It's a Saturday morning, game day for the Ohio State Buckeyes. I wake up, and I make sure to put on an OSU shirt before I go outside to blend in with the crowd. Most people are preparing for Block, tailgating, or, depending on the start time of the game, already at the stadium. It's Ohio State; liking football is practically a requirement for admission. But here's my secret: I'm not here for the football. I couldn't care less about it.
I'm an outlier. I don't have season tickets, and my Saturdays aren't dedicated to spending my whole day watching the game. If I am at the stadium, it's because I bought a ticket solely for this game, and while I will enjoy it, I don't feel the need to go to every one.
When the game is being played, I'll probably have the game on TV as background noise, mostly so that I can know whether or not we win, and I don't look like an idiot throughout the next week when people are talking about what happened. Some weeks it's a wonder if I manage to even know if there's a game or not; I only know when the home games are this year because I have to move my car before them.
I've only been to two games during my two years at OSU, and I don't feel like I've missed much. I have stories that I can share, I know the traditions, and half of my friends don't have tickets either, so I have people that I can hang out with during the game.
I don't understand how some people can care so much about a sport or even a team that they treat it almost like it's a religious event. I think that the tradition and the connections that it gives families are great. I just can't imagine devoting so much time and money to something that has no real impact on the world. If Ohio State just stopped playing football games, I don't think that I would notice, and I can tell you that it definitely wouldn't affect me the way it would most other people.
Don't get me wrong, I hate TTUN too, and I want the team to do well throughout the season, but you will never see me paying for the tickets for the Xichigan game, or watching it in person. It's the craziest game of the year, and it's far more money than I want to spend on a ticket.