Columbus experience 2012

Submitted by HELLE on
I made my first trip to Columbus for The Game today. After reading all of the horror stories I was prepared for the worst. We tailgated at the Ackerman Lot which is about a mile and a half from the stadium. During the tailgate and walk to the stadium we experienced people cussing at us and giving us the finger but no physical violence. The thing that surprised me the most was that for every idiot their were five Ohio fans telling us to " have a great time" and apologizing on behalf of the idiots. Is their a higher percentage of idiots down there? Yes. Did I fear for my safety? No. Did the intensity of the fans negatively effect my enjoyment of the day? Absolutely not! I'm not saying that others will be as lucky as I was or that previous horror stories were embellished. I'm just suggesting to anyone out their that doesn't think Columbus is worth the risk based on someone else's experience, you may be missing out on the best away game in the Big Ten. If you went to The Game today, let me know how it went.

Bando Calrissian

November 24th, 2012 at 11:21 PM ^

It really appears the mountain of PSA's and general effort made by OSU between the 2004 and 2006 games, plus the whole calming effect of the timing of Bo's death on changing the tenor of the '06 game, really did wonders for ending the kind of absurdity that was going on in the late 90's and early 00's.  That's a good thing.

Balrog_of_Morgoth

November 24th, 2012 at 11:38 PM ^

"Is their a higher percentage of idiots down there?"

Oh, the irony.

Sorry, I'm just giving you a hard time. I had a similar experience. One Buckeye said something exceptionally inappropriate to me, which I will not repeat here. However, a majority of them either ignored me or were cordial, which definitely surprised me.

Dawggoblue

November 24th, 2012 at 11:39 PM ^

My brother and I made the trip from Wisconsin and we also had a great experience. After considering wearing coats over our stuff to the stadium we decided to risk it. The outcome was a very welcoming one. People yelled stuff but we received many welcome to ohio stadiums and the group we sat next to invited us to tailgate with them after. We both agreed wed come back.

genericmichiganfan

November 24th, 2012 at 11:47 PM ^

Experience around the stadium exceeded my expectations, but the seats were awful. Do not ever get tickets in the B deck. Half the field was obstructured and we couldn't even see the scoreboards. Just an awful setup.

sman13

November 24th, 2012 at 11:49 PM ^

the friends of a friend we pregamed with were surpisingly friendly and courteous. plenty of friendly banter, but it was just that--friendly. same goes for many fans we saw after the game

walking to the stadium was anoher story. had several beer cans thrown at us, chanting of "f**k michigan" (which I was disappointed at the lack of creativity with that), and then just straught up yelling at one another once the crowd started to gather outside the toilet bowl. i mean horseshoe.

all in all, not as dangerous as i thought, but still an experience to fuel my distaste for ohio next time they come to town

Canadian

November 25th, 2012 at 1:54 PM ^

I know for a fact that we do the same thing here. On top of that dumb you suck chant, we also have a tendency to chant "Fuck Ohio" or my favorite as it was being chanted by nearly everyone on the old Trollie that drove through the golf course "Fuck the irish". The driver slowed down and a group of female nd fans started shooting the finger at the Trollie... Ahhh good times

Bb011

November 25th, 2012 at 12:07 AM ^

I have gone to many games in Columbus for the game, and I have to say that today, was by far the most respectful I've seen OSU fans. There was the occasional cussing and stuff, but nothing went out of hand (which in the past, I have always seen) It was very enjoyable, which I can't always say about my past experiences.

mdoc

November 25th, 2012 at 12:12 AM ^

I went down to Columbus for the '06 game and it was so-so. Some bar had a screen/projector setup in their parking lot and we ended up watching the game there. I was with a handful of fairly large men, one of whom was an OSU fan and was so attired. I'd say roughly 60% of the people ignored us, 20% were rude and threatening (especially the girls, who screamed in our faces regarding our fandom and assumed sexual orientation while their male friends waited for us to say something, anything), and 20% said they respected our fandom, and hey if Michigan wins, we'll help you get to that policeman over there, but then you're on your own. We all know the outcome of the game, and it still led to beers being thrown at our heads upon our exiting, but at least my jeep wasn't vandalized. So I guess I don't know how toned down it was at that time, but it still felt like we weren't that far away from being beaten at any point. A lot of my secure feelings derived from said large fairly large men. 

