In September, espnWs weekly essay series will focus on college football.On Oct. 17, 2009, I was at the wedding of one of my closest friends in a town just outside Columbus, Ohio. It was a Saturday wedding, and as we filed into the church, many people reluctantly turned off their phones. Ohio State, ranked in the top 10 and undefeated in the Big Ten, was playing Purdue University.The Buckeyes were big favorites to win, but as I sat in the church my attention was divided -- I could hear the vows, but I was breaking the rules, constantly refreshing my phone. I couldnt believe what I was seeing. The Buckeyes led when the bride walked down the aisle, but as the wedding played out, a great season was slipping away.We lost to the lowly, unranked Boilermakers and I was devastated, holding the secret as the ceremony finished.I put on a fake smile and headed down to the reception with the rest. People started opening their phones and inevitably, the first question the groom asked when we got downstairs was, Did Ohio State win? Several people shouted at once, No, they lost -- to which the groom responded, This is the worst day of my life.He received a quick death stare from the bride, and I added another rule to my growing list of things to avoid on game day: Never, ever get married during an Ohio State game.***Growing up in northern Ohio, we didnt have a professional football team to cheer for. This was when the Browns had moved to Baltimore, and even before that, they didnt give anyone in Cleveland much to cheer about.I can remember how fall Saturdays were about Buckeye football, and I had the scarlet and grey striped knee socks to prove it. Sure, wed miss games with soccer matches and school activities, but my favorite question of the day was, Did the Buckeyes win?The majority of the time the answer was yes.When it came time to choose a college, Ohio State was considered. I had never attended a game in person and the chance to go every Saturday was a dream come true. But the football team alone cant dictate a college choice, and I attended another university in Ohio where I still rooted for the Buckeyes every Saturday.?After college, I moved to Chicago, a Big Ten melting pot and -- true statement here -- the best city in America to watch a college football game. Walk around the North Side on a Saturday and every bar has a flag hanging -- Iowa, Purdue, Michigan, Sparty, Ohio State. I quickly found the top three places to watch an Ohio State game along with every other crazy Ohio fan. Every Saturday, I bribed my friends to get in line as early as 6 a.m. for a noon game, because I had to ensure we had the exact same seats (Im superstitious).Eventually, I left Chicago and moved to New York City where again, one of my top priorities was tracking down the perfect Ohio State bar and reconnecting with old Buckeyes friends. A good development: The bars in New York took reservations, and I was able to catch a couple of extra hours of sleep before game day.When my husbands job took us to Connecticut, one of my first questions was, where will we watch Ohio State games? For the most part, we watch them at home, with our dog, Brutus. Yes, Brutus is named after the Ohio State mascot. We cook, put him in a jersey, text with friends and family, and l live and die with each outcome.?Two years ago, Ohio State kicked-off the season in Baltimore, which is only five hours away, closer than any Big Ten locale outside of Rutgers. We drove down for the weekend to catch the game, along with most of the state of Ohio. It was a young team, and after starting quarterback Braxton Miller got hurt during camp, we had a freshmen quarterback leading a young team, and diminished expectations. For most of the first half, we were losing to Navy, and at halftime my husband joked, If this team makes it to the National Championship, well go.I laughed.Watching this team, I knew there was no chance, and while we managed to beat Navy, we lost at home to Virginia Tech the following week. However, this was the first year of the College Football Playoff, and what we couldnt know then was that one loss -- even a bad loss -- doesnt mean youre out.Each week that Ohio State team continued to find a way to win games, even late in the year when it had to start its third-string quarterback running the show after yet another injury. When we somehow squeaked into the playoff, it was somewhat bittersweet. There was Alabama, touchdown favorites, playing in the heart of SEC country. I figured it was the end of the road for this team. Somehow, they