Killer Nuts Tailgating

In what has become a tradition since Ohio State announced the expansion of the medical center, it’s time to take a look at our parking options for the upcoming season.

First thing: Chances that we’ll be parking in the lot we used last year are zero; sources close to the tailgate (uh, that would be my mom) say the lot is currently a fenced-in part of the construction site for the new physical plant thing that’s being built as part of the hospital expansion. So there’s that.

Next thing: We did, however, set an interesting precedent in 2011 in that we got the OK from parking services to use a handicapped space in a lot that wasn’t otherwise available for football parking. And even though my father is newly bionic (after his hip replacement last winter), we still have that hang-tag, and we’re still willing to use it. I have no idea if there are other possibilities for us close to our traditional spot, but we’re certainly going to take a look.

The other thing: As was the case a year ago, another option is the lot north of St. John Arena, which is dedicated to vehicles with handicapped hang-tags. That option — with its wide swath of asphalt and dearth of green — is still available. I wasn’t excited about it last year, and I wasn’t excited about it again this summer when Bud started a round of emails to discuss the parking situation. It’s good in some ways — it’s much closer to the stadium than we’ve ever been, and there’s a shuttle that could get Bud to the game when his shiny new hip isn’t feeling so bionic — but still, it’s a far cry from what we’re used to.

And then I noticed something else.

Take a look at this map, which I clipped from the university’s official 2012 football parking map. The royal blue north of St. John is the handicapped parking. Note that it not only covers the area north of our old basketball barn, but that it includes a little swath around the ice rink. Given that that L-shaped finger curls around the rink building and abuts Remembrance Park, I wondered what those spaces might look like.

Yes, Google’s satellite photos can be outdated, but HEY — TREES. RIGHT ACROSS WOODY HAYES DRIVE FROM THE STADIUM. It might be that we’d have to arrive stupid early to get one of those spaces, BUT HOLY CRAP,  WE COULD TAILGATE THERE.

Thoughts?