"What More Can I Say?"

While words escaped Troy Smith to summarize what Brent Musberger personally told me was "simply the biggest game in the history of mankind" allow my running journal to fill you in....

7:00 AM - I wake up and I'm already nervous. I had nightmares of a Clown wearing maize and blue attacking me. I turn on ESPN to see what Gameday is looking like and there is already a packed crowd streaming around chanting for Lee Corso's head on a platter. I'm going to wait a little bit more before heading into the insanity.

10:00 - In attempt to boost the energy and ward off the hunger pains, a mid-morning meal of Thai was in order. Luckily there was a fortune cookie which read "If you say it, believe it and visualize it, it will happen". Cookies are never wrong. I'm suddenly feeling confidant. I call Publius with my war cry "Your going to die Clown" and march off to Gameday to tell Corso exactly what I think he can do to himself. Much to the enjoyment of the mob, a cop is razzing a guy in blue about the importance of obeying the laws. This is going to be good.

11:45 Sooo many people. The early estimates of at least 300,000 milling around might be right. Heck, they might be under. That said I'm the little grey blob on Gameday with a tiny sign saying "See it, Love It, Suck It... Go Buckeyes!". Lousy shortness. My favorite sign so far is "Chad Henner Loves Unicorns" as well as the mannequin dressed in a Henne jersey throwing a box of Cheerios(now thats creative). Corso picks Michigan to win. He's still bitter about not having a hotel room. The crowd responds with demands for Corso to perform physical activities that seem to difficult for a man of his age but what do I know?

12:00 People had been buying programs by the box. I grab one of the last programs. Now it happens that I grabbed the program from some kid but I figure if he had really wanted it, he would've defended his face better. There's even more people here now and the average Blood Alchohol Level is reaching Code Yeltsin. The state troopers are wearing the full combat fatigues today. I'm picking the fans over the cops by 9.

1:00 - I see Bob Davies walking towards the Horseshoe. I control the urge to assault him. I do give him the dirty eye and my buddy swears at him. That'll teach him to be Bob Davies.

2:00 - I causally stroll through section of houses that have the fraternities. I'm worried that sudden movements might spook them. However everyone is in a good mood- high five people and I even got a nice hug from a girl in a Ginn jersey. Fans in blue seem to all have a Buckeye fan with them for protection. By in large outside a few chants like "Fuck Michigan" I don't notice any serious problems.

3:00 I arrive at my destination for viewing the game. I exchange a few more pleasantries with Publius and follow that with a call to my dad. My dad reminds me to have faith in the Sweatervest. I'm also informed that punk band "The Dead Schembechlers" had their final concert last night and donated the profits from the "Beat M*ch*g#n" rally to the Schembechlers' family's choice of charity. Who knew that civility would reign at the end of the day?

3:30 - Game kicks off, I have my chinese cookie fortune, my lucky outfit and my lucky plate of hummus. Doesn't seem to matter as Henne to Manningham slices and dices the Buckeyes defense in 3.6 seconds.

3:50ish - Buckeyes respond with Troy Smith finding Roy Hall in the end zone. Is it possible we're looking at a shoot out?

6:45ish- I must have blacked out. Did the Buckeyes really win 42-39? Did they really put up almost 500 yards on the Wolverine defense? Did Troy Smith just win the Heisman and cement himself as the Greatest OSU quarterback of all time? Did I really eat that much food? The local feed kicks in and the hometown analysts are wearing sunglasses so its all true...the Buckeyes are going to Glendale for a shot at the BCS Championship. Again. Great game. I can now celebrate with Buckeye Cake (chocolate and peanut butter). The game turned on the roughing the passer penalty. The key to the game was Troy Smith. He was accourate, he was mobile, he was smart and was tough.
8:00 I'm making my way through campus. Everyone is going crazy. Horns are honking. I'm high fiving random people. I don't see any fires yet but I heard reports of some tear gas. I better enjoy the moment, head on home and prepare myself. One Game to Go!