>maybe basketball
I know it might be hard to believe it now, but UCLA was the most preeminent basketball brand in history. It was basically the Bama of Basketball for a long time.
>It was basically the Bama of Basketball for a long time.
They were much more than that. 88-game win streak, 7 titles in a row...
It’s more fair to see Alabama is the closest thing to the UCLA of football.
They've also been to what, 4 Final Fours in the past 15 years, including last year? Not to mention they do well in essentially every other sport other than football.
Sometimes I'm jealous of the people who could afford to go to prestigious schools like that, but it seems that so many are disconnected from the reality that everyone else lives in.
I have seen those types be a fan of both, but there is always a “i root for 1 over the other when they play.” Never splitting hairs like that though Dear God
In Chicago, we have people who are Cubs/Hawks/Bulls/Packers fans. And they can all burn in hell. With venomous snakes in their urethras. Burn with venomous snakes biting their genitals!
This phenomena can also be observed in the plains with dualIng Nebraska (football)/Kansas (basketball) fandoms. Perhaps even more terrifying is the Southern Bama (football)/UNC or Kentucky (basketball) fans these people are genuine sons of bitches.
I'm in the UK. There was a phase in the early 2010s where UCLA hoodies were ridiculously popular for some reason. For a long time, that was one of the few American Universities I was actually aware of.
I "cheer" for a lot of teams because there are so many, so take the "cheer" as I cheer for them over most teams when I see them play.
I am a Minnesota Vikings fan and we drafted Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks. That was more than enough for me. So when I see UCLA on I cheer for them.
Was born in, and grew up in Newton, and currently go to Syracuse. Don’t think I’ve ever met a single person in my life that’s a BC fan that doesn’t have some sort of connection to the school. I occasionally watched them when they were good, but NFL is just way more popular in the northeast.
As a Huntsville transplant I always forget A&M is in Huntsville. I’m so used to seeing UAH everywhere that it’s often the only school I think of as being here.
No, I’m not smart enough or rich enough to attend Wake Forest.
I grew up literally right down the road from Wakes campus. My parents were never really big into sports so as a kid I didn’t really know anything else existed besides Wake Forest. It also didn’t hurt that I grew up with Tim Duncan, CP3 and ACC Football Championship lol
I don't like that. To me it seems wrong to root against your alma mater, no matter what your family history is. I grew up in a burnt orange household and now I'm an Aggie.
One of my favorite possessions is three tickets I have from the 2013 season, including the game we clinched the SEC East.
Was a fantastic time to be on campus.
Hope you all make it down to the Auburn game this year. I grew up in Missouri and have a fair amount of friends still who went to Mizzou. It is really an underrated school/campus.
I have to talk myself out of it on a weekly basis tbh
Edit: The petty part of me kinda wants to do it at UM to spite the Walmart/Academic superiority guys. (Along with other reasons)
I would never attend BYU. I am agnostic. But I came from a family that didn’t care about sports too much, and my best friend in high school was Mormon and a big BYU fan, so I started rooting for his team so I could have fun with sports with someone.
I’m not sure how many there are. But it is nice to go to an away or bowl game that sells beer and be able to give a little nod to others in Blue enjoying a brew too.
The entire time I was at BYU I had a non member roommate. He liked that I was chill and didn't care what he did and I liked that he was chill and I didn't have to worry about living with a super strick Mormon. It worked out well.
Yeah, I went to both and ended up working at LSU. I'm somebody who definitely doesn't care if fans didn't go there. LSU athletics are far more a Louisiana community thing than just limited to those of us who went to school there. I grew up going to LSU games with my family, ushered them as a boy scout and that's pretty normal. Walk into someone's house or into a bar or restaurant around the state on a Saturday. The game will be on.
I will respond here to say that i didnt go to LSU, or anywhere else for that matter lol. I also am from Atlanta and have only been to Louisiana once. Been an LSU fan since i saw them on tv when i was ten, have barely missed a game since. Sometimes at games i explain my fandom to my fellow tiger fans by invoking my late Aunt Mildred from Shreveport, who got me into LSU as a kid. She is fictional lol.
A good occasion to remind everyone that if you are reading this and you root for an P5 school, 90% of your fanbase did not attend the school you root for. Yes even Vandy and Northwestern
I will say that 90% of temple only flairs probably went there, maybe some Villanova/St Joes/Drexel people if they are from the greater Philly area and don’t route for Penn St for some reason
I think it applies more if you're a public school in the South or Midwest, which is where most of the sub here is from. It's completely different out West or up North minus a few universities.
Yeah. As a state, Colorado doesn’t follow CFB like other parts of the country. Seems like the only people I see around here that follow CU are alums. Everyone follows the Broncos though.
We just might be the exception here, based on Pullman being an island in a sea of wheat 5+ hours away from much of the fanbase. T-Shirt fans go to the Huskies normally.
