After extracting my wingman for the weekend (Brother Brian)
from the Columbus, OH Airport we rambled on down the state highway to the hidden
gem that is Athens, Ohio for our first stop on another double header weekend. I
say hidden gem as most people not from this part of the country know very
little if anything at all about it. I had been beckoned by Ohio U Cadre member Ryan
O’Connor for the past three seasons to get to Athens for a Saturday game. He said
it is hard to explain the magic of the town/school and much better to experience
in person. He was not kidding.
We hit town late Friday afternoon, checked into our Ohio U “green
and white decorated” hotel and headed into town. Ohio University was
established in 1804 and was the first University established in what was then
called the Northwest Territory (North and West of the Ohio River). It currently
educates over 20,000 students. The campus is situated among rolling hills in
the western reaches of Appalachia with a
collection of buildings constructed in the colonial architecture style surrounding
the famous College Green. The Ohio Bobcats (just like Frostburg) are part of
the MAC Conference and play their home games at Peden Stadium. The “jewel of the
MAC” was built in 1929 and has a current capacity of 27,000. Along with the recently
completed indoor practice facility, construction for a new athletic building
has begun in the North end zone. Current head Coach Frank Solich has been at
the helm in Athens for 13 years after a stint as the head man at Nebraska. He
has elevated the program as they are a perennial bowl participant and challenge
for the MAC title every year.
The town of Athens is well known throughout the Midwest as a
place to come for all kinds of different celebrations and soirees. We were
advised to have dinner at Jackie O’s and it didn’t disappoint. Great atmosphere
and delicious pub grub. Shortly after dinner we met up with our liaison Ryan at
The Pub on the famous Court Street.
To put it into perspective, the area of commerce on court street is perhaps a ¼
mile long. Within that span, there are 28 bars mixed in with plenty of college
houses that were throwing bashes. The vibrancy and feel of Court street was
akin to any major SEC college town bar district I have experienced. It also
happened to be parent’s weekend, so in addition to reveling kids, there were
plenty of parents having a good time as well. For once I looked like I fit in.
We also met up at another Court Street establishment called Broney’s with Ohio
Booster and our host for the tailgate the next day, Kenny Kerr. After meeting
Kenny, I have met my match and now know what I want to be when I grow up. My wingman
Brian started yawning like a dying hippopotamus, so before the clock struck
midnight we flagged down our Pumpkin to be whisked away from having a perfectly
great time.
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| Young Ryan serving fish bowls of beer |
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| Bald Lives Matter rally in Athens |
With kickoff set for noon, we headed over to campus to meet
up with our tailgate crew for the morning. Special thanks to Jim Kahler and the
Kansas fans for making us feel a part of the crowd. Bloody Mary’s, fried
chicken, sliders and even a beer chug live on Facebook were all part of the festivities.
The Tailgate scene while not of SEC size and magnitude was spirited and
festive. I was wearing my Faber College T shirt as it matched the Ohio green
and white colors. I would be repeatedly stopped throughout the day for pictures
or just for people to gawk at it. “Christ, seven years of college down the
drain. Might as well join the 4@#7ing Peace Corps!”
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| The Ohio U/Kansas Mixer Tailgate |
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| Thee 110% band was outstanding |
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| The Cat Women doing their thing! |
With press passes in hand, we hit the field and were treated
to a two FA 18s doing a flyover at the end of the National Anthem. We then
watched the Bobcats run through the tunnel and take to the field led by the
Bobcat Mascot on his motorcycle. On this day, the Bobcats would be facing Power
Five school Kansas from the Big 12, better known for hoops then the gridiron.
After watching the first few series from the sideline, I noticed Brian’s ankle bracelet
buzzing as he was getting danger close to the cheerleaders. So as a precautionary
measure, I strategically relocated us to section 106, 30 rows up in the stands
on the west sideline. The Bobcats ran a platoon system at QB utilizing Nathan
Rourke and Quinton Maxwell. The duo would consistently carve up the Jayhawk defense
with precision passes all afternoon long. The Bobcats jumped out to an early
11-0 lead and never looked back. They out hustled and showed more grit than the
bigger Jayhawk squad and earned a well deserved victory with a score of 42-30.
