This is one of those weekends a sports fan might feel overwhelmed. There are at least four big sports events that will take place beginning Friday night. Let's look at them chronologically.
Friday, the Columbian Tornadoes will be in some pretty heady territory as they reach the regional level in the Ohio High School Athletic Association football playoffs. They play defending state champion Avon Lake, with the kickoff set for 7:30 at Harmon Field in Fremont.
Columbian has rolled over its first two playoff opponents this season in reaching its highest level in the playoffs so far.
I remember the last time Columbian won its first playoff game. Over the two week period, the weather made a complete about face.
In the opening game of the playoffs, game time temperatures were 50-60 degrees and the Tornadoes polished off visiting Anthony Wayne at Columbian Stadium rather handily.
However, the following week, they took on Cleveland Benedictine at Sandusky. Temperatures dropped during the day and by the time the caravan of cars was headed up Route 4, roads were snow and ice covered and the wind was howling off Lake Erie.
Traffic was slowed to a crawl for the last couple of miles to the stadium. It seemed the worst possible weather for Columbian's game, which depended largely on the pass.
Benedictine, on the other hand, also had a running game … better suited to the conditions … and used it to end the Tornadoes' season "on the frozen tundra" of Stroble Field.
On Saturday, a couple of traditional college rivalries will be contested. Certainly the best known is the Ohio State-Michigan game in Columbus. Except for rabid fans of either team, the game carries a little less luster than it has in some seasons.
Michigan has a chance for an outright Big Ten championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl.
The Buckeyes, on the other hand, are out of any post season picture. However, they will be trying to show their ability to focus on the task at hand, shutting out the distractions of an NCAA investigation into charges of improper benefits for football athletes during the national championship season.
The other major college rivalry taking place on Saturday is the annual matchup between Bowling Green State University and the University of Toledo. It doesn't gather as much attention outside Northwest Ohio, or even inside Northwest Ohio for that matter, but for the schools involved and their fans, it is The Game.
The two schools are located just 25 miles apart. They have perennially been among the top teams in the Mid-American Conference for many years and the growth of the intense rivalry was natural.
Finally, NASCAR winds up its 2004 season on Sunday with a race at Homestead, Florida. It's the conclusion of the Big N's first attempt at maintaining the suspense of its top series championship.
In previous years, the championship often was decided with a race or two left in the season, sometimes won by a team which did not win a lot of races. This year, teams raced through the first part of the season to be among the top ten in points prior to the final ten races.
Those ten then started with zero points to race for the championship.
Going into the final race in Florida Jeff Gordon leads the series, followed by Kurt Busch, Jimmy Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Wishes: Columbian, Ohio State, Bowling Green and Earnhardt.
Expectations: Columbian, Michigan, Bowling Green, Gordon.