NU-OSU will be a "prime time" game
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Last competitive game we played at the horseshoe was??? 1971 an NU win.....Every game since at te shoe has been a three touchdown deficit minimum. House of horrors for the cats.
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Ironically, we had won in Columbus 1962, 63 and 71 but hadn't beaten them in Evanston since 1958 before our 2004 win at Ryan Field. I believe ESPN must see this as a potentially competitive game by scheduling it for this time slot. Let's hope they are right!
Bring your own Uzi if we happen to beat them and you are parading around in purple at the local watering holes! Check that you may need the Uzi if you are in purple and we lose too.
Very true. Been to every Big Ten town except Rutgers and Maryland, and State College and Columbus are probably at the bottom of places I'd go.
I can save you a trip. Piscataway sucks big time. Don't bother going to Rutgers.
I've been to State College many times and have always had a good time. Sorry it's a problem for you.
I think everyone should experience it for himself and make up his own mind. I actually sort of like Columbus for anything other than a football game day but when all of those idiots come in it ruins it. State College is just too creepy. Even before the Sandusky/Paterno crap was put out in the open.
You should go if you have never been. Experience it.
You should go at some point. Best stadium in the B1G, hands down, IMO. Columbus? Meh. But every B1G fan should go to Ohio Stadium at least once.
Why would it be a problem for me if you have a good time in State College? I had a fine time. But given the location and the fact that the experience wasn't all that special (to me), I'd most likely pass on going again.
Meant sorry State College was a problem for you. The location can be a problem if you fly in, but I drive to most venues anyway. I'll finally have some road games close to home when NU plays Maryland and Rutgers the next couple of years.
Yes, thousand of opposing fans are killed every year at Ohio State. I've seen it on multiple Internet message boards so it must be true.
I doubt people are killed at OSU games, but I would advise visiting fans to avoid walking past OSU fraternity houses before the game to avoid verbal harassment from drunken underage frat boys.
Went to Unhappy Valley in 2014. At the time, I had lingering resentment over Sandusky/Paterno, and was expecting vitriol. They were incredibly pleasant throughout. Even after our previously mediocre team kicked the living cr@p out of them, they were gracious and pleasant. It was weird - wanted to hate them but couldn't. It was a day game, of course.
OSU on the other hand (sorry for those of you that have seen this already), my wife and I went to the game in 2001, admittedly a long time ago, but the scars are still fresh. I had on black and purple NU gear, and my gentle wife had on a sweater and turtleneck that nobody could have confused for NU gear, except for the purple turtleneck collar. We had literally slobbering drunks screaming F bombs at us, like 2 inches from our face. At the time, we were ranked and I think it was Tressel's first year, so they had some Cooper Hangover going on but W.T.F??? Seriously? You have to confront a NU fan with near-violence? What if an fan of an actual rival showed up? I pity the fool.
OSU has the better stadium and immediate surroundings. Clearly Columbus, no matter how dull/midwestern it may be, is leaps and bounds above State College.
I'm not able to make it to a lot of away games except bowls, about which I don't care to judge SEC yahoos, but for me, OSU fans are the worst, Michigan drips of entitled arrogance, PSU are the best, and Iowa also not bad, considering I was going to games there when we owned their W
for recent non-con, Cal fans were pretty stupid, and Duke fans seemed sort of indifferent.
OSU on the other hand (sorry for those of you that have seen this already), my wife and I went to the game in 2001, admittedly a long time ago, but the scars are still fresh. I had on black and purple NU gear, and my gentle wife had on a sweater and turtleneck that nobody could have confused for NU gear, except for the purple turtleneck collar. We had literally slobbering drunks screaming F bombs at us, like 2 inches from our face. At the time, we were ranked and I think it was Tressel's first year, so they had some Cooper Hangover going on but W.T.F??? Seriously? You have to confront a NU fan with near-violence? What if an fan of an actual rival showed up? I pity the fool.
OSU has the better stadium and immediate surroundings. Clearly Columbus, no matter how dull/midwestern it may be, is leaps and bounds above State College.
I'm not able to make it to a lot of away games except bowls, about which I don't care to judge SEC yahoos, but for me, OSU fans are the worst, Michigan drips of entitled arrogance, PSU are the best, and Iowa also not bad, considering I was going to games there when we owned their W
for recent non-con, Cal fans were pretty stupid, and Duke fans seemed sort of indifferent.
I agree-I have been treated very well at PSU. Just remember to order your parking pass from the athletic department in advance and avoid a $40 fee
I have always been invited to join tailgates, enjoyed BBQ and a beer-I have no problems with PSU
I am planning to go to Columbus. I have not been there since my NU days. All I remember is High Street. I will probably buy a ticket on StubHub and sit among the Scarlet. The late afternoon start will allow an early morning drive and get out of town after the game
What's with the trashing of Columbus. Have you tried the Near North or Arena Districts? How about the Brewery District or a more laid back entertainment district like German Village? All of those places are within minutes of the stadium.
