Behind Enemy Lines—What It's Like To Be a Buckeye Fan Living In SEC Country

By Brad Washington —BlockONation.com Special Contributor

Ever since November 22, 1997, I’ve been hooked on Ohio State Football.

Every Ohio State fan and every Michigan fan should always remember that day.

For Michigan fans, Charles Woodson sealed the Heisman Trophy. For Ohio State, it was a blown chance to go to the Rose Bowl and even possibly compete for the national title.

For me, it was the beginning of a lifelong fandom and dedication to Ohio State football.

Unfortunately, I live in Columbia, South Carolina—The home of the South Carolina Gamecocks. There wasn’t much room for me to express my love for my favorite team at first, but I made room anyway.

The life of being a Buckeye fan in SEC country is, well, rough.

In elementary school, I let my fandom be known, and was called a traitor, idiot and all sorts of names routinely for not succumbing to liking the USC Gamecocks.

They didn’t understand that beating Michigan was more important than their rivalry with Clemson.

And without a doubt, it was.

As Jim Tressel came and succeeded in winning Big Ten titles as well as a national title, I was always the target of jokes whenever we had an embarrassing loss or whatever the case was.

Because I live in South Carolina, everyone expects that if you aren’t a USC or Clemson fan, you must like another team in in the SEC.

For me, how I saw an SEC fan: An SEC fan wouldn’t let you live down that infamous bowl record. And I mean that literally.

I could recall in high school not wanting to go to school the day after both national championship games,because I knew I would be brutally teased by the Florida and LSU fans respectively.

Any Ohio State football fan can tell you that those two years were the hardest. Being reminded that your team can’t compete with the speed of the SEC stings a bit.

I knew better. I knew Jim Tressel wasn’t being aggressive enough. I knew he came in thinking Tresselball would be successful. But to them that never mattered.

In the midst of that, I had to deal with USC fans who didn’t know their place.

I can’t remember a time when a USC fan didn’t bring up how Ohio State lost to the Gamecocks twice in the Outback bowl.

Yes, the two games held in the 2000 and 2001 bowl seasons.

All of that ended whenever I would ask how many conference/national titles they won though.

Although it was a burden, I never backed down from my pride in Ohio State.

If Ohio State was the brunt of jokes in America after those national title losses, the state of South Carolina convinced me it was the chairman of the board, assisting the charge.

Everyone else lead behind Florida and continued to add insult to injury to every Buckeye fan imaginable. Including me, of course.

But, that wouldn't last forever. The greatest, most recent great memory I have is our win versus Arkansas in the 2011 Sugar Bowl.



When I heard that Ohio State was to battle Arkansas that January, the jokes and SEC criticism started coming back slowly but surely.

Had I lived in Columbus or anywhere in Ohio, I would have been able to celebrate with fellow Buckeye fans and join in their optimism and hopefulness. We would have all believed that this game would finally end the streak against the SEC.

But I wasn’t, I was in South Carolina being reminded that my Ohio State Buckeyes couldn’t compete with Arkansas because we’re too slow.

I knew we had the potential to win, but wasn’t allowed to believe it.

But when Ohio State did actually beat Arkansas, I had a tear come down. Finally, there was no more "too slow" or "not good enough to compete" talk. It was finally over and so were the jokes.

Being an Ohio State Buckeye fan in Columbia South Carolina is like being the black sheep of a family. After the win over Arkansas, the SEC jokes died down, but USC didn’t forget to tell me about their success the past two seasons.

I more than likely will be a Buckeye fan for life. The love is that strong. But growing up a Buckeye in South Carolina, more specifically SEC country isn’t an easy thing to do.

Buckeye fans from Ohio to California go through the same thing, except for me, it's worse than for most. I’m in the heart of the criticism, and it's not always an easy thing to swallow.

I'll still be here in South Carolina for the time being, representing Ohio State football on Saturdays, during every off season, and come bowl time (after this season).

It doesn’t matter where I am. My allegiance to Ohio State will remain. Yes, even here in SEC country.

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@BlockONation


Brad @theGURO15

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Arkansas Talking Trash About Ohio State and (Shocker) Piggybacking the SEC

Hey guys, HD here. Before you read the following article, I wanted to preface it and reveal its' origin.

It was penned by one Brad Wilkerson and recently appeared on a SEC blog known as Saturday Down South.

Whenever fans of a program (Arkansas) that has never beaten a Big Ten team in a bowl game or really ever had any national significance trash-talks a program like Ohio State, it is just too priceless not to share here on BlockONation.

And certainly no other grouping of college football fans in the nation can piggyback the accomplishments of the legit teams in their conference like those KINGS OF PIGGYBACKING SEC fans...

