Have more comments, questions? Reach out to me at bwhite1@dispatch.com. Letters are lightly edited for clarity.
On Ohio State football
To the Editor: My dad and I have been to just about every Ohio State football home game since 2014, through my years in undergrad and law school, now under the Recent Graduate program that provides discounted tickets for five years after graduation. I have also had the privilege to attend games, featuring Ohio State and other teams, at two dozen or so other Big Ten and professional stadiums around the county. Though sacrilege to say, Ohio Stadium is the worst game-day experience by far.
Getting in and out of the campus area by car or ride share? Good Luck. Getting through the ticket entries in less than 20 minutes? Forget about it. Want to get a quick drink or bite without missing any action? Not going to happen. Want to be able to sit in your actual seat without feeling like you are in a can of sardines? Nope, sorry. Most notoriously, of course: Need to use the men’s restroom? Hope you can hold it on the 30-minute line! A replay? Highlights from other games? A 3:30 kickoff? No, no, and no. Perhaps many Buckeye fans don’t know that it doesn’t have to be this way. But as the university puts a steakhouse in the rafters and builds more luxury boxes, I cannot stress this enough: Going to these games doesn’t have to feel like a chore. No other stadium I have attended (except for the Big House) combines all these problems into one afternoon. Sure, Cleveland’s First Energy is inconvenient to get to, but at least you can get in and out of the bathroom in five minutes. Yes, traffic is bad in State College, but you have a seat to sit in when you are in the stadium. While Indiana or Maryland certainly don’t have the foreboding presence of the Shoe, at least you can grab a drink and be back in your seat without missing a snap. More bathrooms, more concessions, more entry gates. These are simple solutions. Pair these issues with the reasons for declining experience at any sporting event, like frequent, extended time outs and price increases, and I start to relish that this is my last year of Recent Grad tickets. I will surely miss walking into the Shoe every home football Saturday. But I won’t miss dealing with the hassle of it all.
Evan Lewis, Columbus
To Brian: History is full of what-ifs, such as what if Urban Meyer had picked Joe Burrow as his starting quarterback instead of sitting him on the bench for three years before Joe found his way to Baton Rouge to have a magical season. Ohio State did do well at that time but didn’t win it all. Penn State also did well last year going with Drew Allar over backup Beau Pribula, who decided to transfer to Missouri. Pribula and these Tigers were doing quite well until injury derailed all of that, but I wonder, what if James Franklin had gone with him instead of Allar?
Dennis Singleton, Dayton
To Dennis: Franklin and Penn State still would have found ways to lose big games. Even if they had Burrow at QB.
On the World Series
Hey Brian: I can go back to the 1954 New York Giants, who wiped out favored Cleveland in the 1954 World Series, highlighted by the still-talked-about Willie Mays catch. I do not remember any series that had more drama/subplots than the 2025 version. Yamamoto certainly tops the list. You cannot pitch like this against the team that scored the second most runs of all American League teams. He has to be from another planet.
Rick Higgins
Hey Rick: I wasn’t around for the ’54 series, but I know that among many others, the ’75 and ’97 series had loads of drama. But I agree with you, as for the many moves and angles, this year’s would be tough to top. I was exhausted after Game 7, and I didn’t even have a team involved.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: This Ohio State football fan loves the Buckeyes, loathes Ohio Stadium experience: Mailbox
Reporting by Brian White, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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