This day started off well. A little tailgating and a long search for a pair of tickets for Uncle Crappy and The Future Wife. The search had turned a little anxious when, as we made our way from Fawcett Center to the stadium, we walked by a woman who said, “Oh, you’re looking for tickets?” She had a pair in high A deck on the 35-yard-line. We had seen a couple sets of nice seats already, and they were way beyond what we could afford. So when she asked us for face value, we were ready to put her in our will.

Simply put: I have been going to Ohio State football games since I was 7 years old, and I’ve never, ever had seats that good. And they were for a Michigan game. When we were playing for a conference championship and a shot at the national title. And we got them for face value. I mean, that woman could have sent her kids to college for what she could have gotten for those tickets.

Unfortunately, those 35-yard-line seats gave us a perfect view of Shawn Springs slipping to allow Tai Streets to score a long touchdown that ruined Ohio State’s shot at post-season glory 13-9. The ungodly Rose Bowl comeback against Arizona State helped — a lot — but, jesus, that was as tough as they come.

It was tough enough, in fact, that I lost faith, the one and only time I can say that’s happened. When Michigan came back to Columbus in 1998, I didn’t go. Didn’t want to. Stayed home and watched that 31-16 beating by Ohio State on TV.