The best non-football thing at the Ohio State-Akron game today was the enormous, hearty booing that greeted a promotional announcement for Big Ten Network. BTN, as you know, has been playing tough with cable companies, so fans who did not have a satellite dish did not get to see the OSU-UA game. It was nice to see that the savvy Buckeye fans recognized BTN's villainy, which in addition to boos prompted cries of "Greedy!"

I will note, too, that the boos came in a stadium where fans were for the most part courteous about UA. (The game announcer asks for courtesy, and a card handed out on behalf of Bob Evans says "we cheer for a good play and respect the visiting team" and "we use pleasant language and never boo.") Which doesn't make its many getting-loud traditions any easier to bear, of course.

And, yes, there were occasional remarks, even in the section where we sat with other clusters of UA fans. But even the comments were good natured; when a Buckeye fan behind us asked if there were any Zips fans were there, the bride — who is also a Buckeye fan, but not today — raised her hand. The guy grinned and made clear he meant no harm.

So the boos about BTN were all the more telling.

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