Ms. Smith:

Your lack of spirit for this school is deplorable. Your religious views are sacreligous. You should be ashamed of yourself. We at this university do more than "attempt excellence." Shame on you.

Fifty different ways to start this comment have flown through my head, but none could fully express my outrage at this column. No I HAVEN'T wished I went to OSU, had I ever did, I would GONE TO OSU! I'm sick and tired of OU being the school that people in Ohio going to when they can't get into OSU. If you hate it here so much, by all means, transfer, I'll fill out the paperwork for you, Hell, if you're too stupid to get into OSU, I'll lend you my transcripts!

You have no idea why Ohio University is not the prominent school Ohio State is, as evident your ridiculous reasoning. The problem stems from location, conference, funding, size and the fact that another University in this state is adored more than most people's alma mater. You should be ashamed of yourself. You "want our fellow Bobcats to take pride in our team and our school," then how about doing so yourself?

Ohio has beaten OSU on numerous occasions in the past few years, no one would know that though would they? OSU fans are quick to shove what would be considered embarrassing losses under the rug. It's not like the team has lost every championship game it's been in (aside from the second rate NIT final this year) for the past three years.

Ohio's #9 Field Hockey team beat #13 OSU 4-2 in 2007. Swimming and Diving beat Ohio State 152-148 in 2007. Ohio rugby DESTROYED OSU in the finals of the Ohio Rugby Classic last year and happens to be one of the best teams in the nation. Our Volleyball team hasn't faced OSU recently, but let's not forget that they haven't found themselves unranked in YEARS.

If Jim Tressel every showed up at my house I'd punch him square in the jaw and remind him how his football team schedules 3 MAC school's every year and loses the National Championship game after backing in back to back times. I'd see if Frank wanted to come inside and tell me how he was going to take OU to a prominent level like he did when he took Nebraska to a national championship.

I will and have never rooted for another team over my Bobcats. Even when Ohio played my team this year and last year in different sports and won I rooted for OU. One game (being away and over winter break this year) I even traveled to just so I could sit with my friends from high school who now attend that University and hope the impossible, which happened. It gave me no greater pleasure than to rub it in their faces, just as it will give me no greater pleasure than to rub it in yours when OU does the impossible and defeats your Buckeye's.

Guess what, in the end a Bobcat beats a nut every time.

I hear this opinion all the time, so I'm not surprised to see it show up on the opinion page. I am surprised it popped up in spring rather than fall, but I digress.

I have to agree with xfactor. If you wish you were a Buckeye, then why aren't you? I can understand team loyalty. I, myself, root for the Buckeyes and watch most of their games, particularly the big Michigan showdown. But when a Buckeye game overlaps with a Bobcat game you can bet that I'm at Peden sporting an OU t-shirt and flailing around those crazy thunder-makers they give out. Ohio is my school, my alma mater -- how can anything top that? I AM a Bobcat, I only root for the Buckeyes.

I think the lack of school spirit around here has a lot more to do with bandwagon fans that it does true team loyalty. Ms. Smith's family seem to be legitimate, hardcore Buckeye fans so I can't imagine she is a bandwagoner. But I think many OSU "fans" are only fans when the team is doing well (which is a lot, recently.) And they can't manage to walk their lazy asses down to Peden to root for their own school's team? It's just disgraceful.

Reading this didn't raise my ire like xfactor's or leslie's, as I really don't care about sports. Yep. Couldn't care less. Ohio University, administration's desire notwithstanding, is simply not on par with OSU's football team (because, in truth, that's all we're talking about) and it never will be. Solich is not the messiah, Tressel is in charge of a team with funding that should make us blush, and professor Adorable, well, we'll leave your schoolgirl fantasies alone.

There are many people in Athens that do hold a real, deep love for the Buckeyes, and, like Emily, it tends to stem from a childhood surrounded by Buckeye fans. There is, in and of itself, nothing wrong with that. You like a team. Good for you. However, coveting the name Buckeye to the point that it overshadows being a Bobcat (so much so that you are willing to blow off a final exam just to watch a bunch of painted Buckeyes tailgate on television) is quite frankly sad.

I don't go to Peden. I don't root for the Bobcats. I didn't come to OU eight years and two degrees ago because I'm a sports fan. I came because I love the campus, the atmosphere, and the people.

Having said all that, I frankly fail to see the point behind this piece, aside from, "Oh, crap, I have an opinion column due tomorrow! Screw it, I'll just talk about OU vs. OSU. That'll do."

I agree wholeheartedly with the column. Look, I wanted to be at Ohio State but wasn't accepted. My parents wouldn't pay for an OSU branch campus, so here I am. Like hundreds, if not thousands, of other OU students, I'm here because I didn't make the cut at Ohio State. Like them, I am and always will be a Buckeye at heart.

While I certainly wish that OU could compete academically with Ohio State, it never will. People should just get used to that fact. We are a good journalism school in a mediocre university. Ohio State has always been the state's flagship university, and football has nothing to do with it. They are the campus with dozens of National Academy members on faculty. They are the campus with nationally ranked programs in everything from Astronomy to History to Political Science and on to the professional colleges of business, law, engineering and medicine. They are the campus with the 2 billion dollar endowment and the hundreds of millions of dollars in research funding. They are, and always have been, our better. We just need to accept that, quit complaining about it and work hard to make OU the second best college choice in Ohio.

Study harder, get a student loan and get out

omg. you wish you were a fuck-eye... get out. you disgust me.

I am Bobcat hear me ROAR!

haha Emily, I told you this is what to expect! :-)

This column just about made me throw up. I'm usually not a very agressive person but if I ever pass you on the street I will probably start screaming profanities at you. You sicken me and you need to get your priorities straight.

I agree with xfactor I would like to knock Tressel out, and if Frank showed up at my door I'd invite him in for a beer.

As for you Lenny, do some research. Ohio State's acceptance standards are not much different from OU's. They have a little bit higher average ACT score (although its still low enough that even a dumbass could get in). I know a girl who got rejected at OU but got in at Ohio State and Miami, she chose Miami because like OU it is a better school in MANY programs.

