Category Archives: Football

Browns, Football, Wildcats

Baker Mayfield Football ProCamp

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This weekend Baker Mayfield held his first ever football camp at Mayfield High School.  Alan did not participate in the camp, but we stopped by the football field to watch the camp for a little while, since it was in our backyard.  Baker addressed the participants and the crowd at one point.  Later, after the local media finished interviewing Baker, I had a chance to speak to Mary Kay Cabot and Tony Grossi.  I wished them well covering a soon-to-be winning team again!

The atmosphere at the event definitely felt like that of a Browns tailgate.  Alan left with two pretty cool Baker shirts and a pack of football cards that we bought at the souvenir stand.  We were both glad that we stopped by.

Football, New Years, Ohio State, Rose Bowl

New Years Day & The Rose Bowl

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The new year kicked off in style today with Ohio State playing in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl.  Alan and I had roses on the mind all day long.

After returning from Grandma Debbie’s, we watched some of College Gameday and the Tournament of Roses Parade.  On Gameday, Alan was happy to catch the highlight of Parris Campbell’s 78-yard TD dash during the Michigan game during an “Images of the Year” montage.  That was Alan’s favorite play this year, as he loved how Campbell ran away from defenders like he was shot out of a cannon.

During the parade, Alan enjoyed seeing the Ohio State Marching Band perform on a big stage once again (Side Note: I can’t imagine any other band having played both the Thanksgiving and New Year’s parades in the same season).

While we were watching the parade, Robbie and Jill stopped by to see Alan’s Christmas train in action.  Alan got it running pretty well after making some engineering adjustments to the train tracks.  Alan also showed off Super Mack and his new fort.

Afterwards, Alan changed into his Braxton Miller-era OSU #5 jersey and got ready to watch the first half of the game with Robbie, Jill, and David at Tata and Papa’s apartment.  Alan packed up an OSU foam finger, an OSU football, and a rose to take with us.  He also packed his new Buckeye plane from Christmas and a Buckeye truck for the city he sets up on the coffee table.

During the game, Alan got to see a TD catch by Parris Campbell, who set OSU’s single season reception record and went over 1,000 yards on the season during the first half.  Alan also saw some nice runs by OSU’s current #5, Mike Weber, who played his best game of the season at the Rose Bowl.

While driving back home, Alan of course followed along on ESPN Gamecast, as Dwayne Haskins threw his 50th TD pass of the season, good for 6th most all-time in the NCAA record books.

To Alan’s delight, Ohio State coasted to victory in the second half.  And as the sun set on the Rose Bowl, it turned into a retirement party for Urban Meyer.

Here’s to Urban and 86 wins over the past 7 years!

Football, Ohio State, Rose Bowl

2018 Big Ten Champions

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One week after Alan watched Ohio State dismantle Michigan 62-39, he stayed up late to watch Ohio State win the Big Ten Championship by defeating Northwestern 45-24 in Indianapolis!

Alan and I watched the first half of the game together at Grandma Debbie’s – a half highlighted by quite an air show from the Buckeyes’ Heisman candidate, Dwayne Haskins.  The Buckeyes always seem to put on a show on the fast turf in Indy, and Alan enjoyed three Buckeye touchdowns in the first half.

We drove home during halftime, and in the car, Alan followed the game on my phone via the ESPN Gamecast App — his new favorite pastime.  He didn’t quite stay awake for the whole game, but he saw the best parts.

During these past eight quarters of OSU football, Alan has picked up a large percentage of the rules of football.  He now has a strong grasp of down and distance (on a related note, boy do I wish they had the yellow ‘first down’ lines on the TV screen when I was Alan’s age).

This great run for Ohio State down the stretch in 2018 will be remembered as a driving force behind Alan’s growing interest in football.  And we’ve still got a Rose Bowl to watch together next!

In honor of Ohio State’s return to Pasadena, here I am in July 2007 visiting the Rose Bowl.  What a great memory!