My wife has a hard time understanding why people in central Ohio who have no past or present connection to The Ohio State University still feel passionate about the school’s football team. I have explained to her that OSU football is part of the culture here. It is woven into our identity and helps define who we are as a city and region. People in greater Columbus who’ve never set foot on the OSU campus still feel the Buckeyes belong to them.

I became a part of that culture (as a spectator) when my father took me to my first OSU football game. It was 1957 and I was eight years old. Not much sticks in my memory about the game itself except the Buckeyes won big, crushing Indiana 56-0. More than anything, I remember being awestruck by the size of the crowd and the crisp, resonating sound of the marching band. We saw several more games that season – all victories – as Ohio State went on to win a national championship.

Last Saturday, I took my seven-year-old grandson Nikolai to see the Buckeyes do battle with the Northwestern Wildcats. It was our first full game together; several weeks ago, we left the rain-soaked Tulsa game early, when lightning caused a lengthy delay in the start of the second half. My grandson peppered me with football questions as we made our way down Woody Hayes Drive to the stadium. What happens if a player catches the football in his own end zone? What happens if he’s tackled in the end zone? What happens if two guys on the same team start to fight? Why is the ball kicked off the ground sometimes? Do Northwestern players have a fat N or a skinny N on their helmets? I answered his questions as best I could, but Urban Meyer I am not.

After picking up an ice cream snack, we found our seats on the west side of C deck overlooking the 45-yardline. We had good weather this time and a favorable — if too-close-for-comfort — result: OSU 24 Northwestern 20. Despite some restlessness in the third and fourth quarters, Nikolai focused on the game fairly well, even if he didn’t understand everything. The only problem came when fireworks went off as the OSU players charged on to the field for the first time. Niko doesn’t like loud noises and he feared additional fireworks might occur at unexpected moments.

We left a few minutes before the game’s conclusion and picked up a pizza dinner before heading back to my car, which was parked (cost: $20) at the Martha Morehouse Medical Center. I hope Nikolai will go to more OSU games. He needn’t become a diehard fan – indeed some people take their Buckeye loyalty to unwise extremes – but I hope he realizes that as a Columbus native, OSU football is a vibrant part of his community as well as a source of pride and inspiration. Go Bucks!