Hi! This going to be a pretty long post, but I’ve been wanting to tell our (possibly mundane) story since we made our decision.

My husband and I both graduated from UC in ’99. He with his masters, myself with a bachelors. He and I weren’t overly active on campus, but did attend a few football and basketball games. We were far from diehards, but there weren’t many diehards back then anyway. My memories of UC weren’t negative, but they were just… meh. Completely neutral. Good education, but otherwise just a school. Anyway, we moved not far north (Middletown) and work out of Dayton. Close to where we work, but not far from home. We have been fans from afar towards the Bengals as we love football, only watching on TV, and haven’t made the trip to campus since graduation.

A friend of ours is a big soccer fan, also a Bearcat fan. Loved the Crew but has converted to the new Cincinnati team. Anyway, he invited us to go down and check out the Crew vs FCC game. We agreed, and made the trip down for the game. We got there early, so our friend could show us around and we could eat. And did he ever show us around. Our campus is incredible. Its night and day from what I remember. Then there was Calhoun and McMillan, dear god, they took a trashy field and some crappy restaurants and turned it into this beautiful set of shops and places to eat, apartments, GARAGES! The campus has transformed too! Green spaces, cool architecture, that giant press box over Nippert! It was gorgeous. We were blown away. I felt sort of proud, but sort of like it wasn’t the same University that I went to.

We took our seats and we all know how the game ended. FCC beat Columbus Crew. Wild night, we drank a little after, then our friend took us home, but not before inviting us back for the next FCC game. Fast forward a couple weeks, and the goalkeeper blocks that last shot and our stadium absolutely blew up. I had never heard it so loud (keep in mind its been YEARS). We asked our friend what it was like when it was really full at football games, and he went on a long rant about the rise of the football team, just how ridiculously loud it really can get, told us about our new coach, some of our players past and present. He showed us some videos later at the bar about big games at Nippert with the Bearcats. My husband fell in love with the atmosphere and the campus and the thought of a truly sold out Nippert for a football game, and it didn’t take me much convincing either.

We haven’t bought the tickets yet, as our friend and us are trying to convince another set of Long Lost Bearcats to return home, but by the end of the month there will be at least 5 new season ticket holders (maybe 8!). But I just wanted to share with fellow Bearcat fans my (and my husbands) renewed sense of pride and school spirit. I'm looking forward to coming back to campus as often as we can. I’m a little frustrated we never gave them the chance in the past, but better late than never! We look forward to seeing everyone at Nippert, maybe even at some tailgates if we can get down early enough!

I'll try and post here as often as I can, and sorry if this type of post is spam. Anyway, hell of a first post, Go BEARCATS!