The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Bob Bulen calls himself "Buckeye Bob" - and with good reason. He has attended every Ohio State football game since mid-1975 - 335 in a row. Now that streak is in jeopardy.

ARE YOU GOING?

Hey, Ohio State fans! Headed to the Fiesta Bowl? The Enquirer wants to hear your stories as you prepare to leave for Friday's national championship game and then talk to you while you're soaking up the scene in Tempe. Contact Rick Green, assistant manager editor for Business and Metro, in the Enquirer newsroom at (513) 768-8477. Or, better yet, send him an e-mail at rgreen@enquirer.com. Please include your telephone number here in Cincinnati and/or where you'll be in Tempe.

Bulen has not been able to obtain tickets for Friday's Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., where the Buckeyes play Miami for the national championship.

Bowl officials have allotted 16,000 tickets for Ohio State fans at Sun Devil Stadium, which seats 73,471 people. That's not nearly enough to meet requests from Ohio State fans, who show up 100,000 strong for every home game.

"It's the toughest (ticket demand) it's ever been," said Bulen, chief bailiff for Franklin County Municipal Court. "Extra tickets just aren't out there."

Even Bulen's membership in Ohio State's President's Club for significant donors hasn't helped him in the scramble for tickets.

Bulen and his wife, attorney Martha Dean, have been talking to friends, co-workers and relatives for weeks about obtaining tickets.

The closest they came to getting a pair occurred Wednesday, when a friend took $800 to someone who had two tickets for sale. By the time the friend arrived at the seller's house, the tickets already had been sold.

Even with time running out, Bulen remains upbeat.

He and Dean are in Arizona and will have almost a week there to try to round up tickets. He expects to pay as much as $1,000 a ticket.

"I'll get in, even if I have to dig a tunnel," Bulen said.

His wife is not as optimistic. "I figure there will be 20,000 OSU fans down there like us looking for tickets," she said.

Bulen's streak of attending every Ohio State home, away and bowl game began Oct. 11, 1975, when the Buckeyes beat Iowa in Ohio Stadium.

"At first, I wasn't even thinking about going to all the games," he said. "It just sort of happened."

Bulen didn't even let his September 1990 marriage to Dean interrupt his attendance string. The starting time of the home game against Texas Tech that day was moved back at the last minute, Bulen recalled.

He attended the game, but left at halftime. "I rushed home and saw the second half on TV," he said.

Minutes after the game ended, Bulen and Dean were married in their home. "The whole wedding party was crowded around that TV," Dean said.

SEE CINERGY IMPLOSION
Animation from Enquirer photos
Video from WCPO
Galleries: Implosion | Crowd | Aerial shots | Views from Kentucky

CINERGY IMPLOSION STORIES
Cinergy Field down in 37 seconds
Cleanup begins today, will take months
What's next for the Riverfront?
New skyline already earning praise
No hitches, no errors
Partiers impressed by implosion
Fifty-five years that shaped Cincinnati's riverfront

BENGALS
Bengals reach new low in 27-9 loss to Bills
Bengals players, fans wait for Brown to act
Game statistics
Bengals Report Card
Bengals By The Numbers
Frustrated Spikes contemplating future
Bengals Notebook: Kitna misses $1.6M bonus

NFL
Browns make playoffs but lose Couch
Fans can say Browns are back
Jets in; Pats, Dolphins out
Sunday Night Game: Bucs 15, Bears 0

XAVIER MUSKETEERS
After West's outburst, XU circles wagons
Xavier 84, Eastern Ky. 60
Creighton warms up for Xavier with 10th straight win

UC BEARCATS
UC 66, Miami 54
Fouls hurt RedHawks
UC-Miami Notebook: Hicks comes back
DAUGHERTY: What if UC had beaten Ohio State?

WOMEN'S CROSSTOWN SHOOTOUT
UC women beat Xavier with defense
Ex-Bearcats, Pirtle say hello

OTHER COLLEGE BASKETBALL NEWS
Miami looks for breather tonight
NKU finally loses a game
Kentucky's confidence shaken
Duke 85, Dayton 74

FIESTA BOWL
Miami: Buckeyes can't match our speed
All-American Wilhelm letting play do talking
Tough ticket may end OSU fans' streak of 335 straight games
OSU antsy after long vacation

OTHER COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEWS
UK will introduce football coach today
Today's Bowl Games

PREP SPORTS
West's Maupin commits to Ohio State
High School Week Preview
LeBron James legend grows
Sunday's High School Results
High School Schedules
Prep sports home page

WHAT'S ON TV
Today on TV