The national championship celebration that took place in Ohio Stadium on Saturday was, by most accounts, a good time. To the 45,000 who endured freezing temperatures to celebrate as a community, bully for you.
Ohio State fans have taken their lumps over the last twelve days. When Columbus police tear gassed and pepper sprayed revelers on High Street without provocation, the hot takes began rolling in.
Some of the national descriptions of the event were almost polite: "Police use tear gas on joyous, couch-burning Ohio State fans," raved the New York Post. It wasn't the fans setting dumpster fires whom the police gassed, but the New York Post is a tabloid; it can make stuff up.
Others saw the use of riot control measures and jumped to what they thought was an obvious conclusion about Buckeye fans. "Ohio State fans rage in Columbus after national championship," wrote USA Today's For The Win. "Ohio State fans riot in Columbus," said CBSSports.com.
The most amusing puffery came from a columnist who ought to know better. "Alabama and Auburn fans could teach Ohio State fans how to celebrate a national title responsibly," pandered AL.com's Kevin Scarbinsky, who pulled the nifty trick of tut-tutting Buckeye fans while laughing off Bama miscreants like tree-killer and groundwater-poisoner Harvey Updyke.
The aftermath of the 2002 Michigan game has had a lasting effect on Buckeye fans' reputation. Hooliganism is a difficult accusation to shake, even a dozen years removed from the incident.
It's events like the national championship celebration that show Ohio State fans in the light they want to be seen: joyful, thankful, united, peaceful. The 2015 celebration was much like the 2003 celebration in this regard.
That's not to say the event was perfect. Nobody likes it when local politicians elbow their way into the picture, not even Gov. Bob Taft (who presented the "Champions Lane" sign for the Lane Avenue-High Street intersection in 2003), Rep. Pat Tiberi (who spoke at this year's event) or Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman (who renamed the Lane-High intersection to "The Undisputed Way"). In each case, the audience knew why they were there but really would have preferred to move things along. University president Michael Drake got a tepid response (likely for Jon Waters' firing), much like former OSU president Karen Holbrook's cool reception in 2003 for her perceived lack of support for Buckeye fans.
Even with those caveats, the events were successful. In each case the fans were there to appreciate the team, and by God was the team appreciated.
When Urban Meyer said a few words, fans cheered. When Braxton Miller all but held up a neon sign reading "I AM NOT TRANSFERRING", fans roared. It was a lovefest, not just for the team but for the university. Though fans, players, coaches and recruits alike shivered through 30-degree weather, the good cheer made the cold easy to endure.
At the 2003 ceremony, Cie Grant sang Carmen Ohio. Not many people knew beforehand that Grant had a remarkable singing voice, but they do now.
“It was cold down there [on the field], and to see 50,000 people, it was like that was the last page of our book,” Cie Grant said after the celebration. “Everyone got emotional. We went out on the highest of highs.”
To me, that is the essence of fandom. Not to riot, not to belittle other fans, not to pretend one is part of the team, not to complain: to support the university's athletes as an outpouring of community support. Events like the national championship celebration showcase that ideal like no other.