On a related note, a couple weeks later I was at a good sized bar in Lancaster, Ohio, that obviously was full of OSU fans. The Big Ten season was already over of course, but important games were still being played. When #2 USC lost to UCLA, a hush fell over the place, as most people were aware of where things stood. I was thinking the same thing as many other people there, but no one said anything, except one dude in the middle of the bar, clad head to toe in Michigan gear, who stood up with both fists raised triumphantly above his head and screamed "Rematch, bitches!"

 

One for each cup.

Philbert

November 25th, 2012 at 12:14 AM ^

My buddy goes to osu and got me tickets to pay him for taking him last year. Sat in 9a and the fans around me were great. The slurs and jokes gots old but I kept to myself the entire game and had some great conversation. Really overall a positive experience and I hope there will be a lot more maize and blue in the stadium in 2014.

Generic MGoBlogger

November 25th, 2012 at 12:16 AM ^

myself, but from what I've heard it seems like Ohio fans are polite when the outcome of the game is unknown.  I went to the game in AA in 2009 and every Ohio fan I encountered was a complete ass because they were confident of a win. Possibly a trend occurring.

Gobluewarming77

November 25th, 2012 at 12:32 AM ^

This was my first time to Columbus and I was expecting the worst as well.  I went with 3 of my good friends.  After reading some of the experiences that were posted on this site, I was waiting to get spit on, yelled at, and potentially have beer poured on me.  However that couldn't have been further from the truth.  We arrived on Friday night and stopped at a bar that we thought would be far enough away from Columbus in Upper Sandusky.  We thought we wouldn't be bothered too much wearing our Michigan garb.  We called ahead and asked if we could watch the NIT finale.  They said yes but they couldn't have the sound on.  When we got there, we found out that it was a huge buckeye bar where the waitresses were all wearing OSU gear and they had OSU related fat heads all over and even their menu was full of OSU related entrees and sandwiches.  They even had an OSU recliner.  The waitress was very nice and the food was good as well.  The owner welcomed us and allowed us to watch the NIT game in a pretty central part of the bar.  We also met buckeye fans who were pretty damn nice and talked with us about the rivalry and wished us luck.  

When we arrived in Columbus a few hours later we decided to venture out to a local bar.  We were wearing a ton of Michigan stuff mind you.  When we arrived we ran into several groups of OSU fans that were at the bar and one of them actually bought us a round of drinks and couldn't have been nicer.  It wasn't a pity nice or an elitist nice like Alabama.  It seemed to be genuine and it was pretty weird.  A younger crowd came into the bar later in the night and one dude was chanting in our face but then apologized and was also wishing us luck.  

On the way back to the hotel we got heckled in good spirits and ran into a 2002 player reunion party where a member of the team flicked us off through the window but then came running out and showed us his championship ring and was pretty assholish but in good jest and actually ended up being pretty funny and welcomed us to Columbus but told us we couldn't enter the party, in a respectful way.  The funny part is that the owner said he didn't care who we rooted for and that the only color he saw was green.  We were going to call it a night regardless, so we went home.  

The next day we got to the game and parked in the same Ackerman lot.  On the way over to the game a strange OSU fan started yelling at us and we all immediately thought, shit, here we go. But no, he was like come here and we reluctantly approached awaiting some snide remark but he invited us over to his tailgate.  There was a Keg and a huge pork roast and a bunch of roast beef.  He offered us all of this in a kind way and we mingled with other OSU fans who were also nice.  It was kind of surreal and I was waiting for them to sabatoge us or for something terrible to happen but it never did.  Everyone wished us luck and were candid about some of their negative experiences visiting Ann Arbor and wanted to give our fans a different experience.  The folks sitting by us were pretty nice too, minus the guy a few rows back that was yelling about how we were poor and our homes were only worth $100.  That was pretty funny in a "that poor soul" kind of a way.  Granted we had a guy bump into us pretty forcefully and a guy yell better luck next year assholes as we walked out but for the most part it was a pretty positive experience.  It was so fuckin cold though.  

