OWU vs Otters

 (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.