found a way. As the game finished, I looked at my husband and said, Whos booking our trip to Dallas?Going to the National Championship had always been a dream of mine and when we walked into that stadium, I had a feeling Ohio State was going to win, despite coming in as underdogs. When they did, and without a lot of suspense, really, I looked at my husband and proclaimed, This was the best day of my life.Later, he gave me a framed photo of our picture at that game next to a picture of us on our wedding day. He wrote, Glad I was able to be a part of the two best days of your life -- I promise I wont ask you to rank them. Of course, we made sure our wedding was in August.No surprise losses to be sad about.At the start of the season, every college football fan hopes this is the year for their team. Im fortunate to have had the opportunity to see my team win a National Championship, but Ill be honest, it only makes you want it to win more.For me, college football is about more than the game itself. 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The 26-year-old Ireland striker, who has four goals this season, has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with his new club. I filled out my ballots for the International Boxing Hall of Fame this week and sent them back to the Canastota, New York, shrine to make sure it was postmarked before the Monday deadline for electors to vote on the class of 2016. The results will be announced in December and the 28th annual induction ceremonies will take place in June.I received a ballot for each of the four categories up for election this year -- modern fighters (meaning those whose last fight came no earlier than 1989 and have not boxed for at least five years), older-timers, observers and non-participants.The modern category offers 30 candidates but only three newcomers each year. Electors can vote for five but three will be elected.Id prefer for the Hall of Fame to use a percentage threshold like the 75 percent a candidate needs to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The boxing Hall of Fame does not do it that way. It simply enshrines the top three vote-getters. That means somebody could, in theory, receive a small percentage of votes and still be elected and I dont think thats right. Conversely, there could be several worthy candidates who might rack up a high percentage of votes but only the top three would make it. Vote totals are also not revealed so we never know the breakdown.It is an imperfect system to be sure but, thankfully, this year was an easy call as opposed to last year when the three newcomers were Hector Camacho Sr., Yuri Arbachakov and Sot Chitalada. None of them were automatic in my view, even though I did vote for Camacho.I voted for three candidates this year, which is how I usually roll. My perspective is that since only three will be elected no matter how many votes others get (unless there is a tie) I go with my top three each year and hope for the best.This year I went with the three newcomers to the ballot, one of the easiest to fill out in years. The great warriors who received my check marks were Evander Holyfield, Marco Antonio Barrera and the late Johnny Tapia, all three of whom I was fortunate enough to cover during their careers.That means I did not vote for any of the 27 holdovers: Arbachakov, Paulie Ayala, Nigel Benn, Chitalada, Donald Curry, Chris Eubank, Leo Gamez, Genaro Hernandez, Julian Jackson, Santos Laciar, Rocky Lockridge, Miguel Happy Lora, James Buddy McGirt, Henry Maske, Darius Michalczewski, Sung-Kil Moon, Michael Moorer, Orzubek Gussie Nazarov, Sven Ottke, Vinny Pazienza, Gilberto Roman, Gianfranco Rosi, Samuel Serrano, Meldrick Taylor, Fernando Vargas, Wilfredo Vazquez Sr. and Ratanapol Sor Vorapin.Holyfield (44-10-2, 29 KOs) is about as much of a no-brainer to vote for as anyone. Hes the only man to win a piece of the heavyweight title four times. He was the undisputed heavyweight champion. Undisputed cruiserweight champion (first ever to do that). Olympic bronze medalist in 1984 (robbed badly in the semifinals).Holyfield was also one of the great action fighters in history and was involved in many of the biggest fights of his era. He upset Mike Tyson twice, had an epic trilogy with Riddick Bowe, beat former heavyweight champs Larry Holmes and George Foreman (albeit aging versions), avenged a loss to Michael Moorer and also beat notable foes such as Ray Mercer, Hasim Rahman and Dwight Muhammad Qawi twice, including in a 15-rounder to win his first world