Bottom line is that OU and OSU are both state schools and neither are of great academic caliber, but both provide good educations. The problem is that OSU alumni and fans seem to think its Harvard. Give me a break. The only thing to ever come out of OSU is a bunch of arrogant bastards! I'm proud to be a future alum of THE Ohio University! By the way, we were here way before the Ohio Agriculture and Mechanics University (as OSU was originally called) even existed!

"I want our fellow Bobcats to take pride in our team and our school."

"Sorry Bobcats, but I do not hesitate when people ask who I will be rooting for … GO BUCKS!"

Could you contradict yourself more?
Get out of our school.

It is attitudes like yours that make me severely angry at some of my fellow Ohio University students. Walking around campus, it is a rare day that I do not see one of those disgusting red OSU shirts. Sometimes I even crack a joke at the person like "Columbus is that way!" or "Are you a transfer student?" Seriously, you are at OHIO University....not Miami, not Bowling Green, and certainly not Ohio State.

If Frank Solich and Jim Tressel were on my door, Solich certainly gets in and I'm calling the cops on Tressel. That guy is a complete weasel that from all indications commits NCAA violations to get and keep players....if you doubt me, just talk to anyone who knows football players at OSU.

This fall I'll be at every game in Peden Stadium rooting on the Bobcats! Whatever OSU does, frankly, I could care less. And on September 6, I'll be in the Horsehoe with my "WE ARE OHIO, YOU ARE STATE!" shirt on hoping against hope that we defeat the Buckeyes. Even if we don't, I know I'll always be a Bobcat lover and Buckeye hater!

"O-H.......HELL-NO!"

zxcvbnm32/

You are completely clueless. Here are the actual statistics. Maybe 1 in 4 OU students could get into Ohio State!

Middle 50% Range of ACT scores:
Ohio State 26-30
Ohio 21-26

Percent of freshmen class scoring 30+ on ACT
Ohio State 27%
Ohio 5%

Percent of freshmen class scoring 23 OR LOWER on ACT
Ohio State 9%
Ohio 52%

Acceptance Rate:
Ohio State 52%
Ohio 82%

Percent of students from top tenth of high school class:
Ohio State 57%
Ohio 15%

Percent of students from quarter of high school class:
Ohio State 91%
Ohio 41%

Percent of students from BOTTOM HALF of high school class:
Ohio State 1%
Ohio 17%

LOL. OU is Ohio State's safety campus.

Now, shall we compare indicators of faculty quality, such as National Academy members, Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellows? The gap will be just as large. Heck, here's the link to the Fulbright Foundation's database. There are years where the faculty at Ohio State's BRANCH CAMPUSES

CONTINUED FROM ABOVE

...win more Fulbrights than does OU's faculty. National Academy members? We have ZERO; Ohio State has a couple dozen.

http://www.cies.org/us_scholars/us_dir.htm

Ohio University will never be as large as Ohio State. Why? We just do not have the city, geography, land to build such a university. If Athens were a large city then I think OU would be right up there in stiff competition. I'd stack my qualifications for my two bachelor degrees and my future clinical doctorate against any graduate of Ohio State. Just because you dawn scarlet and gray does not make you intelligent, better than anyone else, or more qualified. If you truly believe that then it sounds to me like your education is about as useful as the idiot who judges his self-worth by his t-shirt made in a Guam sweat shop that says Hollister on it.
I've been to many conferences and workshops for my degree program and let me tell you, for my field of medicine Ohio University has some of the best faculty and best clinicians in the country. I could have went to OSU, North Carolina, Duke, or Ohio Northern. Where did I choose to go? Ohio University. Why? Because it is a quality university that doesn't have the bullshit attitude and hang ups that you so eloquently pointed out and flaunted in your article.

So their football team is good? Where were they 10 years ago? How much does their school pump into it's football program each year? I am glad we are university with a football team, and not a football team with a university. If you want to talk about how great the OSU football team is then perhaps you should talk about all the scandals, violations, and the % of athletes on the football team that actually do something with their lives after they get done playing with that little leather ball?

"I’d like to apply for a refund on my college tuition. OU is not getting a dime from me after I graduate, mainly because of unnecessary scheduling issues and poor decision-making (like cutting sports teams that actually won). And herein lies the problem. Angry or disgruntled alumni cause a cycle of being mediocre. And this is why OSU is better than OU. Proud students produce happy alumni who promote the university through word-of-mouth advertising and displaying university logos on everything from car windows to toothbrushes."

OU won't be getting a dime from you when you graduate because of those reasons? Perhaps you should go to graduate school at OSU and then you will see that shit that is going on at OU that you so bitterly object to occur at large state schools like OSU all the time.

If you want a degree from OSU so badly then hell transfer there. You can always do a masters degree in journalism if you so desperately need that little piece of paper with the Ohio State seal on it, or just perhaps you could really sit down and realize education is not about what the name says on your diploma, but more about what kind of a professional and what kind of person it makes you.

When I applied to schools I got into RIT, Missouri, Syracuse and Ohio University. I chose OU over all of those, despite RIT offering $20,000 a year in scholarships and Missouri pursuing my like I was LeBron James. Ohio won me over with it's beautiful campus tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the city I was so used to and the fact that it felt like a giant family atmosphere. OSU could never make me feel at home and as an out-of-stater, it sickens me to see how Ohioans degrade one of the best schools in their state for the bandwagon school. It feels like going to a baseball game between the O's and Red Sox and seeing fifty Yankees hats around me. It's not hard to get into OSU. My roommate freshman year had no problem transferring in after getting rejected when he applied as a senior in high school.

I believe I speak for the entire athletic base of OUR University when I say our school colors are Green and White, if you don't like it, get out.

Lenny,

I already said I know that their ACT score requirements are higher, but neither requirements are that high. OU places more emphasize on other things when considering applicants such as extracurricular activities. Let me say this one more time, NEITHER SCHOOL IS HARD TO GET INTO! If you didn't get into Ohio State I wish you'd leave anyway because when I'm an alumnus here I don't want to be in the same group as someone who is so arrogant about "their" school, a school they didn't even get into.

