BUCKEYE FANS IN CA.

t BAKO BUCKEYES UNITE

I received a strong response from an earlier post, wondering how many Ohio State Buckeye alumni or fans live here locally. Reader Sunny Kapoor had e-mailed me to get in a dig at all those Oregon fans after the Ducks lost in the Rose Bowl.

A sampling of the responses:

* Louis Sun, wastewater superintendent for the city of Bakersfield, graduated from Ohio State in 1997 and said he too "bleeds scarlet and gray."

He was at the Rose Bowl game and said his expectations for the Buckeyes next year are "sky high."

* Dianne Hoover, director of our county recreation and parks department, told me that she grew up in central Ohio and though she didn't attend Ohio State, is a fan by birthright.

"Most of my family still lives in Ohio so I return for holidays and get the football fever all over again. My brother has an entire room dedicated to Ohio State football and yes, he did graduate from there. I bring 'buckeyes' to share with co-workers after a big win, or sometimes before one. A real buckeye comes from the nut of the buckeye tree, which can't be eaten by humans since it is poison to us when consumed, but not to touch. ... The buckeyes, the tree's way of reproducing itself, have a thorny outer shell, but when they fall off the tree, the shell splits open and the remaining nut looks like the eye of a buck -- hence the buckeye."

* Bill Allison, corporate sales manager for the Bakersfield Condors, chimed in that he grew up just south of Dayton, Ohio, in Centerville, the home of former Buckeyes and current NFL players Mike Nugent and A.J. Hawk.

"I wear my scarlet and gray proudly in the Condors office and can't wait for next season. Go Bucks!"

* And, finally, there is Frank Colatruglio, vice president of UBS Financial Services in Bakersfield who grew up in Tiffin, Ohio, and attended Bowling Green State University for three years before transferring to Cal State Bakersfield and falling in love with our community. He's been here 30 years but still roots for the Buckeyes.

"Growing up in Ohio where it is like Iceland this time of year, it always seemed the Rose Bowl was playing in some faraway land of perpetual sunshine and 72-degree temperatures."

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