OhVarsity: Who I Am, Where I’ve Been, and Where We’re Going

Carson Field, 1919 [UC Libraries]

Hi.

My name is Spencer Tuckerman, but if you’re reading this, you probably know me as OhVarsity. For those of you who thought I was the alias of someone important: Ha, joke’s on you! I’m literally nobody!

I’ll make my introduction brief, because OhVarsity has never been about me. I, like many of you, am a UC alumnus. I left Clifton last year after studying Electronic Media and Journalism. (This explains my hard-hitting reporting.) I grew up in Cleveland, which explains two things: (1) Why I aggressively tweeted my way through the first six NBA Finals games this year, much to the chagrin of many, and (2) Why OhVarsity exists. 95% of my friends are from Cleveland, and are therefore Buckeye fans. Tweeting about the Bearcats was like whispering in a noisy room. I started OhVarsity with the hopes of finding a hundred people to chat UC with via Twitter. The thing ran off the rails, and 1,800+ followers later, here we are.

My stupid, rambling tweeting has been way more entertaining to me than I deserve. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to respond to my A+ tweets. It sounds sappy, but OhVarsity would be nothing without all you idiots driving it. Keep up the banter.

At this point you’ve got to be wondering why I’m bothering to do this. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re reading this on the newest Bearcats blog. I write a lot, and I write about a lot of things. A few of those things even end up online. The problem is, I haven’t written about the Bearcats much recently. That sucks, because I love the Bearcats. Once upon a time in 2013 and 2014, I wrote for Cincy On The Prowl. That place is great, filled with a a lot of talented writers, and Chris did a heck of a job with it while he ran the show. He let me write a lot of stupid stuff. (One time I wrote about how getting wiped by SMU was a good thing.) I’d like to go back to writing while also having the ability to call my own shots and pick my own teammates.

UC actually has a pretty great blog community. Between podcasting, tweeting, and writing, Cincy On The Prowl, Down The Drive, and Bearcats Blog cover things like a blanket. Toss in local coverage from outlets like The Enquirer, and fans have a wide selection of places to get news and opinions. There’s not much more you can ask for as a fan of an athletic department that’s still trying to make it big. (#Big12Confirmed, though.)

OhVarsity.com is going to be a little different. I won’t explain this too much right now, because I hope it will start to make sense as the weeks go on. Look for something resembling my tweets but in blog form. There will be lots of hard-hitting #content, strong takes, some 🔥 petty posts, and probably a lot more Bearcats history than you’re used to. (The history part doesn’t fit well on Twitter, so I’m really excited to tear it up on here.) I’m not going to try to compete with blogs who know what they’re doing and have been doing it for years. I refuse to be the USF of the Bearcats Blogosphere.

Riding shotgun out of the gate will be Alex Apyan. If this site starts to take off, maybe I’ll expand again. If you all hate this website and tweet me stuff like “You suck, nerd” I’m probably just gonna delete it and act like none of this ever happened.

At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Goodness gracious, this stupid letter is eight times as long as it needs to be.” Preposterous. I’m not the type to run stuff into the ground or make a spectacle out of nothing.

Thanks for reading. Get ready to read some more.

WE DID IT!

–@spncrtckrmn