You can enjoy the best stadium anywhere, an incomparable band experience ... including the skull session in St. John Arena just before the game ... Lane Ave (the largest pre and post game open party in all of college football) and much more. Yes ... there are some obnoxious fans. But that is true everywhere. I challenge anybody to beat the game day experience. Columbus has more options to customize a memorable day than anywhere else in the BIG.
GOUNUII
I'll give you that. If you walk by fraternity row 15th street, you might get some a verbal abuse from some drunks. The good news is that there really is no reason to go on fraternity row if you are at the game. It's about a mile from the stadium and there is no parking either in that area or beyond so there is no reason to walk through it. If you walk on High Street before the game or after there are very few bars so that shouldn't be an issue. If you are where most of those going to the game or are in the area to enjoy the festivities of the game- around the stadium, near St. John arena, at one of the establishments on Lane Ave, or along Olentangy River Rd where most of the people are, no one will give you trouble, even if you are wearing opposing fan gear.
Phatcat, not saying that this didn't happen to you but I see people at the games all the time with opposing gear on and no one bothers them. Did every OSU clad fan yell at you or was it a single person or group?You get 150000 people in an area and make alcohol available and you may get someone who offends everybody, including OSU fans. Those people aren't usually yelling at you because they are rabid OSU fans, they're just a dumb ass drunks.
Really surprised at the comments regarding Columbus since it's one of the few Midwest cities that is actually growing and thriving. Definitely not NYC, but enough to make a fun weekend.
Columbus is a pretty great city (not Chicago, but definitely is up there, especially when compared to its peers). The biggest hindrance (not unlike much of the midwest), is local transportation. No trains and the buses can be somewhat unreliable (they are slowly improving). You can, however, find cheap fares on southwest and the airport is only a 10 minute drive from downtown, tops.
For those looking for places to hit, there are plenty of options in these neighborhoods:
German Village (in particular, Schmitt's)
Short North
Victorian Village
Clintonville
Brewery District
Basically, try to avoid hanging out too close to campus before/after the game. There are some good places near by (including a GREAT dive bar with live music), but it can get pretty damn obnoxious at times.
EDIT: I forgot to mention:
Jeni's Ice Cream (Columbus) > Graeter's Ice Cream (Cincinnati).
Who care's about the size of the chocolate chips when the rest of your cone sucks ; )
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Based on the response I've seen in this thread, I get the sense that some of the NU faithful that have ventured to Columbus in the past:
A) Haven't been back in 15+ years
or
B) Spent most of their time on campus/really didn't know where to go
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Nope, just if you like verbal abuse there are plenty of places to find it at or on campus. This has nothing to do with Columbus and everything to do the drunk ass fans you reference. 5:30 start good luck with that. Klemman you seem to defend OSU with the "isolated incident" approach on a lot of these threads. I doubt we will have enough fans there to test your theory, but have seen numerous threads on "best fans" for road trip and don't recall OSU sniffing the top on any of them. BTW many of these threads are on other teams main boards too. Same results. Too bad, because I agree that Columbus would be one of the better stops in the B1G, the stadium is a must see, and the tradition is evident. Just keep your horn shut if you are in opposing colors.
Again, I haven't been there for your experience so I can't say that it didn't happen. Here's what I do know, I've been to many many games over the past 20 years. I never wear OSU gear during the game- it goes back to superstitions I developed in highschool. Sometimes without thinking about it I accidentally wear the opposing team's colors, and I've never been bothered. And I've never seen anyone else bothered.
Columbus is a large enough city where people come from many different colleges or states. On game day you see all over town people wearing Michigan, PSU, MSU, Alabama, Notre Dame, and many other college's gear, and nothing happens to them. You see kids walk around campus wearing those clothesline the time and nothing happens to them.
Sometimes people assume that there is a negative vibe when there really isn't. Reminds me of a guy we used to,hang out with and every time we went to a bar he was convinced that someone wanted to get into a fight with him. If that person looked his way or accident ly bumped into him on the wayy to the bathroom. Was convinced the fight was about to,happen. It never did and we stopped asking him to hang out with us.
You get some guys who make stuff up on message boards. There's a Michigan guy who every year posts about him witnessing seven OSU fans kicking an old man in the restroom at the stadium because he was wearing maize and blue. I asked him if he tried to stop it and he said he was too scared. I asked him if he went out and told security or the police, but he said they wouldn't do anything anyway. I asked him if he reported to the police when he came home or contacted the media, and he stopped responding.
