Comments on: On Meeting Pete Johnson

By: poppajo8

poppajo8 — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:24:05 +0000

Thanks for sharing your story. I lived in Columbus and grew up there from ’71-’77 and those players made indelible impression on me. I can name many of the players from the teams of that period, and Brian Baschnagel was one I’ll never forget.

By: Gravey

Gravey — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:57:48 +0000

Nice story. Thanks for sharing. Unlike the posters above…I’ve not had such a cool brush with Buckeye awesomness, but keep running into some ex-Wolverine instead. What a drag.

By: El Caballo de Sangre

El Caballo de Sangre — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:27:01 +0000

Great story, V., and thanks for the shout-out. It was obvious how jacked up you were for the Pete Johnson thing when we talked; sounds like it was all you imagined and more. I’ll have to poke my head in there for a game one of these days.

O.T.: I had a kickass (as always) response to FTE’s Block O almost ready to post but it was, sadly, eaten by a Firefox crash and I didn’t have the time or energy to recreate it – sorry for contributing to the low turnout for that one; I’ll be in on the next one.

By: chibucks

chibucks — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:12:30 +0000

great story and thanks for sharing!

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:58:51 +0000

I don’t know who this “Ben” guy is, but he sounds like a jerk.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:59:13 +0000

Back in the mid-90′s after work I would meet some co-workers at a small bar in Gahanna. I noticed several times this very large man, who probably played football sometime in his life was also in the bar. One night, I was near the end of the bar and that man came up to to order a drink. Someone mentioned his name like – “so how is ol’ Pete Johnson tonight?”. I nearly fell off my barstool! I also could not contain my excitement that here in front of me was one of the greatest OSU players of all time! I introduced myself and said I loved watching him play, that my Dad was a 40+ year season ticket holder to OSU and I remembered the 1975 Michigan game very well. We talked for a few minutes and he signed a napkin for me. Pete is truly a class act!

By: Ken

Ken — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:35:40 +0000

Wonderful story, Vico. Thank you for sharing it. Great to be you, eh?

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:32:04 +0000

Awesome , awesome read Vico . It sounds like a similar experience I had at a Ohio State Alumni golf outing in Atlanta back in 2004. The Ohio State Atlanta Booster club has a golf outing / fundraiser every 5 yrs. And a close friend of mine ( Jimmy ) has a cousin who organizes that event ( and is an OSU alum ). At the time I was living in a suburb of West Palm Beach , Florida ( Jupiter). So me and Jimmy drove about 9 hrs north to Atlanta. We get to his cousins house in a suburb of Atlanta ( Decator ), beautiful big house. The golf outing is the next day , but Jimmy and his cousin has some fello high school and college friends flying in / and driving down from Ohio . To make a long story short, I felt like I was in the movie ” The Big Chill ” . I mean they had thier former high school football coach in , and about 6 other close friends . All of them had a nickname , and it was cool as hell seeing old friends cutting up , reminesin old stories . Vico , I mean these guys laughed , and cried when remembering a certain bud who had succomed to caner. All of these guys were from Carey , Ohio. And even though I was about 20 yrs younger than these guys were, they made me fit right in ………and even gave me a nickname of my own………lol ( Ed the Head ) or just Head…….due to my lack of hair . I felt like I was at a frat house. It was an afternoon filled with beer , jokes , pranks , and more beer. I mean these successful guys were away from thier daily routine and lives and were cutting up pretty good.

At any rate the next day we got some practice rounds in , hit a couple local bars , and had some awesome food back at the house. The next day , we arrive at the golf / country club where the outing took place ( heritage golf club ) and got our passes and starts and whatnot. And Vico it wasn’t long when I see a 5’8 gentleman who everyone was saying hello to ……….it was Archie himself. Not long after that I see big bohemith of a man………Kieth Byers . And there were several others who I honeslty didn’t reconize that my new found frat brothers pointed out to me who was who and when they played. Most of them played back in the 70′s and 80′s.

My golf swing that day stunk ( as usual ) , and being from Florida I was not use to the 40 ft elevated par 3′s and such. It was chilly , and there was a bit of a wind out there as well. But i basicall was soaking up the scenery and presence of all the buckeye history I was around. I also loved the very attractive females roaming around from hole to hole serving our taste buds , I mean we were really caterd to. After everyone finished thier 18 holes , there was a big gathering at the enormous clubhouse where everyone was mingling. And is also where I approached Archie , intorduced myself , to him where I was from , and we had a nice brief conversation . i asked for a quick photo with him , and he nicely abliged. What a wonderful , nice warm guy Archie is. That photo is one of my most prized posessions to this day…………

The whole weekend lasted 4 days. And not all of these fellas I was with went to Ohio State ( maybe half ) but it was nice to see how close they still were , and how much they still take care of one another. But they all went to high school together, and are forever bound to Ohio State football. And before we all parted ways , they requested jimmy bring me back , or better yet Jimmy stay home and I could join them again…..lol

But like you said Vico friends and family are important………especially when it relates to The Ohio State University following. I will never forget that weekend ever……….

……thanx for sharing your story Vico.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:21:37 +0000

Great story, man. Very cool!

By: Dan Isaacs

Dan Isaacs — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:57:55 +0000

Awesome, Vico! An autograph from the ‘Stache. An autostache.

I was up thee last week for business, but the weather was awful. No sightseeing.