I'm sitting here watching the NFL playoffs, but in many ways, my head is back in Pasadena, where over the Christmas and New Years break, I saw my Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Oregon Ducks in a doozy of a start to the new year. This was my first American sporting event since July of 2007, when the San Diego Padres took on someone I don't remember at Petco Park. Pasadena and the Rose Bowl on Janaury 1 is unlike any other setting for college or pro sports: with the sun shining and San Gabriel Mountains in the distance, more than 90,000 fans gathered for the 'Grandaddy of them all.' From places like Columbus, Ohio and Eugene, Oregon, this was football paradise.
You know you're at a big sporting event when a) the coin toss is a mini event and b) U.S. fighter jets make their appearance in the skies. There's the fight songs, fan cheers (O-H-I-O) and team colors littering the stadium. From our perspective, it seemed like we were in a neutral area, between the Scarlet and Gray and Green and Yellow. With this setting, then a bunch of college kids get out to perform in front of the entire country.
Through the haze of Bud Lights and dizzying grandness of the Rose Bowl, I recall the Buckeyes getting out to an early lead, followed by the Ducks coming right back. The rest of the game was a back-and-forth fest, with the Bucks' Terrelle Pryor getting the best of the UO defense and a clincher TD pass to Posey in the 4th quarter. In a fitting continuiation of a great American holiday, the Buckeyes held on for a 26-17 win to snap a three-game bowl losing streak and set the table nicely for another run in 2010.
Most importantly, I was able to drink in the college football experience again and see my Buckeyes up close and personal. Midwesterners in the Calfornia sun never looked so good.
No comments:
Post a Comment