OU is a fine institution. I recieved a full scholarship to a different university, and turned it down to come here. I have a scholarship here too, but also have to take out loans and work to pay for living expenses, etc. My mommy and daddy aren't paying for my school. It is a big investment for me and I know my OU degree will pay dividends.

I am proud to be a BOBCAT and if you are not please leave sir.

GO BOBCATS!!

By the way, OU has more Nationally Competitive Award winners than OSU every single year, the Voinovich School for Leadership and Public affairs is a great experience for anyone interested in working in public policy, and the Honors Tutorial College is an amazing asset to the university which is based on a system used at Oxford and is the only honors college in the U.S. that is set up as such. Furthermore, OSU only recently increased their admissions standards. OU could do so as well, but that would hurt the chances of providing post-secondary education to the people of this region which is one of OU's most admirable missions.

I can't believe this, but again, I'm in total agreement with zxcvbnm32.

I too passed up scholarships that were much larger than the ones Ohio has given me to come here and pay out-of-state tuition and sit on nearly $80,000 in student loans when I graduate. All that so I can go to this school you call second-rate.

If only my idiot guidance counselor hadn't told me not to bother taking the ACT and that the SAT (the harder of the two tests) would be counted higher by most institutions, I could have gotten that full ride here.

I'm not even a Michigan fan, but fuck it, GO BLUE!

Damn, someone beat me to the Michigan joke. I too have joined forces with the Wolverines, out of my hatred for the Buckeye jack***es. Look, I probably could have gotten into Ohio State, but I applied to one school. One. OU wasn't my fallback, it was my school, before I even saw the campus, and I've never regretted my decision. And I'm not one of those "love it or leave it" ***hats, but if you wanna be a Buckeye so bad, and you're unhappy here, more power to you. But one day when you realize that OSU would be nothing without its precious football team, I have a few words for you: O-H, oh no.

Emily,
About 6 months ago I was in Dallas for work with a couple of my colleagues and I managed to receive a free upgrade to first-class on the plane ride back to Cincinnati. Why? Because I was wearing an Ohio University shirt in the airport and a worker at the ticket counter greeted me with a "Go Bobcats" and a free upgrade to first-class. But yeah, Buckeye fans are the only people who travel out of Ohio, or run into each other in passing. Excellent point.

The problem here isn't your love for the Buckeyes (which is annoying mind you) but it's the promotion of the Buckeyes at the expense of our own student athletes. I wonder after this article how awkward or embarrassing is it going to be if you sit down in class next quarter and happen to be sitting next to Landen Cohen and Jameson Hartke, though since they're not named James Laurinaitis or Brian Hartline I guess you probably wouldn't recognize them, but I digress.

This isn't pro-sports. You don't get to pick a favorite team based on who your dad roots for, or where you live, or who has the coolest uniforms, or some other random factor. You picked your team when you picked your university. You can't choose to embrace the superior education program, Court Street, the brick architecture, the beautiful campus, and toss back the sports teams. Doesn't work like that.

You say you're rooting for OSU because they're you're team? I say they stopped being your team when you started attending OU, and that your parents should put you outside with the dog during the OSU/OU game this year. Keep insisting that you're rooting for OSU. It's sad and it's dumb. You're an Ohio University student, and I'm guessing someday soon you'll be an Ohio University graduate. That's something you should be proud of, not something you should hide behind shrouds of OSU gear.

O-H? Go Bobcats.

xfactor,

its amazing how much we seem to agree lately. maybe if we could put aside our political differences we'd be good friends. In a perfect world huh?

What a bum!

Wow, there is worse buckeye hating on here than on espn.com or foxsports.com forums. First off Southeastern, ten years ago the buckeyes were winning the rose bowl over Arizona State in one of the greatest games of all time. I still remember Joe Germaine marching my beloved buckeyes down the field with minutes to go. But back to the issue, it is ludicrous to hate people for being Ohio State fans on this campus when it concerns football. The vast majority of college football fans did not become college football fans at the age of 18-22, they became college football fans in their youth. These fans hold a deep sense of tradition with the team they grew up on, and attending a MAC school for 4 years of their life is not going to change that love of the game. Put it this way, if you were a huge Browns fan, and lived in Cleveland your whole life, then you got transferred to Jacksonville, does that mean your football allegiance should automatically switch to the Jaguars? That kind of logic and reasoning is ridiculous, just like these threats of violence against Jim Tressel. Face it Bobcat nation, we have lots to be proud of at this university but football is never going to replace the way many of us Columbus born and bred feel about Buckeye Football. O-H!

Dear chrissperry,

You're an idiot.

Sincerely,

thexfactor19_ou

PS. Your analogy is stupid for the following reasons:

1. The Browns suck
2. The Browns suck
3. The Browns suck
4. College sports and pro sports are completely different in terms of fanhood. You aren't directly connected to a pro sports team, you simply choose to be a fan of a team, usually the one connected to the nearest city you grow up to. College and high school sports share an allegiance as you attend class with those who play for your alma mater. You should share the same sense of school pride. That's what this goes down to, not which team is better, school pride. You don't sell out your alma mater for another school simply because you grew up watching them. I worshipped Juan Dixon, Steve Blake, Steve Francis, Chris Wilcox and Gary Williams, but I proudly wore Green and White to the Comcast Center in December and watched my Bobcats defeat the Terrapins and loved every minute of it. I would have loved to go to Maryland, but they didn't offer my program so I never thought twice about applying. I found the greatest school in the country for what I want to do and wouldn't trade where I am for anything, even if from time to time administrative decisions piss me off.
4. The Browns suck
5. The Browns suck
6. The Browns suck
7. The Browns suck

P.P.S. I'm actually almost glad this article was written now, it's rekindled a flame in me that recent administrative actions had extinguished. While I want this University to get it's act together on certain things, I wouldn't trade Athens and OU for anything... accept maybe the money to pay off those student loans...

correction:

5. The Browns suck
6. The Browns suck
7. The Browns suck
8. The Browns suck

The best correction to a post I've ever had to type =)

And zxcvbnm32, I think you're right sir. I had many conservative friends in high school and loved the frequent debates... some of which got as heated as these wall posts. I even ran for club office on a bi-partisan ticket with the most Strom Thurmond-esc of Republicans I know, and won no less, my senior year.

