Buckeye blast

I don't really follow sports. Heck, I haven't watched a football game since I graduated from college. But after some ribbing by my co-workers at the bank last fall, I gave in and bought an OSU polo shirt to wear before big games. Every Friday, most of the employees sport their Scarlet and Grey in support of the Buckeyes, and during Michigan week participation is almost de rigeur. Heck, we even have a token Michigan fan to antagonize us. I don't really get into the games, but I do enjoy the energy that they create among my co-workers, so I play along so as not to be left out.

Now, I'm sure most of you out there noticed that Ohio State is playing for the NCAA men's basketball championship tonight. I don't follow college basketball any more than I do football, although I do fill out some March Madness brackets for fun, flipping a coin to pick the winners. So, anticipating the same Scarlet and Grey barrage at work, I dug my OSU polo out of the mothballs. But even though OSU was playing for the national championship- against the college the beat them in the football title game, no less- I and my scarlet-sportin' ways were in the minority. The energy that greeted every football game wasn't there.

Why is this? Why do my co-workers get less emotionally involved with the biggest, most important OSU basketball game in years than they do with your average football game? Why won't they break out the colors for this game even though they'll happily do so when Tressel's boys take on Podunk State? I'm not saying that my co-workers are a good representation of the mood in Columbus, but I'm pretty puzzled by this realization. When the football team lost the national championship, going to work was like attending a wake. If the same happened to the basketball team, will anyone care all that much?