Of special note, along with the play on the field was the outstanding Bobcat “110”
Marching band. They continuously belted out song after song all afternoon long
as it should be for a college game. Major Props to Ryan O’Connor to setting us
up with an overall outstanding experience.
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| The Bobcat leading the team onto the field. |
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| Danger Close!!! |
As I mentioned at the start, we would be doing a double header,
so off we drove the 81 miles to Huntington, WV to catch the night game at
Marshall University. Most people now know who Marshall is after the movie We
Are Marshall came out a few years back. The story of the 1971 Marshall team
that perished in a plane crash coming back from a game and the subsequent rebuilding
of the program. For me, the story goes back to my youth as all three of my
older brothers attended Marshall in the early to mid - 70’s for part of their “Higher”
Education. Marshall is the second largest university in the State of West
Virginia and currently has over 13,000 students. Famous Marshall football
players include Randy Moss and Chad Pennington.
We arrived at our lodgings dropped our belongings and jumped
in an uber to the stadium. The main parking lot and private lots around town
were reminiscent of one large fraternity party as the Thundering Herd faithful clad in bright green
had been going strong all day prior to the 6:30 PM kickoff. We were not able to
tailgate as we arrived 1 hour to kickoff but were able to absorb the essence
and the atmosphere of Marshall pre-gaming.
We got to our seats on the 50-yard line in time for the
National Anthem. Joan and James Edward stadium is a phenomenal facility that
was completed in 1991. It is U shaped with an athletic building in the west end
zone. The grand cathedral holds 38,000 spectators. Brian’s old dorm loomed over
the West bleachers. The South side of the stadium fans would chant “We Are” and
the West side would respond with “Marshall”. The loud speaker system would play
“Thunderstruck” by AC/DC when the Thundering Herd were about to do something momentous.
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| Brian's old dorm and Miley Bieber riling the crowd up |
The Herd out of Conference USA, were hosting Kent State from
the MAC. The first half was a scoreless draw until Marshall scored a touchdown
in the final seconds before halftime. Marshall would score twice more in the
fourth quarter pitching a 21-0 shutout. We got back to the hotel in time to
watch the marquis games of the evening. Freshman Tyler King led all running backs
with 101 yards rushing and 1 touchdown.
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| The Brother's Donnelly taking in game 2 of the day |
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| Marshall running away with it. |
Around the country It
appears Butch Jones and the Vols can’t catch a break after knotting the game up
at 20 in the final minute to once again lose to their nemesis the Florida
Gators in the final seconds 26-20. How bad is Baylor this year? Choken Rosen of
UCLA pulled a Jay Cutler and pouted as he personally gave the game away to the
Memphis Tigers in the biggest upset of the day. The men of Troy narrowly
escaped the coliseum with a win after taking two overtimes to beat the
Longhorns of Texas. Clemson looks as strong as ever after thoroughly dominating
the Louisville Cardinals in the ABC game of the week. In the battle of the
cloth, Notre Dame beat the Jesuits of Boston College in Chestnut Hill 49-20. I
won $100 to be donated to the charity of my choice. Any suggestions? Oklahoma
State dominated Pitt once again behind newly anointed Heisman Candidate Mason
Rudolph. NIU upsets Nebraska putting Mike Riley firmly in the hot seat. In
Stark Vegas, MS. Stingray and the boys were celebrating into the wee hours
after the Bulldogs shocked the LSU Tigers 37-7. If you ask coach Ogre what
happened, he will simply say “PENALTIES”. Late at night out west, San Diego State
knocked off Stanford. SDSU may be the cream of the group of five right now.
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| The Rector clan pre-gaming in T Town |
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| Still cute even when trying to look mean! |
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| Steve Koreivo finally gets his pic in at Minny Soda game. |
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| The Millings of Auburn with daughter Catherine as part of the Homecoming Court |
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| DFTers James and Kevin pre-gaming at Michigan |
Bieber – Goes to
two of my DFT loyalist for being in Hawaii this month and missing our pending
weekend in New Orleans coming up. My faithful Paisans thought it would be more
prudent to take their lovely betrothed to paradise then to play with the DFT
crew in NOLA for a weekend. Who does that? I am sure they had a wonderful time
getting mani-pedis and man-scaping sessions. You lads better bring you’re a game
to Seattle next month!
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| Chris Desimone and Lou Gervolino in Hawaii instead of tailgating. |