StaT_2

November 25th, 2012 at 12:40 AM ^

I went down to Columbus friday night and played poker in their new Hollywood casino, in a room with 30 poker tables full of OSU-clad fans.  I sat down at a 2/5 table with my michigan hat on...fully expecting the worst.  I was shocked at how friendly everyone was.  (Even after I left +$900 :)).  I heard nothing but horror stories about the stadium, and my buddy and I expected to be terrorized.  We sat in 8AA with most other michigan fans, but the OSU student section was in the area right behind and above us.  The walk to the stadium was absolutely fine, with most OSU fans offering "goodluck".  We were decked out in Woodson and Brady jerseys.  I did not understand this.  Haha.  When Roundtree scored the 71 yard touchdown, I went to the OSU students right behind us and freaked out in their faces (dumb mistake).  I felt like I just unlocked a cage of angry gorillas...and I seriously felt like I would not make it out of the stadium if Michigan would have won.  After that, I didn't go back to the student section and minded my own business (lol).  One of the best experiences of my life, especially getting to jump on a rail in front of an entire section of Buckeyes and making it out alive.  I'll be going back to Columbus every other year.  I thought the stadium was amazing, as was the entire atmosphere.  Go Blue!

StaT_2

November 25th, 2012 at 12:57 AM ^

I forgot to mention...when Frank Clark absolutely smoked Braxton Miller, his dad was two rows in front of me and started yelling "thats my son!"...we shared a first bump and a bro-hug.  It was an awesome experience.

jmblue

November 25th, 2012 at 11:33 AM ^

No.  They still obsess over us far more than we obsess over them.  (Actually, this is part of the problem.  They have Big Brother talent and a Little Brother level of focus on us, which requires us to bring our A game to beat them.)

mGrowOld

November 25th, 2012 at 8:12 AM ^

Sounds to me like hate has turned to pity.  Until we start winning against them again that will probably be the case so I guess that's good (not as much violence as in the past) but there's a part of me that wishes we still got them worked up.

I guess when you know....I mean absolutely KNOW...you're going to win it changes things.  Godfuckingdamn Borges.

UAUM

November 25th, 2012 at 8:20 AM ^

Sat in the student section, got yelled at walking to my seat and on random other occasions, but didn't talk back. Eventually made it out without any physical contact/harm.



We need to start invading their stadium like they do.



Also, it's worth going as a fan to truly experience the same hate and vulnerability that the team does.

joegeo

November 25th, 2012 at 9:26 AM ^

I'm a 20 something guy in Michigan gear... A prime target. Had some students swearing at me, but not in my face, on the walk to the stadium. Aside from that, friendly people and a great atmosphere.

cbuswolverine

November 25th, 2012 at 9:57 AM ^

I live down here so whenever I go to the Shoe for The Game or just any old regular game, I'm with a group of about two dozen and there are never more than three or four Michigan fans.  It makes for an interesting situation occasionally, as our Buckeye friends can be pretty protective.  The only time anything has ever happened is when we're moving to or from the stadium.  People don't immediately recognize that we aren't on our own when we're on the move and that's when the screaming in our faces etc. goes down.  It's an interesting scene when a handful of Buckeyes get in our face in the middle of the street and they are immediately met with twenty other screaming Buckeyes telling them to back off.  It's funny every time.

king_kerridge

November 25th, 2012 at 10:28 AM ^

 

Drove from Indianapolis with my wife early Saturday morning and met up with my parents and some friends. We parked at the Special Olympics lot that people on the board were talking about leading up to the game, they were great, even saved my parents a spot while we waited for them to arrive. We had a great time tailgating there, multiple OSU fans came up and introduced themselves, welcomed us, told us to have a great time, I was caught off guard to say the least. There were several O-H-I-O/Go Blue exchanges as more people arrived but no trash talk. The walk to the game was a little different, we were joking about not using the porta-john alone for fear of getting tipped over, but everyone was nice to us. There were a few exceptions close to the stadium, but for every fan that yelled F-Michigan at us, there were 3-4 apologizing and wishing us good luck. We were in the family section for the game (my younger brother is on the team) so we were insulated from the OSU fans. The stadium was pretty impressive and loud, I thought it was a great atmosphere for sure and loved every minute of it (besides the result of course).
 
