O-H-I-O

AP/Michael King

Ohio 16
Pitt 10

I was only 10 when I witnessed the greatest sporting event ever - the US ice hockey victory over the Soviets at the Lake Placid Olympic Games in 1980. I watched it taped delayed on TV. I don't remember if I cried. But on friday night, I was curled up in a fetal position and blubbering like a baby when Dion Byrum ran back an interception 85 yards, just seconds into OT, and my fellow Bobcats stormed the field at Peden Stadium, dissolving into a sea of green. I cried not because of me, or some dumb game, but I cried for my dead mom (an OU alum for the 1950s), for all my classmates and friends who died prematurely in car accidents or from some rare cancer, and for all of us who now realize that our little secret school in the hills has changed forever. This is a big deal. It was likely the greatest victory in Ohio University football history, and opens a new chapter - no longer are the football games an opening (and closing) act for a marching band concert. I understand its a little early to make my reservations for the Fiesta Bowl, but OU has gone from the worst Division 1A football program to a legimate threat. How big of a deal is this? In 150 years of football, OU has made just two bowl appearances, and lost both. The last one being a 49-42 loss to Richmond (yes,the Richmond Spiders!!!) in the 1968 Tangerine Bowl. And just 2 winning seasons in the past 23 years. So raise a toast to the victors, and stand up and cheer, because happy days lie ahead.