Quote:
Originally Posted by MysticCat
I think it's okay if their parents/family went there, if they're locals or if they have some other reasonable connection to the school, even if they didn't attend as students themselves.
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This post made me realize that I was speaking in very broad terms and should clarify.
People who root for a school that is not their own doesn't necessarily bug me, depending on how far it goes. I am okay with people casually cheering for a team. For example, I cheered for Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl last year; my uncle went there, they're a Big Ten team, etc, etc, yay, go Badgers.
What I am NOT okay with, is someone who has no connection to a team and is ALL. ABOUT. THAT TEAM. A co-worker is like this with Ohio State. He went to college in Indiana and has no other ties to Ohio State except that he lived there. WTF?! Another example is I have a friend who is a BIG fan of both Alabama and Florida even though she went to Illinois. Her only logic is that she lived on both states for a little bit when growing up. Again, wtf!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MysticCat
I also think that an argument can be made that when a university is a public institution and is supported by tax dollars, then anyone who pays those taxes can claim some degree of "stake" in the school and is entitled to root it.
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Yes, it can be made, but I don't agree with it
(As I mentioned before, I know it makes me sound snobby. I've accepted it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AOII Angel
Considering most people become fans of these teams BEFORE they go to college (or not at all) it's pretty silly to think only people who attend a certain University will be a fan. If I knew that choosing to attend NLU would cancel out growing up in Baton Rouge and going to LSU games my entire life, maybe that full paid scholarship wouldn't have looked so enticing. My husband is a LSU FANATIC but went to LA Tech. I don't think his mom would have been okay sending her 13 year old 180 miles south to college so he'd be able to be an LSU fan when he graduated, either. |
See, I guess I just don't get the whole "becoming fans before you go to college thing", but maybe I'm a special case because I grew up in a big city with professional sports teams. I really didn't have any friends growing up who supported a college team before they went away to school. We didn't need the cheer for the Illini football (partly because there's not much to cheer about) because we had the Bears. We didn't need to cheer for Illini basketball because we had the Bulls (the 90s Bulls, nonetheless!!!) So maybe my perception is a bit warped and it's more normal than I realize for people to be big fans of their local college.
I still don't like it