my game prediction

As I walked from our hotel room to the media center today this thought popped into my head: I wonder if Jon Spencer is here?

Spencer is a sports columnist for the News Journal in Mansfield, Ohio, where I worked as an assistant city editor and city editor in the late 1990s. He’s an expert on everything Ohio State, and I figured he’d be here in Arizona covering the championship game for the News Journal and its sister papers in Ohio.

I just couldn’t believe it, though, when I found him standing there in the entrance of the media center. It was great to see him and the encounter brought back lots of good memories from my 12 years in Ohio.

I lived in the Buckeye State for 12 years, including a couple spent in graduate school, a stint working at a Skyline Chili in Oxford and newspaper jobs in Newark and Mansfield, both near Columbus.

They take their football seriously in Ohio – just as they do in Florida. My only prediction for Monday’s game, based on knowing both sets of fans pretty well, is that it will be loud. Very loud.