Thursday, September 16, 2010

Buckeye Connections

Oh how I love being a member of The Ohio State University Alumni Association--I paid $20 a month for five years for the privilege, but now I get AT LEAST a chance to buy tickets every year, as well as discounted continuing education classes and other special programs. One of my favorites over the past few years has been Girl's Night Out / Football 101. I'd been to two of these before--saw Kirk Herbstreit & be-still-my-heart Eddie George--but skipped it last year. I didn't get the notification for this year's event, but I happened to be on the OSUAA Web site last week & notice this year's event was scheduled for last night. Luckily I was able to get tickets, so Abby & I went to meet Craig Krenzel, Ryan Miller, and Archie Griffin.

Abby & I arrived early to make sure we got good seats (and we definitely did--front row!). The evening's speakers arrived early, too, so we were nearly first in line to get autographs & photos with Craig, Ryan, and Archie. I can't say enough nice stuff about these guys--they were just so friendly and willing to be goofy with us. We talked to Craig about how we're cousins with his wife's cousins, but we've only ever seen him at funerals, so it felt awkward to introduce ourselves. He assured us that if we met any other family functions in the future, we should certainly say hi.

Ryan was just as nice; he was quite excited that my little guy would be named Nolan--just like his 13-month-old little boy! He also said he & his wife work with a charity that does books, and so he asked for my address so he could send some books to Aiden and Nolan. I've never had an OSU football player ask for my address before, so that was pretty cool. :)

While we were waiting for the actual program to begin, Archie Griffin came and sat in front of us. We'd already spoken to him and gotten photos & autographs in the lobby, but I dared Abby to ask him a question. She finally got the courage (once I offered her $5), and so she tapped him on the shoulder and asked him what he thought of Reggie Bush giving back his Heisman, as well as who he thought was in the lead for this year's Heisman race. And so there we sat, talking football with the ONLY two-time Heisman winner. I was in Buckeye heaven, and I can't wait to see who they book for next year's event!

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