A former coworker of mine came for a visit. He's a Pitt guy.
So the two of us, me in my PSU gear and he in his Pitt attire, head for the OSU campus, a place Glenn wanted to see (for the first time.)
So we took a nice drive down Olentangy River Road, hoping to start off at the OSU alumni center.
I overshot and wound up on Lane Ave, but along the final mile we were treated to a series of sporting complexes, including the baseball stadium, soccer fields, several other impressive modern building/stadiums, and finally the Schottenstein Center. They very definitely had the "wow" factor.
Then we spotted another road heading north along the river, and took it, until we found what looked like the sports administrative office complex, a parking area, and then the alumni center. So we parked with some indescretion, and walked into the main lobby. (Note: I had been here before but its been 4-5 years, and much like Penn State, massive construction has been going on non-stop. Impressively so.)
We take maybe two steps into the lobby and are greeted with, " Well, Hello there!. Welcome. How can I help you?" I introduced my buddy " from Pitt" and myself ("My son graduated from OSU and held his wedding reception in this very building.") The receptionist greeted us as if we were in her home, and gave us a description of what was to be seen on each of the 4 floors + lower level.
Told her I had bumped into "Archie" in here a couple times ( he used to have his office in this building.) And she said, "Well, I have another impressive person here, the Dean of Agriculture," who happened to be passing by, and introduced him to us. Turns out he had come from Penn State to OSU to be their Dean about 25 years earlier. We chatted a bit, then took off on our own self-guided tour all four floors and the LL. Lots of nice sports art, including colorfully painted scenes from the gridiron. It was a sunny day with temps peaking near 90, and everyone who saw us greeted us in a warm manner. My buddy from Pitt was quite impressed with BT hospitality.
After that we drove through and around campus, including a close up walk around the Shoe, which is not open to the public, and finished up with a bite to eat before hitting the road.
In a nutshell ( pun intended) , the OSU folks couldnt have been kinder to us. In fact, on the counter was a big bowl of nuts from a Buckeye tree, which they offer to ever visitor. We took our nuts and left.
PS I asked Glenn whether he had heard any rumors back in PGH about their football coach being considered for the Rutgers job. He hadnt.
He also lamented that over the past couple of decades they have had a problem retaining their HC's and wouldnt be surprised if yet another HC departed all too quickly. Told me that Pitt shares ownership of the stadium with the Steelers, and they work out in the same place.
He also lamented that since the games had been moved off campus {stadium on campus was torn down) it was harder for the students to get to the game and attendence has slipped. There has been some talk about closing off portions of the stadium to reduce the appearance of so many empty seats at Pitt games. Upon reflection I wondered if that unusual arrangement might have something to do with the high HC turnover.
So the two of us, me in my PSU gear and he in his Pitt attire, head for the OSU campus, a place Glenn wanted to see (for the first time.)
So we took a nice drive down Olentangy River Road, hoping to start off at the OSU alumni center.
I overshot and wound up on Lane Ave, but along the final mile we were treated to a series of sporting complexes, including the baseball stadium, soccer fields, several other impressive modern building/stadiums, and finally the Schottenstein Center. They very definitely had the "wow" factor.
Then we spotted another road heading north along the river, and took it, until we found what looked like the sports administrative office complex, a parking area, and then the alumni center. So we parked with some indescretion, and walked into the main lobby. (Note: I had been here before but its been 4-5 years, and much like Penn State, massive construction has been going on non-stop. Impressively so.)
We take maybe two steps into the lobby and are greeted with, " Well, Hello there!. Welcome. How can I help you?" I introduced my buddy " from Pitt" and myself ("My son graduated from OSU and held his wedding reception in this very building.") The receptionist greeted us as if we were in her home, and gave us a description of what was to be seen on each of the 4 floors + lower level.
Told her I had bumped into "Archie" in here a couple times ( he used to have his office in this building.) And she said, "Well, I have another impressive person here, the Dean of Agriculture," who happened to be passing by, and introduced him to us. Turns out he had come from Penn State to OSU to be their Dean about 25 years earlier. We chatted a bit, then took off on our own self-guided tour all four floors and the LL. Lots of nice sports art, including colorfully painted scenes from the gridiron. It was a sunny day with temps peaking near 90, and everyone who saw us greeted us in a warm manner. My buddy from Pitt was quite impressed with BT hospitality.
After that we drove through and around campus, including a close up walk around the Shoe, which is not open to the public, and finished up with a bite to eat before hitting the road.
In a nutshell ( pun intended) , the OSU folks couldnt have been kinder to us. In fact, on the counter was a big bowl of nuts from a Buckeye tree, which they offer to ever visitor. We took our nuts and left.
PS I asked Glenn whether he had heard any rumors back in PGH about their football coach being considered for the Rutgers job. He hadnt.
He also lamented that over the past couple of decades they have had a problem retaining their HC's and wouldnt be surprised if yet another HC departed all too quickly. Told me that Pitt shares ownership of the stadium with the Steelers, and they work out in the same place.
He also lamented that since the games had been moved off campus {stadium on campus was torn down) it was harder for the students to get to the game and attendence has slipped. There has been some talk about closing off portions of the stadium to reduce the appearance of so many empty seats at Pitt games. Upon reflection I wondered if that unusual arrangement might have something to do with the high HC turnover.