Jeez, why didn't I get this many comments on my columns. Oh, right, because I was mostly interested in being funny, not pissing people off.
Personally, I say xfactor, zxcvbnm32, myself, and any and all Post website commenters should hang out some day, see a movie, go bowling. The campus may end up annihilated through the accumulation of so much liquid anger, but it could be fun.

Xfactor,
Name-calling seems very mature. I see you not only condemn people for their political views, ala any Herzog article, but you seem to condemn people for views team loyalty that differ from your own. By your own logic that you should only support your alma mater over, then it seems that anyone who didn't attend college should not have a college team, nor those who go to trade school or technical school. Also, everyone who lives in Athens who didn't go to OU are "idiots" for going to support Ohio University at games, and that anyone under 18 is wrongfully supporting a college football team. What about faculty members who didn't get a job at their alma mater? Does that mean they sold out their alma mater's during games if they wear Ohio University attire? Fact is, college sports teams don't only market to those who attend their school, if they did then it wouldn't be the national television sensation it is. Damn those jersey makers who make youth-size jerseys! It is ludicrous to argue that after 21 years of supporting my hometown, I should change it for a MAC football team from two hours away that I'm only attending because of a scholarship. Before I supposedly "sold out" my alma mater, you should realize I didn't buy them before my Buckeyes. I was watching Springs lightning speed, George bully through the middle, Glenn make acrobatic catches, and following Andy Katzemoyer struggling at passing golf well before I planned my college future. Columbus never had a pro-football team, and odd as it sounds, Ohio State has taken that role of central Ohio's pro-football team. If you think this is not a shared belief on this campus, explain why teachers shift around exams, students hurry through tests or skip them all-together? It is because it is the team we grew up on, the team we followed, and we are not going to change our hometown football loyalty for a MAC football team that doesn't have the two decades worth of life memories that our Buckeye football team does. When I look back at my time at OU, I will have lots of fond memories and will donate to my alma mater for educational funds, but zero of my fond memories will come from football, and I doubt any of those memories had they existed would equate to the wonderful atmosphere of those November games against the team up north, as I spend it every year in my Jim Tressel attire at Courtside, surrounded by my fellow bobcats in scarlet. I spend 7 months in Athens, 5 months in Columbus. Therefore, I have spent 19 years in my hometown, 2 years in Athens. I think my loyalty is fine as it is.
P.S. When does Pryor's jersey come out??

I find it particularly funny that a journalism student is writing this. OU's journalism school has been ranked consistently in the top five every year. I say, go to OSU and miss out on the amazing opportunity that you have in Scripps. Also, as an out of state student I must say that OSU does not have the academic reputation that some like to convince themselves of. I can say confidently that I would have gotten into OSU, but why would I apply if Ohio University had the best program in the ENTIRE COUNTRY (not just the state) for my major. I honestly think you should have thought of the high quality education you are receiving at this university and especially the education you are receiving at Scripps, who have professors that could teach anywhere else in the country (including that school in Columbus) but chose this one because they believe in the students here, even though you might not.

Emily, what's your point here? What's crux? I like Ohio State, too. I went to OU because the program was a better fit and I like the campus much better. They're two completely different schools offering vastly different experiences. If you attend one or the other, it stands to reason that you'd prefer the one you attend over the other. If you chose to attend the one you like less, is it necessary to point that out to everybody else, who, in the majority, chose to attend the school they prefer? Why didn't you make that choice? Is that our fault, or yours? You say you want people to take more pride in OU and you write a column like this? Are you attempting reverse psychology here? You wish you were a Buckeye...is that bad? No. If you wish for it so badly, you can transfer. Write a column for the Lantern. But should the rest of us wish we were a Buckeye as well? No. The rest of us can look at the Buckeyes and OU as we damn well please.

chrisperry,

No one wants you to change your hometown loyalty. I hate the buckeyes for many reasons other than just football, but if you like their football team then so be it. This column however, is despicable. Its one thing to be an OSU football fan, its another thing to do so at the expense of degrading your alma mater. It seems like you love OU and thats great, we agree on that. But when November comes and your watching the battle of Ohio, remember that love you have and for just that one game root for the underdog.

I would never ask anybody to stop being an OSU fan (although I would love it if that happened), but I don't think its too much to ask that when comparing OU and OSU as institutions have some bobcat pride!

And a side note, to anyone who wears OSU jerseys to Peden on gameday please just stay home and watch your OSU game we don't want you in our stadium! This has been one of my biggest pet peeves since I've been here.

Dear chrissperry,

The following is why you're an idiot:

1. You completely misread/didn't understand what I was saying. You can love your Buckeyes all you want, but when you root for them over your alma mater you should burn in Hell. It has nothing to do with if you're in high school or a professor or don't go to college or any of that. You can be a fan of The University of Alaska for all I care, but when you go to Ohio University and they're playing Alaska, you root for your alma mater for one day more than your "favorite."
2. Just because I go to OU doesn't mean I can't be a FAN of another team, but my loyalty should fall with my classmates over some guys I have no physical connection with any day. That is why any other day I root for my Terps, but when that December day rolled around, the Green and White trumped the Red and Black. You're supposed to bleed your school colors when you attend an institution of higher learning. Here we bleed Green and White, if you don't, then you don't belong here.
3. You don't understand what paragraphs are.
4. You obviously don't understand what it is to be a true fan at all, because as a true fan it's your civic duty to make sure everyone who is a fan of any team, other than yours, knows they are an idiot for doing so. That's a basic rule of fanhood.