title at cruiserweight in 1986 in probably the greatest fight in division history.Barrera (67-7, 44 KOs) was also a no-brainer. He will go down as one of the greatest Mexican fighters in history after winning world titles in three divisions (junior featherweight, featherweight and junior lightweight) and engaging in some of the most epic fights of his time.He won the legendary trilogy with Erik Morales 2-1, beat Kennedy McKinney in a junior featherweight title defense that is one of the best fights of the 1990s, beeat Tapia, Ayala and Kevin Kelley and, in his crowning moment, outpointed (embarrassed, really) then-undefeated Naseem Hamed in a huge upset.ddddddddddddTapia (59-5-2, 30 KOs), who won world titles at junior bantamweight (where he was at his best), bantamweight and featherweight, wasnt the no-brainer pick of Holyfield and Barrera, but he was still an easy vote.Given all of the problems he had in his too-short life, it is amazing Tapia accomplished what he did. He began his career 45-0-2, had a four-year reign as a junior bantamweight champion and made 13 defenses. He will go down as one of the two greatest junior bantamweights in history, along with Khaosai Galaxy. Tapias biggest win came against bitter Albuquerque, New Mexico, rival Danny Romero to unify 115-pound world titles in arguably the most important fight in division history. His two close decision losses to Ayala in fight of the year candidates easily could have gone his way. When Tapia is inevitably elected I am just going to be sad he wont be there to enjoy the moment.In the old-timer category, electors can vote for five but only one will be elected. This is a tough one for me. I am the first to admit that my knowledge of these fighters is not nearly as all-encompassing as it is of the modern boxers. I read up on the candidates, go over their records and seek counsel from those whose opinions I value. The wisdom of Hall of Fame matchmaker/promoter/historian Russell Peltz, in particular, was invaluable. Based on my studying and respect for Peltzs opinions, I voted for light heavyweight Tiger Jack Fox (139-23-12, 90 KOs), who fought from 1928 to 1950, and welterweight and middleweight contender Eddie Booker (66-5-8, 34 KOs), who boxed from 1935 to 1944.Fox, whom Ring magazine rated as one of the top 100 punchers in history, was one of the many black fighters who struggled to get marquee fights because of his color. Although he never won a world title (black fighters in his day were often denied the opportunity), he did beat Hall of Famers such as Jersey Joe Walcott (twice, once by knockout), Maxie Rosenbloom (going 1-1-1) and Lou Brouillard.Booker, known as Black Dynamite, was another black fighter denied opportunities because of his color. He never got to fight for a world title, but he knocked out the great Hall of Famer Archie Moore in their third fight (after twice battling him to a draw) and also defeated Hall of Famers Holman Williams (going 1-1-1) and Lloyd Marshall.In the observer category, I could pick five although two will be elected. I voted for three and hope for a tie so they each get in. I voted for one holdover on the 30-person ballot, former longtime Showtime blow-by-blow announcer Steve Albert, and both newcomers: Barry Tompkins and Steve Farhood, broadcast partners on Showtimes ShoBox: The New Generation series. But Tompkins made his HOF case years ago as the voice of HBO boxing calling the biggest fights of the 1980s (go watch Leonard-Hagler or Pryor-Arguello I, for example, to hear how great he is). Farhood, a friend of mine for many years, is a top-notch analyst, writer and historian. He has worked every single round of every single fight since ShoBox debuted in 2001 and served as editor-in-chief of Ring from 1989 to 1997. He should be a lock.From the 35-person non-participant ballot -- three will be elected -- I voted for one man: famed ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Sr., who died in 1992. His son, Jimmy Lennon Jr., one of todays most famous ring announcers, learned the craft from his father and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2013. It is preposterous that his father is not already in. Lennon Sr. should have been elected years ago and his absence is a travesty that needs to be corrected. Cheap NFL T-shirts Discount Jerseys Wholesale NFL Gear Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping China Jerseys Cheap Stitched Jerseys NFL Jerseys China Jerseys NFL Cheap Cheap Stitched Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic ' ' '