Sitting in the stands at Falcon football games this fall has been an interesting experience.
The comeback against Troy was fun to watch, the thrashing at the hands of Boise State was expected and Saturday’s outcome against Ohio University was a disappointment.
The Falcons didn’t quit against the Bobcats but continue to demonstrate an inability to finish drives on offense and continually give up big plays on defense, especially on third down.
The Boise State game found me sitting among a bunch of Boise State fans, from, of all places, Powell, Ohio, in Delaware County. How did two families with young sons living in the shadow of Ohio State’s stadium become Boise State fans? One of their dads said the cousins just got interested by seeing Boise State games on TV. When the boys saw last summer that Boise was playing at BGSU, the game was a must.
The youngest cousin, in the sixth grade, said he was disappointed BG didn’t have a blue field in honor of its visitors. I suspect there may be a big road trip to Boise in the future for that crew.
Although both dads said they had driven past BGSU on Interstate 75 many times, they had never been on the campus. The families had a good time and they and the BG fans got along well.
Sitting behind me that night was a BGSU freshman and his parents from south of Dayton. His folks had never been to a college football game. The son, majoring in theater, was a big fan and traded friendly barbs with the Boise fans.
During the Ohio U game, I sat next to the father of one of the drum majors with the Falcon Marching Band. He said his daughter told him to play close attention to the halftime show. He got quite a kick out of watching his daughter and the band’s male drum major take a break from their directing chores and do a dance during one of the numbers.
Behind me were a parent and a friend of one of the members of the flag corps with the band. They had driven four hours from near the Ohio River to attend the day’s events. The parent said her daughter’s high school band had 28 members. There are 220 members in the Falcon Marching Band.
At the Troy game I ended up sitting next to a former Toledo television sportscaster who I had not seen in at least 20 years.
I considered buying season tickets this season but opted to buy tickets in the week before each of the three games. The experience has been worth the extra expense, even if the on-field football performance has been frustrating.