Sincerely,

thexfactor19_ou



PS. Troy Smith now wears purple

zxcvbnm32,
Fully agree with most of what you say. The purpose of my comments were to provide rationale for the buckeye presence found every Saturday despite this not being tOSU. I can fully understand your dislike for tOSU jerseys in Peden, and can respect your views on rooting for OU in the game, though I see tOSU losing to OU as ammunition for tOSU haters everywhere, in the same manner as App. State was, so cannot see myself in that role.

X,
You're entitled to your views, I just think your flat out wrong in assuming those views to be all-encompassing for every sports fan. Since I plan on going to Law School at tOSU, does that mean I should root for OU this year, but next year when I'm at tOSU for Law School I should root for the buckeyes? And I do have plenty of "physical connections" at tOSU, seeing as to how most of my best friends back home go there, and I am on campus most weekends during breaks. Also, should my loyalty not also fall with the majority of my friends who share my sentiment of Ohio State football being the supreme pig-skin? I think so.
Also, I tend to despise fans like you. You give a bad rep to your team by going by the creed that you should be an ass to anyone who doesn't stand for your team. TRUE fans of the game recognize the intricacies of the game, and give appreciation where appreciation is due. I give kudos to the SEC for their continued dominance in BCS games, just as I consider Lloyd Carr to have been one of the classiest men to ever coach the game.
Keep your viewpoints on what the true meaning of fanhood is, as I have a friend playing golf at Penn State from Columbus who I argued the same thing with. Just don't be so quick to discount the vast number of jerseys on Court Street every Saturday who differ.

P.S. I know this, and he did pretty well starting at the end of the season. Holmes is doing pretty well for those Steelers too.

Looks like somebody is salty they didn't get into OSU...because if you really wish you were a buckeye, then why didn't you transfer?

xfactor,

Thanks so much for your intelligent opinion on the Browns. I know that this column is about OU and OSU, so I guess I'm getting off topic. But I can't read your comment without expressing my anger.

The fact you you think the Browns suck does not, in anyway, prove your point. It does not rebutt chrisperry's analogy. It's just mean spirited and unecessary. I was in partial agreement with you about the whole Bobcats vs Buckeyes debate, but now I think you might be exaclty the kind of sports fan I hate. Coming onto a forum and simply stating that a team sucks is just stupid, especially when the column has nothing to do with it.

The Browns are actually a formidable team now. Sure they're not the best. Sure, I'm not expecting them to win the AFC North this season. But they are certainly better than they have been in recent years. Not to mention, the Browns have an historical tradition of winning and playing good football. They've gone through a rough patch, like many teams do, but they certainly cannot be dismissed as a team that merely "sucks."

Fans of the Browns understand that its tradition and history and loyalty that make a true fan. There are many, many Buckeyes fans who feel the same way.

Of course, I'm not changing my mind. I'm a Bobcat first, myself, and I think all these Buckeye fans at OU should have some respect for their own school and root for their own team. But there's nothing wrong with them being passionate about the Buckeyes, too.

I can appreciate someone's "right" to split loyalty, but I think it is important to support your university. Having graduated from OU in 2000, I am proud to say that when OSU plays OU I will be wearing the PAW! Like a true alumnus, I support my alma mater.

I am saddened, sickened, and seething. If you are such an OSU Fan and wish you went there, then go. Thought: Do they have one of the top rated Journalism Schools in the country? Nope, don't think so.
If you want to root for OSU, go ahead, but don't make assumptions based upon your own choices that ALL students feel the same as you. I am a BOBCAT through and through. My husband and I still attend games every chance we get and we are season ticket holders for basketball.
We live in Columbus and are members of the Central Ohio Alumni Network...and guess what?! We are in the midst of planning an event in Columbus that will host a PEP Rally for the upcoming game. Who will be playing at one of the largest clubs in Columbus on Friday, September 5th? Not the band here...but THE MARCHING 110 - The Most Exciting Band in the Land.
Let me just say that everything that you wrote may have been an opinion - and all opinions deserve their time, but yours has made a LOT of Alums angry in Columbus. If you don't like where you went to school that is something YOU have control over, not the University. Leave if you dont' like it there. Go to Ohio State and see if you can truly enjoy your time there as much as you can in Athens.
In response to your comment about Apparel and the responses you get - apparantly you haven't been in Columbus lately - When I drive to work every day I regularly pass at least 10-15 cars sporting with PRIDE their Alumni stickers for OHIO UNIVERSITY. I don't see that many people with the same thing on their car for OSU - the only thing I see for that is their football team (and if you want to talk about other teams, maybe OSU could wake up and realize that they have more than football...). Would you rather support a school that gave you a degree/education or a football team that only gave you entertainment? In the real world I can tell you which one outweighs the other.
I digress because I am getting more angry.....please don't write anything like that again in OUr Post.

therockspectacle,

My comments about The Browns were in jest. I have respect for the franchise, without them I wouldn't have a football team. I do though, think most Browns fans are assholes through personal experiences with them, namely getting pelted with beer, loose change, batteries and hearing constant slurs thrown my way while trying to peacefully watch a game in Browns Stadium. I've met true fans of the game. When I traveled with my team in 2006 to Tennessee to watch them come back from a 20 point deficit to beat the Titans, the fans we were sitting next to, instead of acting like children congratulated us on the win and took us out for drinks after the game. That's classy. I've never met a classy Browns or Steelers fan, and until I do, I reserve my judgement.

As for chrissperry, he lacks an understanding of fanhood as I've had to draw a roadmap for him as to what loyalty is. I hope he gets into OSU's law school so he can get away from this school he feels is second rate.

jlback hit the nail on the head with, "Would you rather support a school that gave you a degree/education or a football team that only gave you entertainment? In the real world I can tell you which one outweighs the other." Because the education one can be afforded at OU greatly outweighs the "experience" of Ohio State.

Yeah Emily why don't you go to OSU for journalism huh?!?!? Oh wait...you're a marketing major.

Hmm even if she is a marketing major isn't that under the Copeland School of Business here at OU? Isn't the copeland program one of the most respected programs in not just the United States, but also in the world?

