users weighing in on the situation throughout the years.
“He is no longer just one of the guys who dotted the I, he is the one who did it and broke s*** while doing it, making him even more legendary,” one user wrote.
Cosenza said he enjoyed the few minutes of fame the incident provided him, but regardless, the ‘I’ dot is still a special moment for any sousaphone player.
“It really comes down to having an accomplishment that you’ve worked for and dreamed of for years,” Cosenza said. “It was a fantastic feeling and memory, something I look fondly back on to.”
For any young individuals who aspire to be an ‘I’ dotter someday, Reeves said to set the goal early, practice regularly and attend available high school band summer sessions.
“Dotting the ‘I’ is actually a culmination of ten or 11 years of work for many people,” Reeves said.
Cosenza said those who have earned the privilege to dot the ‘I’ should take it in and enjoy it, but also recognize the significance of the time-honored tradition they’ve been selected to partake in.
“The reason the tradition is so big and popular, and it is always televised, is because of the past and the people before you,” Cosenza said. “Time, change and tradition. That’s the value of Ohio State, and that’s even more true within the band.”
