I Wonder How I’ll Feel About Oklahoma Fans

Two years ago December the stage was set for the BCS Title Game in Glendale. We knew our opponent was Ohio State, but – at least personally – I didn’t know anything about the Buckeye fan base.

To my imagination they were probably good solid Midwestern folks – the kind I knew when I was growing up. After all I was born in Cincinnati and lived in Chicago before moving south. I imagined they were likely the type of fans that were passionate about their team, but when it was said and done they gave you a “good game” and a handshake. After all, I had rooted vigorously for Ohio State to beat Miami in 2002 figuring them to be the better of the fan groups.

Boy was I wrong.

There were early warning signs, like a Michigan fan I worked with who told me, “You don’t have any idea what these people are like”. I scoffed at him – after all as an SEC fan I had endured the likes of Georgia arrogance, Tennessee nastiness and general LSU drunkenness. They couldn’t be that bad.

Then there was the Ohio State basketball team’s visit to Gainesville in December after the BCS Title game was set. I blogged about it then but I can still barely believe how these folks acted in our town.

Now don’t get me wrong – Florida fans aren’t free from the arrogance taint. But holy crap, I would never go to Columbus and act like I say Buckeye fans doing in Gainesville.

Glendale was all that I feared from Ohio State fans and more. They were simply the most obnoxious group of fans I had ever encountered. Part of their attitude was in no doubt due to their surety that they would win (I remember thinking, pregame, that they probably would too). The stories of bad fan behavior were too many to recite, and were far beyond anything I had ever seen in the SEC (and I have been to every SEC stadium). One Ohio State fan even walked up to my 5 foot tall wife when I was in the restroom pregame and told her to “F herself”. And it wasn’t just the case of a few bad apples – it was universal. The Ohio State fan and her husband who sat next to me put her finger in my face and cursed when Ted Ginn scored on the opening kickoff. The image of foul mouthed, swaggering Buckeye fans is still indelibly imprinted in my mind (and that was only the women). Even though we beat them soundly, the unbelievably poor behavior their fans displayed has pretty much made me dislike Ohio State ever since.

What does this have to do with my post title? Well, my current feelings about Oklahoma fans are completely neutral, if not slightly positive, due to the presence of our former defensive coordinator as their head coach. And while I can’t speak for all Gator fans, I plan on approaching them very civilly.

It’s going to be interesting.