At noon today, the Ohio State football team will open the doors of the Woody Hayes Athletic Complex to thousands of students for its fifth-annual student appreciation day.
As a senior redshirt junior, this will be my fourth time waking up earlier than I should on a Saturday morning and taking a crowded shuttle bus to an indoor facility so that I can watch 17-22 year old college students practice football.
And for the fourth time, I'm ecstatic about it.
Student appreciation day is one of my favorite days of the year, primarily because I get to have a random football-filled Saturday in the middle of April and that's kind of awesome. More than that, though, I love it because it actually fulfills its purpose.
As a student, I feel genuinely appreciated. It doesn't feel like an event begrudgingly put on for PR purposes, nor is it a glorified media op. In fact, the longer I spend on the Ohio State football beat, the more I realize the day is geared entirely towards the student body and is actually a pretty gigantic pain in the ass for the media contingent— just ask Tim or Eric.
The media aren't allowed to take videos of practice, but the students are. The media have to stand out of the way on the sideline, but the students are allowed right next to the action on the field. The media might have interview access to a player or two following the event, but the students are free to socialize with the entire team, take pictures and get autographs.
The event is 100 percent student-first — and that's refreshing (sorry, work colleagues). Even more refreshing is that everyone involved seems happy and appreciative of the students in attendance.
The players have fun with it — last year J.T. Barrett faced a student in the circle drill — and the coaches look for every opportunity to put a student in a drill, give them a chance to kick a field goal or simply interact with the team. All the while, Mickey Marotti mans the mic in a way only a strength and conditioning coach could, yelling "winner, loser day!" no fewer than 200 times as LL Cool J's "It's Time For War" blasts over the PA system.
"Every year, you're the No. 1 student body in America."– Urban Meyer
My freshman year, there were a few coaches running around campus with a megaphone at about 9 a.m. the morning of, trying to get students out of bed and to the Woody. It was hilarious, and effective. I know more than one person who went to the event completely hungover, one of which slept for less than an hour on a children's beanbag chair the night before.
My biggest takeaway from my three years of experience with this event is that the football staff really does appreciate the student body, really does want them to come out and really does want them to have a good time.
As a student at one of the world's largest research institutions with one of the largest athletic programs in the world, it's often easy to feel forgotten about or sometimes outright taken advantage of.
But this football team really does a stellar job of making students feel involved with the program through things like pregame quick cals (good try, good effort), weekly reminders to get loud in the stands, a simple email thanking them for an electric environment and of course, student appreciation day.
So if you're a student reading this before noon, head over to the Woody. Don't have a ride? They have free shuttles. Nursing a hangover? They have free food. Don't have anyone to go with? Neither do I. Come find me — I'll be the skinny one in the Eleven Warriors hat.
