One of Ohio States most loyal fans will have the best seat in the house for Saturday's game against Indiana, watching proudly from high above Ohio Stadium.

Fred Machol, my friend and Buckeye extraordinaire, went home yesterday, passing peacefully with his 12 children at his side in south Texas where he resided. At age 94, he had lived quite a life.

For those who have followed my blog, you will remember that I first met Fred in 2008 at the spring game in Ohio Stadium, after which I wrote of The Man In The Hat. In his memory, I have re-posted below my blog of that day. Over the last two years I have shared with my readers several things about Fred and his amazing life. Following one such posting, he wrote me back saying, "Thank you for the kind words, but I am not used to this much baloney."

Francis Schmidt, Jesse Owens, World War II, Eisenhower, D-Day, - the experiences and knowledge shared in our back and forth emails was fascinating. Fred told me once that in '34, when he was a freshman at Ohio State, he sold his Michigan Game ticket for $2. Even then, that was double what he got for the other games.

Fred's greatest accomplishment though was his family; twelve children, graduates of many different colleges, and scattered across the country now, but they are all still Buckeyes to the core. And on game days it was a source of great pride for him to fly unapologetically, his huge Ohio State flag, in the middle of Longhorn territory, deep in the heart of Texas. Now that's a Buckeye.

Rest in peace my friend, Fred Machol.