Break out the birthday candles and get your party hat on as Script Ohio turns 71 years young today.
The first Script Ohio was performed back on October 10, 1936 with the Buckeyes hosting Pitt in the 'Shoe and has since become one of the finest traditions in all of college football. So much so, that "dotting the i" has become an honor of near biblical porportions if you reside in Buckeye Nation.
The first Script Ohio
The honor is generally bestowed upon a sousaphone player however the band has also given the likes of Woody, Jack Nicklaus, Bob Hope and Gordon Gee a chance to punctuate the march.
For those not aware, the birth of Script Ohio has been the subject of much controversy over the years. The Michigan band was the first to actually perform in the the formation of a script 'Ohio' back in 1932 causing many a Wolverine to mistakenly assign UM full responsibility for a true Script Ohio.
A drunken UM band performance back in '32
Truth be told, the Michigan band never marched in formation spelling out Ohio in script - they simply all walked out to their designated spot in the spelling. I mean, isn't the true beauty of Script Ohio created by the band actually playing Les Regiment AND marching in unison to form the finished product? That's what makes it special.
So, I guess if the Michigan band ran out and stood in the shape of a computer that means they created the internet too, right? Worse than that, Michigan's version was a totally busted sight complete with horribly poor spacing and shape. Lay off the hooch, fellas.
Anyway, 11W salutes the real Script Ohio on it's 71st birthday. There've been some memorable ones. Our personal favorite saw the drum major lead Woody out for his chance to dot the i in what was a moving moment, to say the least.
Comments
chris - another point re: UM's band spelling "OHIO" out is that the picture above is what has fueled the "Michigan invented the script ohio" hoax, but it's not in context.
This was a very, very common thing that most home bands did for their opponents back in the early days. Harvard would spell out Yale, vice versa, etc. It was a good-sportsmanship, "welcome to our stadium, fans" type of thing and was done for most teams that only had four or five letters in their name. :-)
Of course, the choreographed spelling of the name in real time, to Le Regiment, and the dotting of the I were all OSU innovations.
I think that's basically what the post says and the "much controversy" link speaks to it even more...
Agreed, monkey...I know Illinois also did a script ohio without marching into the formation back in the day...
I honestly think that was the greatest moment in Woody's life.
It might have been considering he never really got a proper farewell while still the coach due to 'the incident'...
I was at that game when Woody dotted the "I", and it was the longest ovation I can remember in all the games I attended from '82 to '90. We spanked Indiana pretty good that day, but halftime was more memorable than the game.
Damn, GB89...You are one lucky dude...you are dominating the guess the score contests AND you got to see Woody dot the i, live?! you must live a clean life, my friend.
Chris, you haven't even seen my personalized Woody Hayes autograph!