If not then it seems strange why so many international students tune in on distance learning programs to attend our school's business courses. Oh well.....

c'mon people, leave poor emily alone. most everyone born and raised in ohio that are now here at ou, knows osu buckeye football comes first. it's not a shot at ou; just a simple fact about the tradition of football in the state of ohio.

maybe if ou's athletics were consistently more competitive within the mac, they would garner more attention. regardless, they will always place second to buckeye football...and that's just how it goes.

i wish ou athletics the best and follow the teams throughout the season, get excited when they win, and feel dejected when they lose. i'm sure emily feels the same way. however, the facts are i've been a buckeyes fan my whole life, but a bobcats fan only since i first visited the school while choosing colleges.

i disagree with emily only on two points:

1. i love osu, but can't imagine having gone to school anywhere else other than ou. absolutely made me who i am today. the two colleges i applied to: osu and ou. got accepted into the engineering program at both schools, but chose ou due to the intimate "college town" feel. not one day have i regretted that decision.

2. i would never date a michigan fan! no wait - i did for a year. but she was crazy! regardless though, i would probably date someone like emily, partly due to her intense love of osu football. that is actually somewhat important to me - being buckeyes fans together. for sports fans, it's just part of the culture, history, and tradition in the state of ohio.

"Bobcats do not feel that sense of unconcealed, uncontrollable pride. After all, we all know that more students wear OSU gear to class than wear OU apparel."

Obvi, this chick has never met me. I am an alumni living in Cincinnati and all of my non-OU friends actually make fun of how obsessed I am with Ohio University. I can't help but smile everytime I see someone wearing an OU t-shirt. I have actually met guys at bars and had lengthy conversations about Athens because we both happen to be alums. When I was searching for an apartment, I thought it was a sign that the current tenant of a place I was interested in had an Ohio U. sticker on his car. I occasionally wear the one OSU shirt that I own, but it is nothing compared to the dozens of OU shirts that I frequently wear. One of my friends freshman year joked that I was a walking advertisement for OU because it seemed like I wore an OU shirt every day. When looking at colleges, I didn't even complete my application for OSU, because I knew that OU was where I wanted to be. I am and will always be a Bobcat.

{{Hmm even if she is a marketing major isn't that under the Copeland School of Business here at OU? Isn't the copeland program one of the most respected programs in not just the United States, but also in the world?

If not then it seems strange why so many international students tune in on distance learning programs to attend our school's business courses. Oh well.....}}

LOL! Our business school is mediocre....AT BEST! Yea right. Chicago...Harvard....Wharton....Stanford....OU. You are one completely delusional cat, but I dig your style man.

We have international students logging in for long distance learning. All that means is that we've conned some poor saps overseas into paying inflated prices to get an online degree from a 4th tier business school.

Great! We've become such desperate whores that we're working DeVry's and the U. of Phoenix's street corner.

buckcat08: that doesn't fly with people, like me, who hate football. A game should not take precedence over your own school. Period.

Lenny, go back to C-Bus.

Emily, why are you still here?

Have you ever seen OSU's campus? Pure trash, it is no where near as beautiful as OU.

I had no desire to go to OSU and often I am put off by the Buckeye lovers because they are huge cry babies. I deal with it, but this column is disgusting. While living in Florida last year, I took so much joy in seeing the Gators handle the Bucks in both football and basketball, but not as much as the Bucks getting beat again this year. :)

If you like OSU better, why not go there? Why write in our school paper how much you love OSU? To incite?

One thing not mentioned above is how far superior the OU band is to Ohio State's! Or how OSU refuses to schedule basketball games with us out of fear.

I'll end with this:

Ohio, The State University

http://www.collegesports-fans.com/articles/marching-bands-2007.html

HIO!

I couldn't agree more with that list... except maybe if OSU were ranked a bit lower and Southern a bit higher. I got to see Southern's band perform when I was in band in high school (I played the guitar, before any assumptions are made). If anyone were to rival the 110, I think they would stand a shot. They really do an incredible job of getting an intoxicating flow from their beat and music.

There is no doubt though that the 110 is the greatest band of all time.

So let's see, that leaves OU with the best band, one of the best field hockey teams, one of the best volleyball teams, one of the best club hockey teams, one of the best rugby teams, the best journalism school, the best sports management program, the best VisCom program, one of the best business schools and by far one of the best campuses in the nation....

OSU has consistently overrated football team and equally overrated basketball team... awesome...

So I'd like to note: According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch on Feb. 11, 2008 OU earned the most money from patents and licenSo I'd like to note: According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch on Feb. 11, 2008 OU earned the most money from patents and licensing fees out of any other school in Ohio. OU earned $3.2 million while spending less than $100 million on research. Ohio State spent $652 million on research and still only earned $1.3 million.

Maybe if you OSU fans went someplace else, we'd have earned double our figure. Screw the Buckeyes.

excuse my repetition above

I try not to hate OSU but people like the author of this trash make it so hard. I'll admit being an OU alum and fan living in the Columbus area has a lot to do with it too.
Here a large portion of the OSU fans I encounter, like you have no connection to the university other than perhaps their area code, and OSU's proximity to the nearest NFL team. Maybe it's the presumptuous, assuming attitude I have to put up with when strangers try to make small talk about the latest nuances of the coach's sweater vest that makes me loth OSU. It could also be the local media's over-coverage of OSU that pushes "main stream" news to the side all year long. I know it's hard for OSU to win graciously when you have the weakest schedule of Big 10, spend more money on athletic tape than OU does for its whole program, but this is the price a team pays to be so great to so many both those with and without ties to the university.

With that said, I will add that one of my greatest memories of being a Bobcat was when OU was ahead of OSU 3-0 for a short time when the football teams last met. There was an underdog buzz and energy on campus that felt so good for the few moments it lasted. I don't expect OU will do well this year when they play OSU again, but I will wear green to the horseshoe with pride and put up with comments from lots of people like you.

So go ahead and cheer for the Buckeyes, give them your unconnected, I love who everyone else loves loyalty, the Bobcats don't need or want fans like you.

Emily,

I've been stopped several times when I wear OU clothes. Once I was in Heathrow airport, and someone screamed "Go Bobcats". Another time, I was on Michigan Ave in Chicago and some guy screamed "OU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!".

