Autumn Spectacle: Dotting the "i"

Dotting the "i"
by AutumnSpectacle.com staff

Marching bands help set the tone on gameday. The musicians descend to the field with showmanship and the thunderous melodies fill the home crowd with feelings of excitement and loyalty. Every school’s band has its pregame tradition and at The Ohio State University, they "dot the i.”

The Script Ohio is as anticipated by Buckeye fans as the game itself. After taking the field with the “Buckeye Battle Cry,” the drum major leads The Best Damn Band In The Land (TBDBITL) in forming a cursive Ohio as they march to the song, “Le Regiment.”

The standing crowd claps in syncopation as the band members follow the drum major to the west side of Ohio Stadium. He marches his way to the top of the “O” with his mates in perfect single file behind him. Then, he makes the loop at the top of the “O” and connects it to the “h.” Next is the “i” and the excitement in the stadium grows as “Le Regiment” becomes background music while everyone, OSU fan or not, fixates on the leader in the tall, white hat.

At the base of the “i,” a sousaphone player stands directly behind the drum major as he leads the band to the “o.” It is the sousaphone player – a senior, by tradition – who is the star of the show. In step, he follows the drum major to the top of the small “o” and the crowd roars.

courtesy Ohio State Marching Band Once they reach the peak of the “o,” the drum major highsteps his way toward the top of the “i” with the sousaphone player in tow matching his high knees. The drum major marks the spot and the sousaphone player plants his feet firmly there to officially “dot the i.”

With cameras, binoculars and eyes on him, he doffs his black hat before bowing to the crowd – instrument and all. The “i” has been dotted and the game can officially start.

Everywhere he goes during the week, the i-Dotter is treated with absolute reverence. At alumni and fan functions, he is introduced, “Ladies and gentlemen, here’s (insert name) – this week’s i-Dotter.” It is so special that there have only been three honorary i-Dotters: Legendary coach Woody Hayes, comedian Bob Hope and alumnus golfer Jack Nicklaus.

Veteran broadcaster Beano Cook summed it up best. “Outside of becoming a parent or grandparent, when you dot the ‘i,’ there’s nothing else to look forward to. You’ve dotted the ‘i’!” Cook said. “I’d rather dot the ‘i’ before I die than be president because it’s a bigger honor.”

But, where did this longstanding tradition begin? None other than with the University of Michigan, the Bucks’ most hated rival. The Wolverine band initiated the Script Ohio ritual as a tribute to OSU during their game in Columbus during the 1932 season.

In 1936, TBDBITL made "the incomparable Script Ohio" their own and no college football fan could imagine gameday inside The Horseshoe without it.

For more Traditions & Pageantry, click on the masthead and Chris Schenkel quote.

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“Football is to college life what color is to painting. It makes college life throb and vibrate."
- Bob Zuppke, Illinois Head Coach, 1913-41