Apologies for the semi-long post (also my first).   

So my boss’s new neighbor works as a Big XII ref in the fall.   Tom (boss man) received a call from said referee on Saturday morning telling him that his crew was doing the pre-season Cowboys game that night and one of his chain crew guys was sick.  He needed someone to fill in and asked Tom if he wanted to do it.    So of course, Tom says yes and heads out to the stadium for a crash course in how to work the chains.  Tom is from Cleveland and neighbor referee knows this.

Key plot point #1:  Apparently the chief chain gang official notes the down-distance and yard line before every play.  He writes them on a strip of athletic tape taped to the down marker.  I never knew that.

Key plot point #2:  This was the first football game to take place at AT&T Stadium since the Buckeyes vanquished the Ducks in such glorious fashion.  

So it turns out that the yard marker still had the tape from the 2nd half of the title game stuck to it.  Mr. Ref, knowing Tom’s Ohio affiliation, gave him the tape as a souvenir.   Fortunately for me, Tom is actually a Notre Dame guy (I know, but he’s not too bad for a Notre Dame guy) and fully understands my allegiance to TOSU so he delivered it to my possession this morning.    And now I have a rather odd piece of Buckeye history and I’m not really sure what to do with it.