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How Does State Sport Love Work?

College sports mean pretty much nothing here in Illinois. I mean, it's nice to have Northwestern be good at football and wonderful to hear other teams that are doing well.... but it's professional sports all the way. Cubs and Bears are probably the biggest fan bases with the Bulls, Blackhawks coming in after that.
 
dhartmann34 said:
College sports mean pretty much nothing here in Illinois. I mean, it's nice to have Northwestern be good at football and wonderful to hear other teams that are doing well.... but it's professional sports all the way. Cubs and Bears are probably the biggest fan bases with the Bulls, Blackhawks coming in after that.
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Unless the blackhawks win the cup, and then they are #1 :alien:
 
I have a much stronger tie and allegiance to my college team than I do to my pro teams, who I also enjoy following.

I guess it's just one of those things that you have to experience to understand. I had so many great times at Auburn, and felt it was a big part of me becoming who I am. For the time you are there you live and breath the sports on campus, and are surrounded by people who feel the same way. I grew up a FSU fan, and attended games at the Doak, and I enjoyed them. But the feeling of community at YOUR school is totally different, and those sports teams will always be special.

I also attended a school with major sports programs that were successful at the time, but lacked the tradtion, and the sense of community was no where near the same. To this day I am happy when they do well, but I don't attend their games and don't really care to.
 
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cbaker2882 said:
The Cincy one I can't tell ya. Because cinci is competitive and in a big conference. The only thing I can say about going to Miami but still watching OSU, is a lot of the people that went to Miami weren't associated with Miami until they were 18 and decided to go there. Most likely at that point had grown up watching OSU sports. It was the same way for OU. Most of the campus was from Columbus or at least Ohio. OU games aren't shown on TV, so you grow up an OSU fan and then pretty much just happen to go to OU. I chose it to "go away" for school, but still be semi close to home and remain in state. I didn't want my parents being able to just stop by haha, and I liked the atmosphere better at OU. But going there didn't all of a sudden supersede the fact that I had been on OSU sports fan my entire life leading up to that.

It helps big time that except for the random game every couple years, that schools like Miami or OU don't really play OSU or compete against each other. And to be fair, I root for both. It's not like I didn't root for OU because I was an OSU fan. it did become weird when OU and OSU played each other though.
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The UC attendee + OSU homer one is pretty healthy down here. Not nearly as strong is the UC/Xavier attendee UK homer.

I can also genuinely understand the 'being a fan of' part of things, kind of like I'm a fan of the Blue Jackets... But if someone came up to me and told me they sucked and firing a cannon after scoring a goal is stupid I'd probably laugh and ask them which sport they'd rather watch. I wouldn't take it personally.

I take issue that some believe it's nothing short of a State requirement here to be an OSU fan. Maybe that's the biggest problem to me. I love where I live, I loved going to Miami, and I love playing golf here.. Isn't that enough to be a good standing Ohio resident?
 
cbaker2882 said:
Unless the blackhawks win the cup, and then they are #1 :alien:
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Nah even then they don't come close to the Bears or Cubs allegiance. It's amazing how those two teams fan bases thrive with teams that have had such disappointing pasts... I'm not sure how I've hung on so long ?
 
Canadan said:
The UC attendee + OSU homer one is pretty healthy down here. Not nearly as strong is the UC/Xavier attendee UK homer.

I can also genuinely understand the 'being a fan of' part of things, kind of like I'm a fan of the Blue Jackets... But if someone came up to me and told me they sucked and firing a cannon after scoring a goal is stupid I'd probably laugh and ask them which sport they'd rather watch. I wouldn't take it personally.

I take issue that some believe it's nothing short of a State requirement here to be an OSU fan. Maybe that's the biggest problem to me. I love where I live, I loved going to Miami, and I love playing golf here.. Isn't that enough to be a good standing Ohio resident?
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Welcome to Ohio, Dan. I don't get that part either. Only thing I can think of is it's something that makes them feel like they belong to something (almost cult like for some people), so saying you don't like it or that it's silly is basically saying you hate them as a person in their eyes.

But I'll say one thing, it makes it real easy to figure out who I am going to be friends with or not based on how they react to someone not liking OSU :alien:

Trust me, you're high on my list of A+ THPers and people in general. I couldn't care less if you like OSU or not.
 
War Eagle said:
The state of Alabama has no professional Sports teams.

Because of that, all eyes are focused on Auburn and Alabama for sports.

