Ohio State band ‘I’ dotter is a Script Ohio legacy

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Among college marching bands, Ohio State’s Best Damn Band In The Land ranks as one of the most popular and recognized groups in America. 

And in the OSU band, the honor of dotting the “I” in Script Ohio stands as the most well-known individual honor among college bands, with senior sousaphone players earning that responsibility each year.

Sydney Reeves, a fourth-year sousaphone player from Dublin, will have the honor of dotting the I during Saturday’s alumni band show as the Buckeyes face Grambling State.

“I’m getting a little nervous, it’s like a nervous-excited,” Sydney says. 

She’s nervous because of just how much dotting the I means to her family; you could say she was born to do it.

“When she was two, said she wanted a little tuba to keep under her bed, and her whole life and adolescence was dedicated to this one goal,” Sydney’s mother, Wendy Reeves, said.  

Wendy Reeves understands the nerves because she’s been there herself – Wendy dotted the I in 1992, one year before her boyfriend, Chad, did the same. As it turns out, they were sousaphone soulmates.

“He proposed at a Skull session in front of 10,000 people, and we got married before we were done with band, so we were actually a married couple in the band,” Wendy Reeves said.

The couple dotted the I at the same time during a Cleveland Browns game, becoming the first married couple to ever dot together. 

Sydney Reeves began playing the tuba and the sousaphone well before her high school career at Dublin Coffman; Wendy Reeves works as a band director in the district, and her daughter grew up chasing the dream of performing the same routine as her parents. She also has two other family members who marched in TBDBITL. 

Saturday’s game will be the alumni band game, where Script Ohio is performed to all four sides of Ohio Stadium. Sydney Reeves will dot one of the four I’s, and then she will also dot the I at the Minnesota game later this season. While Wendy Reeves will be watching proudly from the stands, Chad will not: He died unexpectedly four years ago.

“He would have loved it so much,” Wendy Reeves said. “And he’s, he was so proud of Sydney. He and Sydney were incredibly close, and I just know he’s smiling down on her.”

Sydney Reeves said she’s making sure her dad is along for the ride Saturday.

“I have a Buckeye on a string that he wore when he was in band,” she said. “I wore all my first year. It’s old, it’s kind of falling apart. So I’ve saved it to wear for only when I dot just so that I have that with me. It’s a tradition, and I’m really excited to continue on this and continue the legacy of my family.”