"I noted you liked football in your profile; my dad just gave me Fiesta Bowl tickets. Would you like to go with me?"
I was new to online dating, and admit "Al" wasn't necessarily my type. Not that I knew my type back then, but I was pretty certain he wasn't it....for one thing, I adored college football. He did not.
"I'm not a sports fan, but it seems wasteful not to use them. I could meet you there?"
After careful consideration and a round of vetting that included an online background check, I agreed to meet him in the parking lot of Cardinal's Stadium. He paid for my separate parking, and took me to brunch at the Renaissance hotel before the early noon game. Albert (as he preferred to be called) was a little awkward, but nice enough; he had no interest in football at all and thus had worn a short-sleeves button down shirt. Me? I was in Maize & Blue.
Like hell I was rooting for either team, both sworn enemies of my beloved Wolverines....
So on January 1st 2016, I was at the Fiesta Bowl. My team wasn't there.
Also in attendance?
This guy, aka the Buckeye. His team was there. I'm in his picture--see that blue speck next to a white speck under the big screen? That's me!!
My date with Albert? He was a nice guy. He took several selfies of us to send to his dad "proving he used the tickets."
My selfie:) Can't tell half my head is shaved, can you?
In retrospect, I should have worn a louder and prouder Michigan shirt. This one isn't team official, and I think many Buckeyes in attendance thought it repped for the Irish. I did meet two other girls in Maize & Blue; we squeaked and hugged like long lost sisters. I had cotton candy, and overall, a great first BCS bowl attendance.
Except the Buckeyes won. And Albert lost.
While we both said how nice it was and we'd love to see each other again, neither one of us texted each other again. I had been mere company in him making his dad happy, and since I had enjoyed a pretty expensive date, I wasn't complaining. It was a great start to 2016....and a week later while online I swiped right on this picture:
I chuckle now, realizing how long ago this was taken...
When I dropped him a message, to what did I refer? His Fiesta Bowl picture in his profile, and my attendance at the same. We chatted, and I recall a phone conversation.
He does not.
The result of said conversation? I lived too far away to interest him. As we each faded from each other's thoughts, there was no hurt, only disinterest. So why then, did he make it through countless rounds of me deleting guys I'd met online but never met in person?
Because he was "another dang Buckeye."
Being born in Michigan, I have a natural inclination towards hating the entire state of Ohio, irrational though it may seem. It started righteously enough, as trips to the Buckeye State meant long car rides for grocery shopping. Worse yet, trips to Florida to see grandparents always began and ended with five hours of fields of dead tan broken cornstalks...and we girls hated that drive. So naturally, it was the entire state we hated. I knew it was a common feeling, as I'd see occasional shirts and bumper stickers with the same sentiment.
I was 12 the first time I noticed a bumper sticker with this saying, and recalled thinking how progressive that family was.
I wasn't a football fan as a child. Nope, that wouldn't come until I met the Knight, and he introduced me to college football in the most magnificent way: The Big House. It was easy to become a Michigan fan under his tutelage; after his death I decided to maintain the tradition so that the Commander could have that in common with her biological father.
It quickly became a family tradition, with the exception of the King. He didn't care for football.
So "another dang buckeye?"
He was second, to Flyboy. Flyboy who quickly had become a dear friend after we met, knowing that was all there was ever to be between us, just friendship. Part of that friendship was our rivalry, one neither of us had truly indulged in after moving away from our home states.
He'd send this.
I'd send back this.
Which is nothing compared to football season....
So crass...
So classy:)
Don't even get me started about nose picking...
My coach would never...😂😎
So Flyboy is the original Buckeye, and very much my BFF.
He wouldn't pose as I had on a Wolverine tee, but he did get me to jump out of a plane.
It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine!
Flyboy and I agree that our friendship is sweeter due to the rivalry, and last fall football was more fun than it had been in years due to the smack we'd talk. So the reason my Buckeye made it through numerous deletions on my phone?
I wanted to be able to poke the bear😎
You see, Buckeyes in general sooooo hate the Wolverines they're just plain nasty about it. They are mean, crass and just tasteless fans who are just awful people in general.
Yes, I know I'm in love with one, and another is my BFF. Hush.
I kept "another dang buckeye" around just in case we won in November...that fabled last Saturday of the month when the two teams meet. If we won, I would have to jab it in his side.
'Cause we wolverines are good at doing that:). Why else would I attend a Fiesta Bowl Ohio State was playing in in Michigan gear if not to simply upset a few (or a dozen or more) Buckeyes??
Like I said, it's great to be a Michigan Wolverine:)
Soooooo....this November?
Yeah.
Well.
Cheating was involved, there's an asterisk and refs were fired. Anywise...!!!
So I had this bet with Flyboy. We knew the winner of said contest would likely end up in Phoenix at the Fiesta Bowl. We decided to go together, and the loser had to wear the winning teams' shirt.
December 31st 2016, at another Fiesta Bowl. See?! It's a shirt about nuts....under my Michigan jacket!!! That's Flyboy looking sooooo seriously away from the camera. Something about my jacket.
Since I lost the bet and had to attend a game I had no real interest in for the second time in the same year, I decided to spice it up.
I wonder if another dang buckeye was still single?
So I sent him a text. "Hey Buckeye...."
That same Buckeye just spoiled me with his mother's coffee cake this morning...
He jokes that someday we'll need the "House Divided" paraphernalia; in the meantime I'm surrounded by way too much National Championship stuff.
As I write this...this is literally across from me. Sigh!
People ask how we met...and we both forget we technically met online. We met because of the great rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State, and because this Wolverine wanted to tease a Buckeye. We fell in love because of our shared faith, Midwestern roots and strong love of America.
Few people know that the Knight, the Wolverine who brought me into the fold, graduated from the Ohio State University, and was born and raised in Ohio. I find it funny I would end up with a true Buckeye, when I can honestly say the first love of my life was technically one as well.
2016 began and ended with Fiesta Bowls and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Hoping my love life begins and ends with Buckeyes as well.
*to those who have just read my guide to online dating, I included The Buckeye to my late December "Crop" I had harvested off Bumble:) I started the New Year with five in the crop, and vowed I'd not Bumble until that crop was done with....well, the Buckeye is still standing!
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