The Ohio State. The definite article is important. That’s where all the weight is. It’s a signifier. The Twin Geeks. You’ve gotta have it. Whether you’re a historic college football institution or want to save marginally more money on domain names, the power of The is not up for debate.
If you’ve had the distinct Midwest pleasure of ever calling Ohio home, then you know how the state is about football. The football hall of fame is there. There are two professional teams: the Browns and the Bengals. There are college teams. And then there is The college team. The Ohio State Buckeyes.
The pride of the state. Noted for a history of excellence and this country’s greatest marching band formation. They dress in Cocaine White and Scarlet the Shoes, the tradition of the Buckeyes to an Ohioan is as clear as their bold scarlet red branding. Their helmets are adorned with green buckeye leaves, symbolizing big game-changing plays and the unique storied history of the school. You can almost hear the band play and the roar of the crowd as Brutus (a Buckeye nut themed mascot) runs down the field, and it’s a Rivalry game: Ohio vs Michigan. So singular is the rivalry they call it The Game.
What if a fan of The Ohio State Buckeyes said their best rivalry was with Illinois? Maybe the guy’s Dad told him something like that. His Dad, see is an Alma matter and he’s lived vicariously through the stories. Dad must’ve said those were the fun games.
Now the guy is here in Columbus, Ohio, and he’s not going to school here, but he’s gonna hangout for the football season as a sort of college football tourist and see if he can’t transfer some of Dad’s glory onto himself.
Not to talk ugly but Allen (John Washington) is not too socially adept. Mostly he goes hanging out at bars. Why is everyone partying? He gets confrontational. Aren’t you all here to see the game, he demands, of the people who live and breathe The Ohio State every day?
And no. It’s not actually about the game. Football is football. But Football is also more than football. The pageantry is the point. The spirit of the thing. You either get it or you don’t.
So, Allen comes to Columbus as a football tourist. His experience of the sport is televisual, instructive and not experiential. He doesn’t get it. So, he has to adapt to a whole new way of appreciating the game. Or he doesn’t.
Mostly he doesn’t. Mostly he fights it with awkward self surety. He has the history of a time-honored program that secures his earnestness.
Then it gets him into trouble. He has some scraps at the various sports bars around town. Finds an equally earnest plausible romantic interest, but is he too abnormally invested to forge a normal connection around it? Then, it leads to violence.
Fanboy is interesting. The toxicity of sports fans is worthy of examination. Bean McKee’s movie is just a bit hard to watch. Because it’s about social fallout. That both means it’s unapproachable and that it’s well-done at cultivating that social tension necessary to its themes. It’s both things. And it feels authentic. Like it captures the specificity of a particular experience. This is The Ohio State, after all, you have to be specific.