After the game it was a different world... 
 
It was as if all the OSU trolls came out from under their rocks and bridges and descended upon us. We were waiting for the players to come out by the bus and it was like the worst offenders flocked over to talk shit. I think I heard the "we don’t give a damn about the whole state of Michigan..." chant about 50 times in the span of 20 minutes. I had "F-Michigan!" yelled directly to my face even more, about 35% of the time it was from a woman.  I laughed and took it in stride since they had every reason to be excited. The best part was that they were all idiots and didn't know how to respond to us saying good luck in their bowl game or clapping along to their stupid chants. The OSU event staff finally got their shit together and blocked off a large portion leading to the player buses so the families could see the players without being bombarded with a chorus of "F- Michigan!" chants. 
 
My favorite moment of the day occurred on the walk back, we were walking back as a group with a couple families, and one fine trailer trash specimen came up to us and started yelling "FUCK MICHIGAN, GO HOME YOU FAGGOTS, etc..." He was walking the opposite direction, but turned around and was walking along side JT floyd's cousin who was just taking it in stride and out of nowhere he lunges at the guy and says "BOO!" I kid you not I think this kid pooped his pants. He flew backwards (no one touched him) and had the look of death on his face, he was so embarrassed and didn't know what to do because everyone including OSU fans were laughing at him. He tried to play it off and hi-five us, but we were having nothing of the sort and told him to go change his pants. 
 
We were taunted the entire way back but I was laughing and we never had anything thrown or dumped on us, I was expecting the worst but it really wasn't bad at all. Overall it was a great experience and I can't wait for 2014 when we are running the system Borges is comfortable with, or he has been replaced...but that is a discussion for another thread (or 7), amiright?
 
 
GO BLUE.

da3mite

November 25th, 2012 at 10:37 AM ^

I also went down to Columbus yesterday. For the sake of redundancy, I will make this short.

My friends and I arrived at the tailgates outside of the stadium about 2 hours before kickoff. We were wearing full maize (student tees) and we decided it would be a great idea to find a friendlier, Michigan tailgate...where we wouldn't die...



We walked around for an hour or so, and received quite a few boos from Ohio fans, but nothing out of the ordinary. In the stadium, the ushers and policemen were all nice and helpful. We only ran into one bad apple in the bathroom (said something about us being poop? gotta love potty talk...quite literally because he was in the stall when he was speaking to us).

After the game, I left the stadium alone, in frustration of course. Obviously the Ohio fans were in a good mood, but I did not hear one bad comment during the walk back to my car. I only received multiple "good games" and "at least you guys are going to a bowl game! See you next season." I was pleasantly surprised from the experience, and I made it back north safely.

I wanted to find a reason to hate them, even more, so badly...but it was hard to find a reason after the game.

goblue7612

November 25th, 2012 at 11:12 AM ^

after the game, at least 5 groups of OSU fans told us to "Drive home safely!" Such nice people. But in all seriousness, before the game everyone was very cordial, the most harsh words were said right outside the stadium right after the game. And the 40+ year old drunk women are by far the most annoying. I found the crowd this year to be much nicer than 4 years ago when I went previously.

Zok

November 25th, 2012 at 11:16 AM ^

I can see that. My gf is from just outside of Columbus. She really doesn't know much about football other than the basics. When we watched the game here in Chicago she was surprised that UM had the all time series lead. She just assumed OSU always won...

I mean your can't blame her. Since her days in high school UM has only won twice. That's the reality for the Series for many. They treat us and the game like we treat PSU. Big game but they expect to win.