...And no, I've never wished I were a Bobcat.

The state of Ohio has 194 fine institutions of higher education -- the fifth highest number in the country. I don't see why we can't be proud that we have both universities. It shows that Ohioans are smart and competitive and the state's founders showed an unparalleled level of commitment to collegiate learning.

That being said, as much as I love the spirit and size (and bank account) of Ohio State, some things (*ahem* their journalism school, if you can even call it that) were abysmally low in their expectations. My best friend desperately wanted me to transfer to share an apartment with her, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Furthermore, you can't really compare the school boasting the BIGGEST student body in the nation to a medium-sized school such as OU.

It has nothing to do with quality ... and everything to do with quantity. More money + more people = better chances.

Emily, my goodness I am all for team spirit, I in fact in from out of state and grew up in a Big 10 college town and route for my team every football Saturday... but never, ever would I think or even yet, write the things about OU like you did. Do you have NO LOYALTY to the institution that you are at? Sports are one thing, but you make it sound like OU has no reputation for it's academics and for that you are truly mistaken! You come off as a hypocrit and I can only believe that you are. A few years from now I am sure you will mature into a realistic adult and hopefully reflect back on this article with shame and disgust in yourself. Once you can truly value your school and the degree you have earned and put it to good use, maybe then you can write a retaction to this and admit how wrong you were. You really should be ashamed to walk around on this campus after what you wrote, and if you haven't done so already - you really should transfer with an attitude like this! We don't want you here any more than it sounds you want to be here.

Emily,

As a recent graduate of the Scripps School of Journalism, let me first congratulate you on writing a column that stimulates public debate. It is the goal of every opinion writer to have as much response as you have received. However, I think that you are doing yourself a disservice in writing a column that talks down to the school and the student body that you are a part of. You can’t honestly claim that you want the best for OU if you wish you were a member of a different student body. The fact is, you're not a Buckeye. You're a Bobcat, and as others have pointed out, the Bobcats are your team. The thing that saddens me is seeing that based solely on the presence of a football team, OSU is costing Ohio University much-needed student support and allegiance. You say that happy alumni provide a continuing cycle of support for a university. I agree. You say your column is supposed to incite a desire for change among current and former OU students. Well, I say that your opinion is fueling the fire of negative impressions that plague our university. You’re not encouraging positive change; you’re enhancing already detrimental negativity. You say Bobcats aren’t proud of their university? You’re in the minority, and it’s sad that you can’t see that. You say you won't give OU a dime when you graduate because you've faced scheduling issues and because OU cut winning sports teams. I say, that's shallow. What about the fact that your college degree is worth more in the state of Ohio than any other journalism degree, including a degree from Ohio State. What about the unbelievable network of former Bobcats out there in the journalism world waiting to make it possible for you to have a job when you graduate? You're so ready to abandon your university that I'm not sure you deserve a degree from this institution that you distain so much. It certainly seems like a waste to provide you with so many post-college connections--there are plenty of people who wish they could have them. Best of luck trying to get employers to take you seriously if you have nothing positive to tell them about your college and what it offered to you. I’ll tell you this: I can’t wait until I’m no longer a starving graduate student so that I can donate money to Ohio University. Go ahead and give yours to the Buckeyes. It’ll buy the rest of us peace of mind knowing you finally support the university that you were meant to go to.

I'm so proud of all you bobcats on here. Reading this, I was angry, then had great arguments for all those OSU fans on here, but you bobcats have taken care of it long before I got here.

I too could have chosen virtually any school I wanted after graduating high school, but OU was it! I am a proud graduate and now working on my masters. I know OU has given me opportunities I could not have gotten at OSU. I receive multiple job offers every day from companies hoping to hire a graduate from OU in Computer Science.

Since I came here, I have seen my Dad go from a devoted OSU fan to actually watching OU games instead of OSU when they are on at the same time. When family members give me an OSU shirt for Christmas, I quickly pack it back up with an OU shirt on top, and re-gift it to them. ;)

I have been attending OU games since 1997 and was lucky enough to see them play OSU in 1999 (when we were tied at half-time). I knew we wouldn't win because we didn't have the depth on the bench, but it was soooo satisfying to see us tied. The bobcats never cease to make me proud, and God willing, I will get to see them win against OSU this time!

Go Bobcats!

Well Emily, it appears it is like we haven't because 95% of us haven't... I think you should stick to writing about Professor McDreamy...

hahaha looks like not many people wish they were a buckeye Emily. I hope you have transfered by now, because I don't really know how welcome you are on OU's campus anymore.

At first glance I was going to tell you exactly where you could shove your prized Buckeye necklace, on further analysis I think you are of course entitled to your opinion however disappointed people may be in it.

Your view point is not unlike that of people I went to high school with who were always so smitten with the local private school girls and boys. They went on at length about how smart, funny, pretty/handsome our counterparts were and I could never figure out what the big deal was. I feel the exact same way about OSU.

OSU was my If-I-don't get-in-anywhere-I-REALLY-want-to-go-I'll-go-here-schools. I had my choice of any place I wanted to go and instead I picked OU. I didn't like OSU, I didn't want to be a part of a nameless faceless mass wherever I went. I wanted somewhat normal class sizes. I wanted the college to be the self absorbed center of the town it resided in. The last thing I wanted or CARED about was its athletics. (I say this even though I played sports while in college, and had many incredible friends who were fantastic athletes at OU) Last time I checked if I needed to see any type of game that deperately I had CABLE.

As far as OSU being transcedent amoungst people and states I don't really think it carries the weight you feel it does. In fact, outside of Ohio I've heard many not so nice things being said about OSU and its fans. Personally, I have found people in San Diego, Nashville, Savannah, Ann Arbor, and Philadelphia that are not only familiar with OU and will strike up a conversation based on it, but everyone that does has something funny or nice to say about the school. I'd be lying if I said that having OU on my resume hadn't opened a door or two with alums or friends of alums.