Easy peasy.
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Essentially the same thing for Oklahoma. People are raised either being fans of OU or OSU, and to a smaller degree, Tulsa in the eastern corner of the state. Now that Oklahoma has an NBA team, I think a lot of people are getting behind the team but the loyalties still lie with the college teams. For other professional sports such as the NFL and MLB, one needs to look outside the state to find a team to root for.

What it ironic is that in my experience, the most vociferous fans are the ones who aren't even alumni. I can understand growing up as a fan and staying a fan for life even if you didn't go to school there, but to be an obnoxious fan even when you didn't plunk down money and/or significant time attending the school is amusing to me.

Even though as an Oklahoma alumni, I'd prefer (over any other option) to take in a sport with an OU team competing, I was born and raised in NY and growing up it was either Mets or Jets that really had my devotion. College sports just don't seem to be viewed the same way they are down south and the mid-west. It was specifically moving to, and attending, Oklahoma that shifted my allegiances from pro sports to college sports.
 
JB said:
Dan,
I am quoting myself here, because you are trying to use logic and reasoning.
There is no place for that in college athletics. :D
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To be fair, I don't think it only applies to college athletics. I think it just applies to being a fan of something, even which video game console one chooses, haha.
 
A large number of fans latch onto a team and line, eat,drink sleep that team and when that team has some sort if storied past it pushes the fanatcism to another level.

i don't get it myself. Life goes on whether that team wins or loses but for others their lives revolve around it. Look at all the riots and burning down of a city when a hockey team wins or loses the championship (Chicago, Detroit, LA) or some college team wins or loses final four..it doesn't make sense.
 
emart2173 said:
A large number of fans latch onto a team and line, eat,drink sleep that team and when that team has some sort if storied past it pushes the fanatcism to another level.

i don't get it myself. Life goes on whether that team wins or loses but for others their lives revolve around it. Look at all the riots and burning down of a city when a hockey team wins or loses the championship (Chicago, Detroit, LA) or some college team wins or loses final four..it doesn't make sense.
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Scratch state loyalty, how about country loyalty. Soccer is absolutely insane. No athlete should fear being shot/murdered because they lost a "match".
 
dwchockey13 said:
Idk to much about that, football? yes... but I've been to some BC/BU hockey games as well as the beanpot... those are some insane rivalry games, and the schools just HATE each other... but maybe that's specifically Boston, and not Mass as a whole
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That's true, but there isn't an expectation that anyone in the state is a fan of either team like in Dans OSU example.
 
Golds said:
Scratch state loyalty, how about country loyalty. Soccer is absolutely insane. No athlete should fear being shot/murdered because they lost a "match".
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Pretty sure that had nothing to do with country loyalty and everything to do with a drug lords psychosis and from what I heard, significant money on the game (if you're referring to the Columbian player being killed after returning home from the World Cup and having scored an own goal).
 
I grew up a Buffalo Bills fan and will always be one. It had to do with my dad being a fan but also because Buffalo is only 1.5 hours away and it's like cheering for my hometown. Same goes with Syracuse athletics, as a child I remember going to the football games with my dad and watching Donovan Mcnabb. Made me a fan for life, especially with Cuse basketball.
 
deuce said:
Pretty sure that had nothing to do with country loyalty and everything to do with a drug lords psychosis and from what I heard, significant money on the game (if you're referring to the Columbian player being killed after returning home from the World Cup and having scored an own goal).
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My friend went to more than one Premier League game (Real Madrid, Manchester United) and he said the crowd is psycho. Obviously a murder is not the case but the players have to be escorted off the field and put on an airplane immediately after a big loss. I'm sure there's a lot of betting and money involved in that but still it is nuts.
 
Golds said:
My friend went to more than one Premier League game (Real Madrid, Manchester United) and he said the crowd is psycho. Obviously a murder is not the case but the players have to be escorted off the field and put on an airplane immediately after a big loss. I'm sure there's a lot of betting and money involved in that but still it is nuts.
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They don't call it the beautiful game for nothing. :alien:

But yeah. I think soccer fans in any country other than the US, make die-hard fans of other sports here in the US, look like boy/girl scouts in comparison.
 
College sports are still king in the south, though I imagine that will change a little over time. Professional sports teams are a relatively new arrival here 25 to 40 years old, where college sports are generally 100 years plus.

Most everybody here in the south has a relative or two that went to a big school, even if they themselves did not. Makes it easy to identify with that school and get passionate about it.
 