ColsBlue

November 25th, 2012 at 11:59 AM ^

Not sure why, but overall, I'd agree that the Ohio fans were relatively welcoming at this year's game.  While standing in line for bathrooms, I had reasonable conversations with fans who had actual contributions to make (besides "F Michigan, derp, derp, derp").  The fans sitting around us were pretty nice guys, one of them even "fist bumped" me after Michigan's big plays.  On the way out, they did seem a bit more aggressive with victory in hand.  A drunk old man told me I'd "better run" to my car.  Probably a dick 7 days a week. 

One sidenote.  I did talk to a Texas fan who's just a big fan of the college game and wanted to see Ohio v. Michigan.  He's been to several Oklahoma v. Texas games, along with other big rivalry games.  He couldn't believe how angry and aggressive the Ohio fans were towards their guests.  I told him they were actually behaving themselves better this year.  He couldn't believe it could be much worse.  I assured him it could. 

And, one question.  Another Michigan fan entering the game said that Michigan gave 2000 tickets back to Ohio?  I found this hard to believe, maybe because I didn't want to believe our fans wouldn't travel 3 hours with tickets purchased at face value.  Anyone else hear this?  Also, fergodsakes, let's travel better in two years.   

Wolverine Devotee

November 25th, 2012 at 12:51 PM ^

I will never return after what happened to me in 2000. I can't stand those animals and even looking at that stadium makes me want to gag.

Wolverine Devotee

November 25th, 2012 at 12:53 PM ^

Also, they won't be too nice when Michigan wins next year and the year after once everything is in place.

UMgradMSUdad

November 25th, 2012 at 1:06 PM ^

I didn't go to the game, but I'm guessing several factors are at play, including that OSU won and maybe, just maybe, some of the decent fans are finally making an effort to counter the effects of the asshole fans. Practically every CFB blog that has had interactions with OSU fans lists them at or near the top of horrible fans. Maybe the other OSU fans are finally getting tired of the reputation. As we all know, there are asshole fans everywhere, more at some places, fewer at others. But when the decent fans step up, the assholes temper their behavior a bit; also pleasant interactions with decent fans can act as a counterbalance to the horrible interactions with the juggaloes.

k.o.k.Law

November 25th, 2012 at 1:37 PM ^

It was a world of difference from my ten previous trips. Same 4 or  5 to 1 ratio of positive/polite comments to F bombs.

After the game, someone did body check my 21 yr old daughter, behind me, but her ex-Marine boyfriend responded appropriately.

We responded to verbal taunts by wishing them luck in their bowl game, against ND for the BCS title.

walking across the bridge over the Olentangy, to the shuttle bus area, it was positively somber.  They make more noise when they lose.  I asked several people if it were just hitting them that the probation really cost them, but that was not cited by anyone.

Yes, those B section tickets are tricky, looking around the posts.

Oddly enough, after warning the ex-Marine boyfriend of what to expect from Buckeyes, a grievously over-served Wolverine fan sat next to me just before kickoff.  Loud, obnoxious, bumping into people.  He tossed his cookies in the second quarter and two of his friends escorted him out of the stadium.

WyoBuckeye

November 25th, 2012 at 3:04 PM ^

I for one, always try to make opposing fans feel welcome and have occassionally admonished some of my Buckeye brethern for exhibitng behavior that was rude tot he opposing fans.  You do have to expect to be razed a little when you go on the road, but that is all part of the experience, in my opinion.  Not all of us are so hospitable to opposing fans, but things have gotten a lot better over the years.  Nowadays, there is a sort of unspoken agreement amongst our more evolved fans that while we can't really eliminate all the douch-baggery we can try to make up for it by being exceptionally acomdating and friendly.  Any of you are welcome anytime to watch The Game from my tailgate and enjoy all the food and libations available, so long as you don't mind watching the game on a b/w cathode-ray TV while locked in a porta-potty.  Kidding of course.  Most of us really do try and do a great job.  But it only takes a few bad ones to make things miserable for others.

E. Gordon Gee

November 25th, 2012 at 10:58 PM ^

Its pretty sobering to hear all of these good stories compared to what OSU was like before. Outside of trash talking, sounds like most people had a good time. Very good thread and great game...