My question to you is after you graduate and interview what school will you talk about? Will you talk about the place that fostered your development and furthered your education? Or will you talk about the school you CHOSE not to go to? What impression do you think that will give your prospective employer?

emily,
so if OU is the school where people go when they can't get into OSU, I guess that means you didn't make the cut.

As a proud alumni of Ohio University (twice) and President of the largest Alumni Chapter outside the State of Ohio, I was saddened to read this opinion piece of drivel online today. As a representative of the alumni in the DC area, I am outraged that you would allow something like this column to be published.

Most of the alumni that I know are very proud of their University, especially the ones from your college. (See Mr. Lauer, and Leon Harris in this area for examples). When I run into an Ohio alum here in town, or anywhere that I go, they always greet me warmly and have very fond things to say about their time at Ohio. They are very proud of where they went to school. It is sad to see one of the things that we alumni brag about (Our very good school newspaper), publish something that demeans alumni and all the students that currently attend the school.

I demand that you issue an apology and a retraction for running this column!
I would also expect to see an apology from Ms. Smith to all of her fellow students and the alumni..

I certainly hope that you take the comments of your readers seriously and never publish something as demeaning as this again. Oh wait, that's right, you let Emily follow this up with a "Cougar" article. Has the Post run so short of real Journalism students that can write, that they have to turn to a marketing major for columns?

I worked for The Washington Center for Internships for 5 years and in that time I supervised a lot of bright students from the bCollege of Communications and found all of them to be very good writers. I can't say that I agree with this writer on any of her articles. Granted her columns are SUPPOSED to be humorous, they just aren't, especially not this one.

If a male staffer wrote an article about wanting to date a female professor, I doubt that the Post would run it. So, why run her "Professor Adorable" article.

While I am sometimes dissapointed in the way our alma mater is being run, and some of their decisions, I have never been ashamed of being a Bobcat, or of Ohio University.

Ms. Smith, while we disagree on this article, I do agree with you on one thing -- I hope you get your wish of going to Ohio State.

i have plenty of friends that transfered here from osu, because its in downtown columbus. I live in a suburb of columbus, and if any of you havent been there, its no place you want to walka round campus after hitting up the jimmy johns, or cold stone. I'm a freshman, obviously my parents dont really have a say in what I do here, and my mom knows I walk around campus during dark alone, but she wont let me at OSU. It's just unsafe. You are glorifying OSU big time. We have a beautiful campus. Have you ever heard of the Facebook groups:

oh you go to osu, that sucks i go to ou

os-who

etc?

you should transfer if you feel like it would be in your best interest to hear gunshots within close range of your campus at night, if you want the gigantic school without the awesome small town feel, and if you want to be a ugly buckeye instead of a sweet bobcat. :)

chrissperry-- how is life down under? :)

Such hostility over what school is better. How silly we all are. A school is a school. You get the education and training that you need and then move on.

Honestly people, there are more important topics we could get worked up about other than OSU v. OU.

I read this article several times and what is your point...okay so you like OSU. THEN go there. You contradict yourself on so many levels. You want "us" to be proud of OU...yet you're not proud of it? So that's you're fault. TRUST me, I got into OSU. I'm from out of state...and theres no way in HELL i would go there. I know what you're thinking, if you're assuming by "out of state" I'm from michigan...you're far from right. We have so much to be proud of OU for. We have an absolutely beautiful campus, one of the oldest college campuses in the entire country and its something to be proud of. Okay, so you were a raised a buckeye, awesome. I know so many people who are buckeye fans who also belong to those facebook groups you listed.However, that doesn't necessarily mean they care for OSU more than OU. There is nothing wrong with OSU. If you're going to graduate and put down OU then thats you're own problem and i just feel bad for you. I am so proud to go here. My parents live 800 miles away and every time i visit them i have DEFINATELY walked through a grocery store and have been commented on my Ohio University gear which i gladly sport...I will always be proud tosport my green and white

I am not one to comment on an article and waste my time but I couldn't help myself. Although this is orginally about Bobcat vs. Buckeye, I can't believe people are dumb enough to actually think OSU is a better school than OU in terms of academics. When I was a freshman back in 2002, the entrance standards for OSU were extremely low, in fact my academic advisor even made a comment about how a monkey could get into OSU. They were known for being the easy-to-get-into, fall back on school if you didn't get into your first choice. Since then, they've upped their standards in order to compete with schools like OU and to rid themselves of that "we're dumb-asses but at least we're good at football" stereotype. Get over yourselves OSU fans, the campus is one of the ugliest campuses I've ever seen and until recently, you were nothing better than a start-up community college.

Emily, obviously your article has created a small buzz - A+ for that effort. I am probably more impressed that it received the attention it did; however, journalism has sunk to an all time low across the board and your poorly written article properly supports that fact. Unfortunately we sensationalize garbage like what you've written and tend not to publish the stories or thoughts from the hundreds of thousands of alumni that make any learn institution great.

Sports do not make a college great, people make them great. Your comments are speculative, immature and for me comical. My recommendation on your next article is to provide some fact-based, supporting data to help lend credibility on your story. Ultimately as you grow older and actually have real experiences to base discussion points from, you will be very embarrassed about what you wrote….and for that you receive an F on your effort.

One last point, be “man” enough to take the feedback and criticism. If you are big enough to articulate foolish comments, then be prepared for what follows. Experience is the best teacher – welcome to the real world.

-Brian

Emily, I agree with you. Ignore the other commets. Obvi some people don't know what an 'opinion' is. Keep up the great work. GO BUCKEYES! "O-H!"

I have read quite a few stupid articles in my time ... this has got to be one of the worse emily. I am alumni of OU. I have quite a few polos that i wear proudly, regular shirts i still have from college and NO OSU shirts. And heck I even LIVE in columbus. I grew up in columbus and could care less about the buckeyes.

Everything I'd want to say about you has already been articulated already. I would say I'd like to see you in person to give you a piece of my mind, but it would be a waste of time for someone undeserving a bobcats time.

Please .... unenroll and go back to Columbus State .... at least then you could be "close" to your buckeyes.