Mailbox: How dare Ohio State fans think about football at a Columbus Blue Jackets game!

Have more comments, questions? Reach out to me at bwhite1@dispatch.com

On Ohio State football fans

To Brian: An open letter to the knuckleheads who started the O-H-I-O chant at Nationwide Arena Friday night with 5 minutes to go in the third period and the Jackets fighting mightily for the tying goal: If you can’t cheer for the Blue Jackets at Blue Jackets games, please stay home.

Brent D. Rosenthal, Westerville

To Brent: Can't you do both? Asking for a knucklehead friend.

On Ohio State football

To Brian: Your comments were spot-on in Monday's Bottom Line recap and Leaf awards. Although the Buckeyes continued to make shot-in-the-foot mistakes, I thought Ryan Day's confidence in Dallan Hayden was refreshing. It certainly paid off. It's probably too late, but I think Xavier Johnson should be considered as a tandem threat with Hayden. I realize his magnificent 71-yard TD vs. Indiana doesn't prove he's tailback-ready, but he's got moves and acceleration. And, fans know we need some backfield excitement. Stroud, too? No way. Keep him protected for best dividends, provided he stays another year.

Larry Cheek, Dublin

To Larry: I wouldn't count too heavily on Stroud returning next year. I expect him to have NFL guys chasing him as we witness a Kyle McCord vs. Devin Brown battle.

On Big Ten coverage

To Brian: The letter critical of The Dispatch for not having extensive coverage of all Big Ten teams was a foul ball.  The coverage I see on teams and games in SportsExtra in the digital paper is fine. Extensive coverage for every school that has alumni living in Columbus would be impractical. I would suggest, however, to anyone interested in more news about any specific team subscribe to the newspaper from that community online. I give you a 10 out of 10 even when we don't always agree.

Dennis Singleton, Dayton

To Mr. White: You missed a great opportunity in your response to C. Dean Marolf about The Dispatch coverage of other Big Ten teams. Any subscriber of the electronic version of The Dispatch has access to hundreds of newspapers in the Gannett stable. If he wants to know about MSU teams, he can access and read the Lansing State Journal, if he wants to know about Indiana sports he can access and read the Bloomington Herald Times, etc. If anyone wants more Bengals or Browns news (not sure why anyone would want to know more about the loser Browns and their suspended quarterback), access and read the Cincinnati Enquirer or Akron Beacon Journal.

The Dispatch marketing and editorial staff do a terrible job of highlighting the rich access to local news from all over Ohio and the rest of the U.S. I understand the financial and deadline restraints that the sports department works under. You and the staff are doing a great job.

Raymond D'Angelo, Westerville

To Dennis and Raymond: It is rare that I get supportive words in the mailbox, and never, until now, do I get two in one week. (Note to all others: These emails were not sent by our marketing department using fake names.) As I've told readers who email and call (those who are civil, at least), I, too, wish we had more space, later deadlines, more people, etc. But we, and our readers, are fortunate that we have not only the wide network Raymond points out but also the SportsExtra as part of our daily e-Newspaper that is available to all subscribers. It has late scores as well as features and analysis. I encourage all to check it out.

On Ohio State and family

To the editor: There are certain aspects of life that hold much greater importance than by all rights they should. No loved one’s health is at stake, the future of our country is not remotely affected and our everyday lives will continue unaffected regardless of outcome. And yet, for some inexplicable reason, they take on a significance far exceeding their standalone implications.

Saturday at noon there is such an event. “The Game’ will take on an importance that will crash the boundaries of normalcy and cause many to question underneath their flesh and bone if indeed they are truly human. How could an athletic event, of young college students, and two institutions of genteel higher learning, create an undertow of such hatred? You’d think our very heart and soul had been drawn and quartered and drug across the Midwestern prairie.

As is the case with anything that creates such an emotional uplift, there is always a back story, and mine is no different. I grew up listening to the Detroit AM radio station the week of the game while sitting at the breakfast table in Wooster, Ohio.  I think Dad just wanted to know what they were thinking.  You know, doing his part to scout the enemy. I was too young to understand it, but certainly not too young to feel it, and to say it was palpable is an understatement. My father was a very gentle individual, and yet this week was different, way different. It’s not that he changed, but rather he lost his focus on everything else. Picture a crazed buck chasing a doe across the street in the fall.

He was an OSU grad and played in the TBDBITL, a sousaphone player when the i-dotter was a cymbal player (he was there when the band director told the cymbal and sousaphone player to switch places). Not a big deal at the time. Think selling Manhattan for $24 worth of trinkets.  He went on to join the Navy band during WWII and serve in the South Pacific. Yes, one of the greatest generation.

He was a great dad. And, like most sons, I took on his emotional energy. I knew well before puberty who the real enemy of this life was, and what true evil looked like. It’s those maize horns on those damn blue helmets. And what it felt like to succumb or to conquer. I saw my dad’s lifeless body on the couch after the 1969 game. I also saw him run around the house and scream like a teenage girl after Ray Griffin’s interception in ‘75. Surprisingly enough, there was honor in the relationship, a “Married with Children” dysfunctional family type. He loved to see his own “big ten” children beat the crap out of Michigan. But if you’re outside the family, e.g. Notre Dame, you’ll deal with Al Bundy.

I am thankful Dad gave me the gift of being a rabid participant totally vested in the outcome. How cool is it to actually have permission to primally hate another group of humans without anybody getting hurt? And even though Dad has been gone for over 20 years, so much of this week is still the same. I still cry when I see the OSU band entrance, I still feel the fear when I see a Michigan helmet and I still feel my dad and all his energy leading up to, during and after the game.

Yea, standalone, it’s just not that big of a deal. Just another game weekend, one of many every year. But for some of us, the lucky ones, it’s an annual celebration of a father’s legacy. Go Bucks.

John Taylor, Oxford

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football fans shouldn't chant at Blue Jackets game: Letters