Last night I went down to Streetsboro to see the Rockets play Coventry. I got there 10 minutes late and the game was already over. Coventry couldn't tackle or block anyone. It was 55-0 at halftime.
Besides the game being a stinker I really enjoyed myself. Saw some of the guys I coached and taught 25 years ago, and saw some of my old teaching colleagues. It was the first time i saw a game in the new stadium and it was terrific.
I've seen three of my former teams, six more to go!
(Last year I posted some early chapters to my football book. Since then I've pretty much worked on a novel and have ignored the football book. But now that fall is here, football season is back.
Seeing that this is the first season in a long time I'm not coaching, One thing I want to do is get caught up on my past teams. I coached at four high schools, four colleges, plus played at another one. This fall I have a goal of seeing all nine teams play. This week was my second game.)
Week #2 this season saw me see another one of my alma maters play as the Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops hosted the Otterbein Cardinals. The game had extra importance to me as former John Carroll Quarterback Jake Schaffer made his debut as Otterbein's Head Coach. Given the right support he will do a good job as the Otter's head coach.
The game had a 6:00 start so that gave me time to check out the tailgating plus any major changes on the campus or in the town of Delaware. My love and affection for both the college and the town has never changed since I first attended school there in the fall of 1976. The campus and the town never looked better.
Even with over 100,000 fans attending the Michigan game two hours north on Route 23, and over 100,000 fans attending the Ohio State game 40 minutes to the south, the crowd in Selby Stadium was impressive. The home side was over 90% filled, and that was in one of the bigger DIII stadiums in the country seating almost 10,000. Otterbein also brought a pretty good contingent of fans. Selby Stadium is still the best of the older stadiums in DIII, and possibly the best of all DIII stadiums.
Tailgating in smaller colleges has really taken off over the last 15 years or so. Last Saturday at OWU it was quite festive, with the parking lots next to the stadium and next to the science building filled with tailgaters.
Another relatively new addition to OWU football is the marching band which now has over 60 members. The members of the band seemed to be enjoying themselves.
It was a beautiful early fall day, and it was a great day to be on a college campus, especially the one that I attended many years ago. I stopped in Gray Chapel and said a prayer for Joe Blaha, Paul Miller, and Blair Wherthman, three old teammates and close friends who have recently passed. They would've enjoyed being at the game.
Seeing that this is the first season in a long time I'm not coaching, One thing I want to do is get caught up on my past teams. I coached at four high schools, four colleges, plus played at another one. This fall I have a goal of seeing all nine teams play.
I started with seeing my beloved Padua Bruins play last Friday night against Sandusky Perkins. Unfortunately things did not go the Bruins way and got beat beaten 34-0. Perkins beat them the old fashion way, they had better players. They came close to winning a state championship last year and might do the same this year. A very solid team.
However, besides the outcome of the game it was great being there. I love the on campus stadium as well as the campus itself. The place looks great. They had a great crowd, the kids were all wearing Hawaiian shirts, and I saw a lot of old friends.
I'm thinking that I'll finish the book with an update of all nine of the teams out of my past. That would be a great finishing chapter. So I got the first few written as well as the last one. Now I just have to come up with a dozen or so for the middle.