Golds said:
Scratch state loyalty, how about country loyalty. Soccer is absolutely insane. No athlete should fear being shot/murdered because they lost a "match".
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no doubt. It's why I will never go,to a game in Brazil during visits there to see my wife's family.

Golds said:
I grew up a Buffalo Bills fan and will always be one. It had to do with my dad being a fan but also because Buffalo is only 1.5 hours away and it's like cheering for my hometown. Same goes with Syracuse athletics, as a child I remember going to the football games with my dad and watching Donovan Mcnabb. Made me a fan for life, especially with Cuse basketball.
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Same here but I started becoming a ND football fan around 7th grade.
 
emart2173 said:
no doubt. It's why I will never go,to a game in Brazil during visits there to see my wife's family.



Same here but I started becoming a ND football fan around 7th grade.
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There is a ton of Notre dame fans and north Carolina fans here which makes no sense. I'm sure it's like the Yankees, where its kind of like being a fan of a brand.

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I've never been a big college football fan, but when I was stationed in Augusta I learned about the cult that is the SEC. I'm sure some Big 10 fans will disagree, but I have never seen such die hard fans for any sport in my entire life. Complete craziness.
 
Golds said:
There is a ton of Notre dame fans and north Carolina fans here which makes no sense. I'm sure it's like the Yankees, where its kind of like being a fan of a brand.

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in basketball it's been SU but being a lakers fan and watching worthy play when I was younger got me interested in NC then when I came to MD I was anti MD sports so put both feet on the tarheel bandwagon and now two kids I watch grow up go there...but deep down will always be Orange bball (growing up guys likeStephen Thompson, Derrick Coleman, Sherman Douglas, Billy Owens,John Wallace, Rony Seikaly, Later on Gerry McNamara Lawrence Moten, Etan Thomas, Hakim Warrixk, Eric Devendorf, Andy Rautins, Damone Brown who went to h.s with my brother)
 
Interesting topic Dan. Unfortunately I think JB is right with his first post. There's just no rhyme or reason for why someone roots for a school or doesn't root for a school.
 
Golds said:
Scratch state loyalty, how about country loyalty. Soccer is absolutely insane. No athlete should fear being shot/murdered because they lost a "match".
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That's largely because in many South American nations, the cartels control the gambling industry. America's defeat of Columbia in 1994 World Cup was worth millions...and that sort of thing is worse at the club level. African club soccer is so rife with gambling and corruption it's stunted their national teams. Also, the firms that surround club soccer in Europe especially hearken back to a time when the majority of a team was local combined with the developmental system in Europe, where a player often gets contracted to play for a team starting when they're in U16 leagues. This meant that in many cases you could watch a player from your hometown wear your team's colors from the time he's of high school age, he'll go to school on the club's dime, see him get some time on loan elsewhere, and then come back to your home club. Not unlike college football in the US, it creates fierce loyalty to both the players and the program. Admittedly modern football is far more mercenary, but the system is still in place. You'll never see another case like the Lisbon Lions, where the European Cup winning Celtic FC all grew up within 30 miles of each other, but that's the sort of ideal that gets celebrated in both college sports and club football.
 
For Nebraska, there isn't anything else here, so Nebraska Football gets all the attention!
 
Kansas is weird. We have some VERY strong ties in people to Kansas State and Kansas. I like both, as I grew up a Kansas fan just to spite my twin brother who was a Kansas State fan. THEN, when it came to going to college, I ended up going to Kansas State, because that's where the Major I wanted to do, was. So, I route for both. My brother on the other hand...NO chance he's EVER route of Kansas, even if they where playing the devil himself, he'd route for the devil I think. ha ha

As for other sports, we don't (by definition) have any. The Royals and Chiefs are in Kansas City, MISSOURI! Though, of course we all typically route for them because of where they are in Missouri.

I know that doesn't answer your question, probably at all...but it's very much a "to each their own" take on college athletics.
 
Oregon is an interesting state as well. For football we only have our collages, my fandom of the Ducks comes from it being a family school, I would have had a chance of going there if I weren't such a f*** up in high school, but I digress. I still love my Ducks even though the bandwagon is almost unbearable. We have the Timbers witch is becoming a wildfire of their own(in a great way). Then there are the Blazers, been a fan since I was 7. I also grew up being a show time Lakers fan. Its a wierd dynamic for me, but I lean twards the Blazers. Baseball doesn't exist here, I wish it did.
 
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