Please forward a link to this article to every Buckeye fan you know!

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Razorbacks Criticize Buckeyes



It’s THE school that has never beaten an SEC team in a bowl game. It’s THE Alma Mater of such great Americans as Maurice Clarett. It’s THE State University of THE state known for its flaming rivers, the rust belt and Lebron James fleeing like the place was on fire… It’s THE Ohio State University. But what do we really know about Ohio State? This is the first in a series designed to introduce SEC fans to the team that will take on the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.


Part One: Q & A

Q: Hasn’t Ohio State been in the news recently?

A: Yes they have. You might recognize University President E. Gordon Gee as that goofy guy in the bow tie that appointed his self as spokesperson for all BCS schools when he blasted TCU and Boise State for playing the “Sisters of the poor.” Mr. Gee went on to refer to Ohio States Schedule as a “Murderer’s Row” which should strike the SEC fan as interesting considering that THE Ohio State University defeated exactly zero teams ranked in the final regular season BCS top 25, compared to the four that Arkansas defeated.


Q: Who is that nice looking man in the sweater vest?

A: That man is Ohio State Head Coach Jim Tressel but don’t let his looks fool you. Tressel has been at the center of several pay-for-play scandals involving such high profile recruits as Troy Smith and Maurice Clarett.


Q: Maurice Clarett… What ever happened to that guy?

A: You mean inmate #37224? Well, after dominating college football as a true freshman, Mr. Clarett fell on hard times that included several arrests, a dismissal from the team and a failed NFL career (this probably had something to do with allegedly drinking Grey Goose Vodka before practice, or “Getting my Goose on” as he was fond of saying) . It all seemed to hit rock bottom when Clarett was arrested in 2006 after a high speed chase with police. A Kevlar-clad Clarett was arrested with several assault rifles, a samurai sword and, of course, a bottle of his precious “Goose” after he drove over a spike strip laid out by police.



Q: What are their fans like?

A: The Ohio State fan base is comprised mostly of people known as F.I.F.O.’s. F.I.F.O. is an acronym (word made up of the first letter of other words, for the Ohio State fans reading this) used to describe any resident of the Buckeye State. I’ll let you figure out what the first “F” stands for but the rest is “Idiot from Ohio”. Ohio State fans are some of the most nostalgic in college football. If you didn’t know any better you would think that Archie Griffin still played for Ohio State based on the way fans incessantly talk about his Heisman Trophy winning days of the mid 1970’s.


Q: Surely they can’t be that bad…

A: Think of the most obnoxious, D-cell battery throwing, LSU fan you have ever encountered…Now, give him a northern accent, take away any class he might have had along with all common sense and shorten his vocabulary to pretty much just the F-word, and you have a F.I.F.O. Beware of these people. Your southern hospitality might make you feel so inclined as to welcome these visitors to the South but I would advise against it. Any communication with an Ohio State fan will more than likely just result in a bottle of Jagermeister or Ed Hardy Vodka being poured on your head.


Q: How do I spot an Ohio State fan?

A: They will be wearing a jersey. It’s not known exactly why, but Ohio State fans LOVE wearing jerseys. This may seem odd to anyone from the South where we tend to leave the jersey wearing to the players on the field but it is a way of life for them. You might catch some Buckeye fans in a T-shirt but you can rest assured you will never see one wearing a collared shirt.


Q: Do they have any unique school cheers?

A: They spell the name of the state they live in, seriously. Yep, O-H-I-O is as creative as it gets for the Buckeyes. Don’t be surprised if you see a few F.I.F.O.’s ducking for cover the first time Razorback Nation stands up and calls the Hogs as they will have no idea what is going on due to their limited mental capacities.


Q: What does an Ohio State fan do after the game?

A: Riot. Win, lose or draw the Buckeyes love a good riot. Need proof? Just ask former University President Karen Holbrook who, in a job interview, was quoted as saying of the student body “When you win a game, you riot. When you lose a game, you riot. When spring comes, you riot. African-American Heritage Festival weekend, you riot”. She went on to say “They think it’s fun to flip cars, to really have absolute drunken orgies.” Certainly looks like a great way to celebrate a win…



The article abruptly ends there without any closure or mention of an actual Part 2 that might be in the works, but we'll keep an eye out for any future garbage from Brad and SDS. We can always use, and share, a few more good laughs.


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BlockONation's Response to the Typical SEC Fan's Superiority Complex

In the wake of conference realignment, Johnathan Fravel, a featured columnist for Alabama football over at BleacherReport.com recently posted an article entitled SEC Conference Realignment: No Talk Of Expansion When You Have a Dynasty claiming that the SEC isn't looking to, not does it need to, consider expansion because they have a dynasty in college football that I guess he, like most SEC fans, believes is never going to end.