And finally, maybe you get a drunk occasionally who is an ass, but really, fans don't really give a crap about opposing fans. It's usually a win, and often a blow out. No one really cares about the people dressed in opposing gear.. And if we see a loss, even against a "rival" like Michigan or MSU, people don't leave the stadium angry. They leave depressed. It's like a funeral procession leaving the stadium and the majority of the fans go home.
Columbus is a large enough city where people come from many different colleges or states. On game day you see all over town people wearing Michigan, PSU, MSU, Alabama, Notre Dame, and many other college's gear, and nothing happens to them. You see kids walk around campus wearing those clothesline the time and nothing happens to them.
Sometimes people assume that there is a negative vibe when there really isn't. Reminds me of a guy we used to,hang out with and every time we went to a bar he was convinced that someone wanted to get into a fight with him. If that person looked his way or accident ly bumped into him on the wayy to the bathroom. Was convinced the fight was about to,happen. It never did and we stopped asking him to hang out with us.
You get some guys who make stuff up on message boards. There's a Michigan guy who every year posts about him witnessing seven OSU fans kicking an old man in the restroom at the stadium because he was wearing maize and blue. I asked him if he tried to stop it and he said he was too scared. I asked him if he went out and told security or the police, but he said they wouldn't do anything anyway. I asked him if he reported to the police when he came home or contacted the media, and he stopped responding.
And finally, maybe you get a drunk occasionally who is an ass, but really, fans don't really give a crap about opposing fans. It's usually a win, and often a blow out. No one really cares about the people dressed in opposing gear.. And if we see a loss, even against a "rival" like Michigan or MSU, people don't leave the stadium angry. They leave depressed. It's like a funeral procession leaving the stadium and the majority of the fans go home.
Or at least the 15,000 who showed up for the game last season.....
To be fair, I grew up in South Florida, and that was one of the hottest days I've ever experienced. Gatorade and that cool little tree grove behind the concessions were our friend.
Nonsense. I once attended a New Years party at an OSU student's house in Columbus with a friend who was an OSU alum. He mentioned to some folks that I was a former NU football player. Though it was a rather mellow party and I wasn't wearing any purple, I was assaulted by some guy for absolutely no reason except that I used to play football at Northwestern. My OSU friend later apologized for the incident and said he should have never mentioned my past.
Ha ha. Ok, I give up. I'll accept that most of you have been assaulted or killed at an OSU game.be real careful for those old men who make up most of those participating at the tailgates, or those who get tickets thru their businesses. Those guys can be vicious.
And of course the alumni, who because of the demand for OSU tickets either have made enough money to make big contributions that get them season tickets, or the alumni association members who get two games per year, with the better games going to those in the association the longest.
Those thugs can all be tough, once they've taken their hypertensive medication.
And of course the alumni, who because of the demand for OSU tickets either have made enough money to make big contributions that get them season tickets, or the alumni association members who get two games per year, with the better games going to those in the association the longest.
Those thugs can all be tough, once they've taken their hypertensive medication.
The folks in Madison have treated us far worse than those at Penn St. or OSU. My wife and I, together with another couple, walked in wearing purple and were sworn at repeatedly my fans who looked like they wanted to physically attack us - they were mean and angry. A group of fans threw beer at us as we headed to our seats, heads down, hitting my wife in her new purple cashmere coat. The jeering continued after every Badger score or Wildcat error until we left at halftime. My wife was in tears. There is no excuse for what we had to put up with. I found the Madison folks rude, insensitive, drunken boors. I may be giving them only what they want, but I am never going back. I actually enjoyed Happy Valley on game day, though the night before was interminable. Columbus, conversely, offered quite a bit of fun on Friday night, but left me pretty cold on Saturday. Perhaps I expected more from the horseshoe.
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I had the opposite experience last time I was in Madison (2 1/2 years ago). A Badger friend took to me to an outdoor bar where there had to be a thousand people. I was wearing a Northwestern sweatshirt in a sea of red. One guy came up to me and shook my hand, saying he wanted to meet a guy who had the guts to come into the bar. I joked that if I had known I was in danger, I wouldn't have come in. He bought me a beer, I bought a round for his group and we all had a great time. While there, several Badger coeds asked to have their picture taken with me. I commented that I intend to come back for every home game and wear the sweatshirt of the opposing team. I met more friendly girls than I would have in any bar in Evanston.
All that proves is that you are a lot more attractive than I. Seriously, I'm glad you had that experience. I'd like to think ours was unusual - especially because I grew up in Wisconsin.
Excellent. The entire nation can watch us beat down the Buckeyes in their own stadium. Revenge will be sweet.
Also in the camp that PSU is a good place to go watch a football game, aside from being in the middle of nowhere. The JoePa stuff aside, from a gameday and friendliness perspective don't put them anywhere near the same bucket as OSU. Nothing can touch Nebraska fans, but after that they are near the top of the conference and I think their stadium is cool too.
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