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PrintThe Sugar Bowl diaries
After weeks of watching fares and ticket prices, my boyfriend, John, and I decided we weren’t going to the Sugar Bowl to see the Buckeyes play Arkansas on Jan. 4.
Then on Dec. 31 we decided we were.
Game tickets were selling for as low as $29 on StubHub—compared to $120 face value—and flights and hotel prices hadn’t gone up. So we made arrangements to leave the day of the game, with a scheduled arrival in New Orleans at 5:30 pm local time, just two hours before kickoff.
Here’s the blow-by-blow of our trip to the Sugar Bowl, made that much sweeter since Ohio State won the game.
1 pm: Driving to the airport on I-270, John hits 82 mph passing someone unfamiliar with the concept of merging. A lurking police car pulls out behind us . . . but nabs someone else. Our first victory.
1:15 pm: We learn our 1:57 pm connecting flight through Chicago is delayed. We’re sunk before we even leave town. But the woman at the counter assures us it’s only 14 minutes late. We land in Chicago in time to board our flight to New Orleans.
3 pm: On the second plane, we’re greeted with an “O-H” from Don of Canton. He’s also going to the game and tells us in a conspiratorial whisper that he’d heard from a friend already in New Orleans that Arkansas fans outnumber Buckeyes five to one. (He jokes that the total number of teeth is even.)
5:25 pm: We get off the plane in New Orleans, five minutes ahead of schedule. John thanks the pilot and gets a “Go Hogs” in return.
5:33 pm: Share a cab into town with Don.
5:59 pm: Check into our hotel nine blocks from the Superdome. It looks as if we’re actually going to make it to the game.
6:10 pm: Begin the walk down the middle of closed off Poydras Street to the dome with hordes of fans, all in shades of red. We have to stop at another hotel on the way to pick up our tickets from StubHub’s onsite location. Our last hurdle.
6:19 pm: Tickets in hand, we’re really going to the Sugar Bowl. Another victory. As we walk, I seem to see only Buckeyes. And then the grating “Woooo Pig Sooey!” chants begin. I’d rather hear Michigan’s “Hail to the Victors” on an endless loop than one more hog call.
6:50 pm: There is a band, as well as food and drink carts, set up outside the Superdome. It’s like a mini state fair. A bottle of Budweiser costs $8.50 and judging by the energy level of the crowd, the vendors are doing quite well.
6:59 pm: Inside the dome, which shows no signs of its Hurricane Katrina ravages.
7:06 pm: Walk by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry on the third level, posing for pictures with fans. The Warriors are in town to play the New Orleans Hornets the next day.
7:19 pm: In our seats, in the 15th row of the upper deck—which goes up about 45 rows—on the 50-yard line. We have a perfect view and only OSU fans in our immediate vicinity. Perfect. (We paid $50 each for our tickets, which is even better.)
7:34 pm: Kickoff. Judging by the cheering, Arkansas fans outnumber us by four to one. (Hard to tell about the teeth.)
8:18 pm: Text my dad for an update on Buckeye cornerback Chimdi Chekwa, who leaves the game with an injury. My parents, who live in Oregon, are watching the game on vacation in Hawaii, and this is how I get my news that Chekwa isn’t coming back. Continue screaming my head off anyway.
9:42 pm: The start of the third quarter and the Superdome cuts off beer sales because apparently they don’t like making money.
11:19 pm: The Buckeyes win, 31-26. Aaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!
11:20 pm: Buckeye fans chant “S-E-C,” followed by several rounds of “Mark May sucks!” (Back home, watching our recording of the game, this diatribe against the Buckeye-hating ESPN college football analyst is clearly audible as May, who’s on-site, is Buckeye-hating and analyzing during the post-game show. Awesome.)
11:33 pm: Outside the dome, two OSU fans practically carry a drunken Arkansas fan home. Who says sportsmanship is dead?
12:30ish am: OSU president Gordon Gee celebrates with a mass of fans in the lobby of the team hotel, a Marriott on Canal Street.
1:44 am: Eating a very late dinner on Bourbon Street, we’re seated at a table in the front of the restaurant, which is open to the road. We see Don from Canton standing five feet away. High fives. His flight leaves in fewer than six hours. That’s gonna be rough.
1:11 pm (Jan. 6): Back in Columbus just shy of 48 hours.
Victorious.
This column appeared in the February 2011 issue of Columbus Monthly.
