This past weekend I spent a bit of time behind enemy lines. It's actually not that uncommon for @mrsbozz and I to do this since her sister's family lives down there. We typically try to visit Ohio at least once a month or so to see them. The holiday's are the exception of course since they usually come back home to Michigan for that.
However, this weekend was a bit different as I found myself walking into the belly of the beast so to speak. As you can see from the opening photo, on Friday night I found myself in the Schottenstein Center to watch the Michigan State Spartans face off against the Ohio State Buckeyes in a college basketball game.
This actually wasn't my first time in "The Schott", I've been here several times for basketball games and concerts, but this was the first time in a few years that I have visited. My nieces got their dad tickets to the game for Christmas, but they didn't realize @mrsbozz and I were going to be in town that weekend as well.
After a quick search, they found a ticket for me in the next section over, so I gladly purchased it so I could attend the game with them.
Here you can see them sitting in the next section over. Eventually, I was able to move over to that same section and sit with them. Since the students were still on Winter break, and according to my brother in law, "nobody in Ohio cares about basketball until football season is over", the place was pretty dead. More people than he expected to be there, but still pretty dead.
There was a smattering of green and white throughout the arena, but the largest contingent was found behind the visiting bench. Apparently, there are quite a few Michigan State fans spread across the greater Columbus area, thanks in part to Scott's Lawn Company being headquartered there. Many people get their forestry or farming degree from MSU, then move to Columbus for a career after university.
Neither my brother in law nor my sister in law work for Scotts, but it's just coincidence that they found themselves living in the greater Columbus area.
There's no love lost between Michigan State and Ohio State, but I feel like they can tolerate each other a bit better than Ohio State and Michigan fans. We were surrounded by scarlet and grey, but they pretty much left us alone and let us cheer away. In fact, there was a season ticket holder right next to us and although he was loud, he was also very respectful. Many times people aren't like that when you are "behind enemy lines".
They had some trouble with the scoreboard early in the game, but they quickly got it sorted out.
Michigan State raced out to a quick lead that they held most of the game. There was a point in the second half that Ohio State started to come back and they even took the lead for a brief period of time. Eventually though, MSU came out on top 69 to 62 I think the final score was.
One of the things my nieces and I were most excited about was seeing player Coen Carr lay down one of his monster dunks that he is known for. We did get to see one of those, but it wasn't as spectacular as some of the alley-oops he has had throughout the season so far.
Sadly, I wasn't able to get a shot of it because you never really know when one is going to happen. I would have had to record the whole game, then go back and take a screenshot to have actually gotten it.
In the lower left corner of the photo above, you can see a lady in red and white standing on the corner of the court. She was an usher/security person and she would dance around every time there was a break in the action. It was quite funny because while all the other people in her position were standing stock still with their hands behind their backs, she was clapping and dancing around.
Within the last five minutes of the game it became kind of obvious that Michigan State was going to win and you could start to see fans head up the aisles towards the exit. As we were leaving I heard one guy say something to the effect of "let's play football now and see what happens...". Sure buddy, your football team is definitely good, but you are at a basketball game. It's just interesting the things people say to make themselves feel better when their team takes a loss like this.
As far as I know, this is the only time that Michigan State and Ohio State face off in the regular season this year. With four new teams entering the Big 10, it has thrown schedules into a bit of chaos compared to previous years.
It was a great night with a Sparty win and I thanked my nieces for letting me tag along with them on their father's Christmas present.
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