Marketplace: so much closer when its not raining

Alright, I'm going to be perfectly honest with you all on this one: if you don't go to The Ohio State University, or have never visited (and when I say visited I mean stayed over a night and ate with someone during the day) you more than likely will have no idea what in the world I'm going to talk about right now.

As for all my fellow Buckeyes who may read this, including the two that I enjoyed a delightful dinner at Marketplace with tonight, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. So needless to say, proceed at your own risk. If you think you'll get bored or annoyed or anything of that nature, here is something else you can do to entertain yourself.

Ok, so first off let me start by saying that being a member of North Campus has both its positives and negatives, much like every other living place on campus. The positives are (from the way I see them) as follows: close to essentially all the main buildings where classes are, close to High St. and Lane Ave., air conditioned rooms, delightful and fun people in your dorm (for me at least), sweet sand volleyball courts, Burritos Noches, and last but not least, NOCO. Some of you may disagree with me on these, or believe that I left some out and I'm here to tell you I don't doubt that but those are the ones I could think of right now, so in the words of Bo Ryan, "Deal With It." As far as negatives go, I'm sure I'll be facing some nasty words for what I'm about to say. For one, we're far away from the RPAC, Marketplace, The Creamery at Mirror Lake, the rockin' life of south campus, and those SC Biddies. If you don't know what those are, just ask me. I'm not taking anything away from North Campus eating areas, but just like everything else, they get old. Real old. Real quick. Us who enjoy life on North are fairly close to the Union and the Oval, so no complaints there. We're also decently close to Thompson library and even closer to the Science and Engineering Library but that place is such a crapshoot it's almost baffling.

So anyways, back to my main point. Marketplace, as well as other South campus dining options are simply the cat's meow. Market has a plethora of options regarding what to munch on, with the vast majority of them being healthy and always yummy. There is also always the possibility that you will get to see some Buckeye athletes as you dine down there, because they live right there. I've seen everyone from the likes of Jared Sullinger, Aaron Craft, Braxton Miller, among others. It's sweet. You know it is.

You may be wondering why I'm talking about something as trivial as this and I'll tell you why. To me, food is a pretty big deal. Sure, I'll admit that I plan my day about when my next meal is and where I'm going to go-it gives me something to look forward to during the daily grind of classes and homework and all that other stuff. Food's awesome. Campus food is acceptable, but of course nothing like Momma Seger's home cooking which I always look forward to when I go home. The key is keeping variety, and as another one of my roommate's favorite quotes goes, "Variety is the spice of life." He couldn't be more right, which is why we made a pact. When the first nice day of Spring quarter finally rolled around, we said as long as it's nice outside, we were going to eat at either 1. Marketplace, 2. Oxley's (unreal sandwiches, but don't take meal swipes during the hours of 10-2...at least that makes sense), or 3. Simply something not on North Campus. It made the most sense, and today while it was sunny and 80 out after our workout we capitalized on the opportunity to make the lovely 15 minute trek down to 10th Ave. and Marketplace. It was totally worth it, as I feasted on their chicken bacon ranch pizza and a fresh side salad, one of my favorites to get there. It was beyond delicious, and the whole experience was made better by the company I enjoyed it with.

It was simply awesome, and again made me want to live on South Campus just for the time I was there. I would go there everyday if I could, but it's really not worth it if it's raining out unless you're a ninja and know all the bus schedules and routes (which have since changed thanks to the lovely construction that just started today on Woodruff Ave. and College Road) and can make a pretty quick trip out of it. Dining on North is always easier because it's closer, and we all know pasta night at NOCO is legit.

So basically what I'm getting at with this is saying that everything that is towards South campus is so much closer when it's not raining. And seeing as how it is raining now as I sit in the library and look at the forecast for the rest of the week, it seems like I made a wise choice of going there this evening for din din. The food gets better the farther south you go on campus here at Ohio State, and with only about two and a half weeks left of meal swipes I look to utilize that fact as much as possible. Weather permitting.

As a little side note I'd like to give shout out to the Ohio State men's tennis team, who lost today in the Final Four to top-seeded Virginia. Helluva run guys, and I hope you get there again next year.

Oh and the Reds? I'm strongly considering turning off the ESPN score alerts for their games because it just puts me in a bad mood when I get them if I'm not watching the game. After laying an egg in Cleveland this weekend, they got smacked in Philly tonight 10-3. 6 straight losses after 5 straight wins. Prince Albert and his friends are smiling as they increase their lead in the division. So frustrating.

Thank you, and Go Bucks!

Proud Buckeye who loves his South Campus food,

Eric Seger

Daily Segs