The only things that SEC fans have a Dynasty on is sporting mullets, making and drinking moonshine, watching "Trashcar", believing that wrestling is real, making love to their cousins, and wearing jorts.

Here is my reply to his article, and his, and every SEC fan's, wake up call, compliments of BlockONation.

Actually, the SEC is trying to expand as well, and whether they do or not, anyone with half a brain knows this is cyclical and the SEC's reign at the top is nearing an end, especially with conference realignment.

The Big Ten, Mountain West, and the Pac-10 will all be more competitive than the SEC, possibly as soon as 2010.

Sorry but you don't have the rest of us fooled SEC fans -- It's not really hard for Bama or Florida to go undefeated through the regular season when they are the only good teams in that vastly overrated conference.

Then Bama BARELY beat Texas w/o Colt McCoy, but instead with a freshmen QB in Garret Gilbert, so let's not act like they were great....They were the best team from an overrated, overhyped conference, who was fortunate to face Texas without McCoy for the BCS title, period.

Whether you agree or not, the SEC conference was not very good last year "top to bottom" and that has been SEC fans claim to fame so to speak, but it is clearly just not true!.

Bama and Florida were good, but then LSU was the next best team and they were very very average, as was the rest of the entire conference.

Ole Miss flopped after being hyped up last year heading into the season, and Georgia who was No. 1 in the 2008 preseason poll was pretty horrible in 2009 too...

So as you see, they might have a good team or two, but the SEC as a whole is on the way down FAST!


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My New, Improved Top 25 Running Backs For 2010: Well, According To SEC Logic Anyway...

Please SEC fans, I implore you—please forgive my transgressions against the elite, unmatched running backs from your sacred, mighty, and impeccable conference.

I have seen the light!

I have been baptized in SEC holy water, and I now repent my sins (my previous top 10 running backs for 2010 article linked above) as I present to you my new and improved, and SEC approved, top 25 running backs in the nation ranking—which by the way, also inadvertently doubles as the Top 25 Heisman Contenders for 2010, of course...


25—David Oku—Tennessee (94 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns in 2009)

24—Rodney Scott—Ole Miss (138 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns in 2009)

23—Stevan Ridley—LSU (180 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns in 2009)

22—Robert Elliott—Mississippi State (221 rushing yards, 1 touchdown in 2009)

21—Mario Fannin—Auburn (285 rushing yards, 0 touchdowns in 2009)

20—Christian Ducre—Mississippi State (263 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns in 2009)

19—Dennis Johnson—Arkansas (342 rushing yards, 0 touchdowns in 2009)

18—Roy Upchurch—Alabama (299 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns in 2009)

17—Brian Maddox—South Carolina (307 rushing yards, 6 touchdowns in 2009)

16—Bryce Brown—Tennessee (460 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns in 2009)

15—Randall Cobb—Kentucky (447 rushing yards, 4 touchdowns in 2009)

14—Kenny Miles—South Carolina (626 rushing yards, 1 touchdown in 2009)

13—Zac Stacy—Vanderbilt (478 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns in 2009)

12—Charles Scott—LSU (542 rushing yards, 4 touchdowns in 2009)

11—Ontario McCalebb—Auburn (565 rushing yards, 4 touchdowns in 2009)

10—Chris Rainey—Florida (575 rushing yards, 5 touchdowns in 2009)

9—Caleb King—Georgia (594 rushing yards, 7 touchdowns in 2009)

8—Broderick Green—Arkansas (442 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns in 2009)

7—Brandon Bolden—Ole Miss (614 rushing yards, 4 touchdowns in 2009)

6—Washaun Ealey—Georgia (717 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns in 2009)

5—Warren Norman—Vanderbilt (783 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns in 2009)

4—Jeffrey Demps—Florida (745 rushing yards, 7 touchdowns in 2009)

3—Derrick Locke—Kentucky (907 rushing yards, 6 touchdowns in 2009)

2—Trent Richardson—Alabama (751 rushing yards, 8 touchdowns in 2009)

1—Mark Ingram—Alabama (1658 rushing yards, 17 touchdowns in 2009)


That's it, that's the SEC friendly, and real (wink) top 25 tailbacks in the nation for 2010.

By the way, can I interest you in the tropical island in the middle of Lake Erie that I own?

Hopefully if you're a fan of an SEC team and someone read this to you since you dropped out of school in Kindergarten, you were able to detect and identify the satire and sarcasm located within the article above, as it was chock full of each!

Yours sincerely,
HD


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