Ohio State senior sousaphone player earns opportunity to dot the ‘i’

COLUMBUS, Ohio — No matter what the score is at the end of each Buckeye football game, fans always get a win with the best damn band in the land.

One of the band’s biggest flexes is Script Ohio. The famous formation concludes with the dotting of the “i”, which is something only a select group of sousaphone players have the honor to do in their time at Ohio State.

Certain sousaphone players get the honor to do it each game.

“It was really challenging for me because I didn’t know how to play the instrument; it hurt my shoulder whenever I put it on,” said OSU senior Sean Bauman, who will be dotting the “i” at the first game of the season.

Bauman has been playing the sousaphone since his freshman year. The former saxophone player picked up the instrument, specifically to join The Best Damn Band In The Land. But the learning curve for him was not easy. Bauman was cut from the band twice. 

“There were points in that process where I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can. It’s been how many years and I still haven’t made it.’ But I was like, ‘this next year is going to be my year ‘..and then I made the band,” said Bauman. 

After putting in the work and making the band on the third try, Bauman is finishing out his college career marching.

And to his surprise, his college career would get that much sweeter.

Earlier this year, Bauman had already been told he would dot the i, but had no idea until this summer that it would be the first game of the season. Since then, he’s been practicing his music, his strut and doing a lot of stretching! 

And as the best damn band in the land prepares for their first game, being part of one of the biggest game day traditions is not something they take lightly.

 Bauman has gotten advice from past i dotters — to make sure he’s well prepared.

“Past i dotters have told me that they usually black out when they do that, and then they’re like woah, did I just do that? So I’m kind of expecting that a little bit,” said Bauman. 

Bauman encourages anyone hesitant to join the band, or even try out after being cut, to keep practicing and never give up.