Script Ohio

Last updated
Script Ohio
StatusActive
GenreMusical performance
Country United States
InauguratedOctober 10, 1936 (1936-10-10)
Next eventDecember 29, 2023
at Cotton Bowl Classic

Script Ohio is a musical drill performed by the Ohio State University Marching Band during pregame celebrations at Ohio State University American football games. The first instance of a standing script Ohio formation on the field was made by the University of Michigan. The intricate moving and marching formation that is seen today, however, was created by The Ohio State University Marching Band. It has been credited as the earliest example of "moving script writing" by a marching band and has been variously described as "one of college football's most iconic, longstanding traditions" and among "the most impressive examples of American folk art in existence". The maneuver is performed to the Robert Planquette march "Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse".

Contents

Maneuver

An inverted view of Script Ohio performed in 2015 Script Ohio.gif
An inverted view of Script Ohio performed in 2015

The entire Script Ohio performance takes approximately 3.5 minutes to execute and, traditionally, is the second drill performed in the Ohio State University Marching Band's pregame show. [1] The Ohio State University Marching Band has described the drill:

The band first forms a triple-Block O formation, then slowly unwinds to form the famous letters while playing Robert Planquette's "Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse". The drum major leads the outside O into a peel-off movement around the curves of the script, with every musician in continual motion. Slowly the three blocks unfold into a long singular line which loops around, creating the OSUMB's trademark.

Following the complete formation of the word "Ohio", a single sousaphone player breaks off from the main ranks of the band and, using a high-kicking step colloquially called the "strut", marches into position to the top of the letter "i", thereby "dotting" it. Before playing a solo (if a solo is to be played), the strut ends with a 24-count "hats off bow". Under normal execution when done by the entire band, this bow has a set of verbal commands to be screamed while executing it, namely "[halt], kick, down-2, hats-2, off-2-3-4, down-2-3-4, up-2-3-4, on-2, down-2, O-HI-O". This climax of the i-dotting drill, though, is usually performed on-count to one side of the stadium (facing up away from the script) and more slowly/artistically to the other side of the stadium (facing down towards the script). The band then marks time in position while singing "Buckeye Battle Cry" to the accompaniment of the lone sousaphone player who has "dotted the i". [2]

The "i" being "dotted" before a 2016 game against the University of Nebraska
Bob Hope (pictured) was an honorary "i dotter". Bob Hope, 1978.jpg
Bob Hope (pictured) was an honorary "i dotter".
Jack Nicklaus is pictured here in 2006 serving as an honorary "i dotter". Script Ohio.jpg
Jack Nicklaus is pictured here in 2006 serving as an honorary "i dotter".

History

Origins

An "Ohio" formation in cursive script was first performed by the University of Michigan Marching Band during a 1932 football game between that school and Ohio State University. [3] This version, however, saw the band move directly into the word as opposed to maneuvering in a floating formation as would later become associated with Script Ohio. [4]

On October 24, 1936, the Ohio State University Marching Band first performed the Script Ohio maneuver during a game at Ohio Stadium between Ohio State University and the University of Pittsburgh. [4] Eugene Weigel, the band's director, charted the formation and was reportedly influenced by the design of the word "Ohio" in the marquee of the Loew's Ohio Theatre in Columbus, Ohio. During this time position charts had yet to be developed to guide marching band maneuvers and the band's drum major led the band through the formation as a practical necessity, rather than for ceremonial effect as would be the case later. [5]

Though the tradition of "dotting the i" would later be assigned to sousaphone players, the first person to "dot the i" was John W. Brungart, a trumpet player from Coshocton, Ohio. [3]

The year following its introduction, the Associated Press credited Script Ohio as the first instance of a marching band executing moving script writing and Weigel reported receiving almost daily inquiries from directors of other marching band asking "how to devise letter tricks". [6] By 1939 "Script Ohio" had become the band's "most popular formation". [7]

Later history

At a 1966 game against Texas Christian University a "dual" Script Ohio was first performed by combining the personnel of both the Ohio State University Marching Band and Ohio State's alumni band to form two of the formations on-field simultaneously, with one facing either side of the stadium. [5] Four Script Ohios were simultaneously performed for the first time in 1977 at a game against the University of Miami. [5]

In 2015, Mike Hudoba - then a doctoral candidate at the Ohio State University College of Engineering - formed DNA strands into Script Ohio as a demonstration of a newly discovered technique developed by Ohio State scientists to recreate DNA bonds into specific shapes as a method of delivering medicine to specific cells in the human body. [8] The DNA Script Ohio, which took more than two years to create, was subsequently inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records as the "smallest logo ever made". [9]

Honorary "i-dotters"

Serving as an honorary "i dotter" has been called by coach Jim Harbaugh "the most beloved honor an Ohio State man or woman may receive". [10] Former Ohio State football coach Earle Bruce's appearance as an honorary "i dotter" was included in his obituary. [11] Other honorary "i dotters" include Buster Douglas, Bob Hope, Jack Nicklaus, Gordon Gee, and Woody Hayes. [12]

Trademark

A graphic representation of Script Ohio is used as one of several branding devices by Ohio State University. The university registered a trademark on this device and has previously sued companies infringing on it through the production of unlicensed clothing and apparel. The university has also trademarked the phrase "Script Ohio". [13]

Reception

Described as a "famous" drill by USA Today and the Washington Post , Script Ohio was named "one of college football's most iconic, longstanding traditions" by Sports Illustrated, while Columbus Dispatch sports columnist Bob Hunter has remarked that he had "never spoken with a fan who had just attended his first Ohio State football game who didn't mention it as a highlight, if not the highlight of his day". [14] Writing in Rolling Stone in 2016, John B. Thompson called Script Ohio "one of the most impressive examples of American folk art in existence". [15]

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References

  1. ↑ Fisher, Sara (November 22, 2010). "Script Ohio' has roots in Michigan marching band's history". The Lantern . Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Traditions - Script Ohio". tbdbitl.osu.edu. The Ohio State University Marching Band. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Bovenzi, Giustini (November 20, 2015). "The unlikely history behind "Script Ohio:" One of college football's most iconic, longstanding traditions". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Higgs, Robert (October 7, 2016). "Script Ohio: An 'incomparable' college football icon at age 80". Cleveland Plain Dealer . Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 "When cursive counts: Script Ohio's 75th anniversary". University Libraries. Ohio State University . Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Ohio State Band to Give Razzle Dazzle Exhibition During Saturday's Battle". Times Recorder. newspapers.com. Associated Press. October 22, 1937. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Buckeye Band Best in Land, Grid Fans Say". Sandusky Register . October 6, 1939. Retrieved April 28, 2018– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Student creates Script Ohio out of DNA". Sunny 95 . March 15, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Script Ohio from DNA Origami Dubbed "Officially Amazing" by The Guinness Book of World Records". MAE News. Ohio State University. March 10, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  10. ↑ Maisel, Ivan (November 20, 2016). "Lives of Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh lead to rivalry's new Ten Year War". ESPN . Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Ohio State coaching great Bruce dies at 87". UPI . April 20, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Band Trivia". wosu.org. WOSU-FM . Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  13. ↑ "SCRIPT OHIO - Trademark Details". justia.com. Justia . Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  14. ↑ Hunter, Bob (2012). Saint Woody: The History and Fanaticism of Ohio State Football. Potomac Books. p. 203. ISBN   978-1612342009.
  15. ↑ Thompson, John (January 7, 2016). "Sex, Scandal and the Marching Band: Inside the New Rules at Ohio State". Rolling Stone . Retrieved April 28, 2018.
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