For the sports and games list, I had an opportunity to go around the city and learn a lot about the city as well as its ties to sports and games. As any major city in the United States, Columbus has many sporting related ties. Baseball, hockey, soccer, and forms of every sport are prominent in Columbus, but with that being said, there are very few professional sports teams in the city, which, as with many things in this city can be tied back to the Ohio State Buckeyes. So as I begin to talk about my experience, I thought it should be noted that the presence of Ohio State and professional teams in Cleveland and Cincinnati have made it less desirable to move an NFL or NBA team to the city that could take a back seat to this city’s beloved Buckeyes.

The first experience was a repeat of one I have had many times, a Columbus Crew SC game. The Columbus Crew are the Major League Soccer affiliate in Columbus. I got my ticket to the game against the Chicago Fire through the D-Tix program for students at the Ohio Union. The game was a great experience as always. Attending a home game for the Crew includes a trip to the oldest soccer-specific stadium in the United States, a great venue on the northeast side of Columbus. This time, I sat with some of my friends in Nordecke, the supporters’ section, and the picture attached is where I roamed with some friends to take in the game from a different part of the stadium for a bit.

The second experience was a Columbus Blue Jackets game. I got my ticket for this game through the D-Tix program as well. I decided to drive to this game and arrived about an hour early. The access to the arena was smooth (as I get the impression that it typically is) and parking cost $20 I the garage right next to the arena. The game was certainly entertaining, finishing with a 2-1 Blue Jacket win in overtime. The crowd was good for a Tuesday night, overall a great experience for my first live NHL game.

The third experience was the Super Awesome Arcade. The arcades that I visited were more challenging for me. I have always been a sports fan and could talk about the two experiences above until anyone reading this fell asleep, but the arcades were a new experience for me. I had never been to an actual stand-alone arcade before, but it was good to try it, something I never would have done without this assignment. I have attached a picture of the Super Awesome Arcade to kind of give a feel of the inside of the building. It was a more traditional arcade with machine games and very focused on the game side of things more than the other arcade I went to.

The final place I went was the Old North Arcade. As with the other arcade, I felt a little out of place here, but I think that was only because I am new to arcades. The picture I attached was of the menu here, but it’s for a reason. This arcade was more of a mix between a bar and arcade. The crowd was a lot of mid-20’s people who went out to have drinks at the arcade rather than a bar.

That does it for my Columbus To-do List experience. I really have learned a lot about the city from this experience. I learned a little about how to get around, by foot, bus, or car, navigating my way around the city and learning about the layout. I also learned a little about what some of the people who live in and around Columbus to for fun and what they are passionate about. I feel a strong connection between the people of the city and their sports teams and games that is stronger than I could have known.

For the FOTO project, I enjoyed my group and the process in general. It gave me a chance as an engineering major to see some of the design process and how some of the steps go in any project. Selecting the site, the group sat down to find a site using google earth. I focused on the campus area as some others did, mostly because this is an area that has some underdeveloped areas that we are all familiar with. We began to realize that about eight days per year, the bank of the Olentangy River is one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in the country and one that could be enjoyed by many people to enhance their experiences on game day at Ohio Stadium. This combined with the energy use of the stadium gave us our idea of combining a tailgate area with wind turbines to power the stadium. I would rate my group experience around an 8.5 out of 10. With such a small project and so many people working on it, it was hard to find time to meet and specific tasks for everyone to do. The presentation was frustrating because I had different ideas on how to get everyone involved and not everyone ended up speaking, but overall, I enjoyed my group and the process as a whole. In the future, smaller groups may help to get everyone doing something and being able to contribute to the ideas and work of the group. scholars-vignette-project-keynote

For the Columbus to do list, I chose to do sports and games. I have always enjoyed sports, but I have little experience with Columbus sports. My family has always enjoyed sports. My dad introduced my brother and I to sports, especially Buckeye Football. Some of my earliest memories and some of my best memories have been made with my brother and dad going to a game or even staying at home and even watching on TV. However, this Columbus experience will give me new ways to experience sports in the city I hope to call home for at least a few more years. It will be a good chance to rediscover something I love in my new town and give me chances to get off campus for a bit this year and beyond. For this project, I have done one of the events already this year, attending a Columbus Crew game. I went to a game this fall and it was the third time that I had been to a Columbus Crew game. I enjoyed it a lot, sitting in the supporters’ section called Nordeke. It is another interesting experience to go to the game without anyone I know. Overall, it was still a good experience, as I got to see the Crew pull out the win. I’m looking forward to trying some of the other events on the list as I’ve already gone to Crew and Clippers games, but plan to go to a Blue Jackets game soon and hit an arcade or two as well. I think this will be a great experience for me to see different parts of the city while doing something I enjoy tremendously.