Ohio Stadium is among the largest football venues and is a textbook-style environment that becomes an astounding real-life experience at Ohio State. From the outside, it’s an intimidating structure. From the inside? The Shoe is a demon, a man-made mountain, and the physical effort required to climb into the upper atmosphere of the C-Deck is exhausting. Yet for 100,000+ each home-game Saturday, it’s a tradition. And for many more around their televisions, it’s an addiction. Each week, eyes are glued to the Buckeyes and their physical home.
The tradition is easy for both old-timers and newcomers. In my most cynical evaluation, Buckeye Football is a product that provides distraction. In my most warm approach, Ohio Stadium is representative of community, of universal projection onto athletes. Ohio Stadium brings Buckeye faithful together through long- and short- term historical excellence. When the team rushes onto the field before the first quarter, when the players sport classic uniforms, when the band plays “Carmen Ohio,” it’s all brought together at the Horseshoe. We hug, high-five, and scream celebration in equal measure with both our friends and the complete strangers beside us.
Ohio Stadium stands tall in the local collective mind because of all the camaraderie it inspires; it’s regional recreational commonality; and for the fact that there is no end in sight for the program within the walls, no dip expected in the near future.
Ohio Stadium is a mammoth physical and psychological presence in Columbus. It’s little wonder, then, that as the sun dips slightly lower in the late-August and early-September skies, the Shoe casts its annual long shadows over the rest of the city.
One of the four major North American professional sports is taking a prominent place in Nationwide Arena this week. Team USA’s World Cup of Hockey training camp started Monday, as has been scheduled since mid-December. Your exact feelings on this likely depend on personal impressions toward the World Cup itself. I’m willing to see past the money-grab, non-Olympic version of things because the spirit of the rosters recalls the most outrageous moments toying with All Star Teams in videogames. (And it’s not as if the corrupt Olympics are the most pure way to think about sport in the first place.)
The Columbus preparation culminates in Friday’s pre-tournament preview game. The very best players in the world will face off against Team USA.
But you’re reading a Columbus hockey blog. You already knew that.
It’s the outside perspective that fascinates me. The Dispatch does devote reporters to the Blue Jackets and, by extension, the World Cup. From that angle, there has been a trend toward increased coverage in the leadup. From the other local Columbus media? We’ve only now seen video packages on NBC, ABC, and CBS. As expected, hockey notes still come after the third day of postgame glow for Buckeye Football. Monday evening’s coverage featured a profile of Ohio State’s new place kicker, and some choice quotes from Urban Meyer’s press conference, but nary a mention of the hockey happening in the city’s heart.
When I first moved to Columbus, it was easy for me to wear a jaded hockey fan persona. A past version of me would have reacted to World Cup coverage with a thin layer of defiance that barely covered a root desperation. “The best players in hockey are being forgotten in favor of football amateurs,” I might have whined. “Why don’t they care more?”
In my first Ohio days, I would have viewed the influence of the Buckeyes in a negative light. Now it’s much easier to see the shadow of Ohio Stadium as a comfortable blanket for Columbus sports fans. The combination of time and success in equal measure gives Ohio State an intoxicating appeal, and like so many other Columbus residents: I joined the Scarlet side, too. I spent part of Saturday afternoon watching the drubbing at the Shoe, albeit not with full attention. I mean, goodness, it was an embarrassing blowout.
The contrast between the appeal of the Buckeyes and the minimal early-season hockey coverage makes far more sense to me now. The issue isn’t whether it’s hard for hockey to capture the attention of a market. I suspect that part has always been difficult. Columbus hockey successes must be built over time to gain the attention that Ohio State has now. We’ve watched brief outbursts of serious and organic coverage for the team. The 2014 Stanley Cup Playoff series against Pittsburgh offered a raucous atmosphere, a legitimate excitement that spilled north up High Street and into OSU. The crowds gathered again at the All Star festivities in 2015.
In the big picture, though? These have been blips. Blips surrounded by an awful lot of losing.
This means it will take time for Columbus to pay attention. That’s time for the Blue Jackets to build a successful team for more than one year in a row, time for non-hockey fans to let the light of hockey shine into their hearts (to borrow a phrase from Greg Wyshynski). The time horizon is probably in the several-years range, which may not seem inspiring to hockey fans longing for recognition.
But as I’ve learned over time in Columbus: there’s no reason to let envy cloud your judgement. If you’ve tried and still can’t embrace the Buckeyes, then the broad hockey world is still accessible, unimpeded by football talk. Puck Rakers exists apart from other Dispatch features. Fox Sports Ohio has a specific hockey broadcast team. National and Canadian coverage from Yahoo, Sportsnet, and TSN compliments team-specific blog coverage (including posts right here). You can keep your walls up and never worry.
Or, if you’re like me, you can soften. You can accept multiple sports in your mind and heart. You can enjoy the certainty of success offered by the Buckeyes and keep stress at bay on Saturdays. You can embrace the togetherness, and find yourself at Ohio Stadium either in person or by TV proxy. You can enjoy the Ohio State community without compromising your Blue Jackets identity.
Early autumn needn’t be a time for either/or.
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