Friends, I received the following email from Jan Lust, one of my good friends and story tellers. It certainly contains words of wisdom applicable to Buckeyes everywhere across this vast country, and with Jan's blessing, I am sharing it with you intact and in it's entirety.....Steve

To My Ohio Friends:

Well, today was the day for me. I was off Monday and Tuesday. Today I had to go back to work...in Florida...and face ALL the nay-sayers, laughing and finger pointing from my working collegues. Florida is probably the worst place for a Buckeye to live after a loss to an SEC team.

I delayed as much as I could. Finally, I pulled myself together...ready to face the music and the ridicule I probably so richly deserved. (I did my share of trash talking before the BIG Game). At 7:15AM this morning, I went out the door to go to work. I thought about calling in sick, causing an accident on the way in, or inventing some sort of crisis to keep me from the dreaded moment of truth, facing Gator fans and their accusations ... the Big Ten is too slow, Ohio State is 0 and 9 against the SEC..and on and on and on.

I walked to the newspaper dispenser in front of the Complex Office where I live. Gathered in front of the door were the workers and maintenance men, waiting to begin their day. They were all talking and eating bagels, and donuts. Some were puffing on their cigarettes and relaxing. My world suddenly changed. On the bench at the edge of the sidewalk, placed directly under a beautiful green palm tree was one of the workers...a man named Vincent. He was dressed in blue jeans, wearing an Ohio State T-Shirt with the number 45, and a baseball cap with a BIG OSU logo in the middle, between his eyes. I looked at him in disbelief. Vince was sitting there with his legs crossed, relaxed, reading the morning news. I suppose this is when my world changed. Here I was dressed in anything BUT scarlet and gray, and trying to figure out how I was going to slither in to work un-noticed....when I see Vincent....DECKED OUT IN BUCKEYE PRIDE.

I walked over and stood directly in front of him. "Nice day Vincent, eh?" "Yup, it is." he replied. Silence. More silence. Then, I just had to ask. "Vince, dammit, how do you handle the B___ S____ from all the SEC folks here?" Well," he replied,"when they start the "jawin'" I just wait until they are finished and I tell them I have one question to ask. Where was your team this year? Maybe we lost, again, but at least we were in it. Did your team make it to the big game? So, friends, before you throw buckeyes at me, check to see if your house can take the same barrage. Unless your school is LSU, you have nothing to say to me. And then there is silence as I walk away with a half Buddha smile.

At least WE, Ohio State were there! This is why I am proud to be a Buckeye. In the end, what really matters is what we did, not what we didn't. What we did was show up. We were number One. How many schools would like to make it that far? Win or Lose, I'm a Buckeye. And my last words to you my friend will always be...Go Bucks, Beat Michigan."

I went on to work. Held my head high. Had a great day.

How was yours?

Jan Lust, R-Row, 62-67,TBDBITL
Go Bucks!