Book Description

"The greatest stars of Ohio State football's sepia age have dimmed so much that the names of the players who were once revered as supernovas have faded to near complete obscurity. Even the most learned students of Ohio State football history struggle to recognize the names of the early greats who were once thought immortal."Days of Yore: Men of Scarlet and Gray reveals the stories of the men who helped establish varsity football at Ohio State. The book covers the time of the conception of football at OSU in 1890 and travels through what the great James Thurber called "the dear dull days" when their fierce rivals were Kenyon, Oberlin and Case Institute, and continues until Ohio State football joined the Big Ten in 1914. Readers will be introduced to the students, faculty members, and Columbus sportsmen who worked together to establish football in Columbus. The origins of the greatest rivalry in college football are chronicled in detail. Michigan so thoroughly dominated the series during this era that Columbus erupted into an all-night party because they scored a touchdown. The book discusses the emergence of OSU's band from an outfit playing solely to provide a cadence for cadets to march in intricate formations to a regular feature at games. Other traditions such as the singing of Carmen Ohio at games are revealed. Readers will learn about Ohio State's first truly dominant teams (1899-1901) and how the run came to an end following the death of a beloved player.