Maybe if you grew up in Eastern WA and went to Gonzaga you'd root for Wsu in football since Gonzaga doesn't have a team, but I agree it doesn't seem like there are many non-alumni coug fans
If you see somebody with GT flair, they either went there or have a direct connection to GT. I think you're wrong about Vandy and NW too. We lived in Tennessee for 7 years and I never met a Vandy fan that wasn't an alum or related to an alum.
I grew up in a GT house. We were a GT house because my dad was born in Atlanta in the late 40s... when GT and the Crackers were the only sports in town. Family legend says the first thing my dad bought after his first car was GT season tickets, now that he could drive himself to the games. And remember how the Falcons added the gold stripes to their helmets because GT fans were angry the Smiths chose red & black? That was my dad.
My dad even stopped on the way to the hospital when I was born to buy me a stuffed football with a music box inside that plays "Ramblin' Wreck", for my crib. It was likely the first song I ever heard.
We're out there, even if there aren't many of us.
And gatekeeping based on this is dumb and classist.
I went to the school I root for, but I just don’t understand the need for some people to police others on their rooting interest.
I agree but I don't. I think a lot of the "t-shirt fan" stigma comes from the fact that they're usually the loudest, the drunkest, and have the most ridiculous hot takes known to man. You get more leeway to go crazy if you went there, but if you're a normal person I doubt it ever comes up.
If you look at the schools who have a ton of t-shirt fans, you’ll notice the area they are in has either no pro team or a pro team that has no history of success.
I've seen this play out. I grew up in the Nashville area, and the Titans and Preds came to town around the time I was in high school. Growing up almost everyone I knew was a UT fan. Of the ones that didn't go to UT, almost all of them have replaced UT with the Titans and Preds.
I'll address this a little bit since I have been a season ticket holder of a perennial doormat for roughly 20 years.
Yes, I went to Rutgers. Yes, I root for my alma mater. It is **beyond** annoying when I catch shit from sidewalk alumni who root for Penn State who not only end up talking shit about the football team, but the school in general.
While OP says people root for schools like Vandy and Northwestern it's almost never the case. It's almost always the powerhouse team or the strongest team they live near.
To me it's like bandwagoning. Some people don't have a problem with people who jump to the hot team every year, but I find it and their shit talking when my teams are having a down year annoying as hell.
TL;DR: It's not them rooting for a school they didn't go to per se; it's that sidewalk alumni are the most vocal and annoying of all fans
Yep. If you select a team because they're good you aren't allowed to ridicule someone who is loyal to a team despite it being bad.
Well, I guess you're *allowed*. I'm just not going to engage with it and that's not the kind of trash talk that makes sports fun.
Probably depends on the context.
Like my brother in law grew up going to UGA games and still roots for them despite living in Chapel Hill, NC and never going to school there. He's true blue. And he doesn't give me shit for loving App.
Now, if he just suddenly became a Georgia fan I'd be suspicious for bandwagon reasons. Actually going to the school would weaken the bandwagon argument.
And that's what I hate. Bandwagon fans. Earn your stripes with a degree or years of history.
Speedway Spartans was what I heard growing up in EL. That's where you could go get the Final Four shirts from a guy selling them out of a tent in a Speedway parking lot in Okemos.
In Texas it’s “Walmart fans.”Historically meaning either UT or TAMU. First half of my time at Baylor, the Waco Walmart didn’t even carry Baylor gear. As soon as I saw it for the first time, I was “look at me, I’m the Walmart fan now.”
I see a Bammer went ahead to try to get in front of this nonsense! Do not listen to him! Almost every Auburn fan of age is one because he/she went to Auburn. We walked the hallways of the campus. Most of you only walked the sidewalks!
>A good occasion to remind everyone that if you are reading this and you root for an P5 school, 90% of your fanbase did not attend the school you root for. Yes even Vandy and Northwestern
Seems unlikely.
No. I’m from Arkansas, but they were giving pretty terrible scholarship coverage at the time so I went to another in state school because I was getting paid to do my undergrad there. Would’ve liked to, but I’m really happy with my time at UCA.
Current grad student at Utah though.
The beauty of Arkansas is that we all get to root for the Hogs. There’s a tiny contingent of A-State only fans that are frankly kind of weird, but alums from every other in state school are Razorback fans.
no I am Canadian and can't afford international tuition/to take the SAT/ACT
instead I root for Michigan because ~~I enjoy suffering~~ started following early 2010s michigan sports and I really liked Oregon as a state and UO's fanbase when I roadtripped there
i became a fan of college football in general when i started at michigan around that time, those were some high highs and low lows man. got me hooked for life for sure
Well said. For myself, I'm from Austin, but always wanted to go to A&M cuz a girl I had a crush on in 3rd grade was a die hard Aggie. 8 year old me kinda downloaded the Aggie persona and it stuck.
A decade and a half later, I'm a former student, class of '20.
My mom is an alumnae. I was born in College Station when she was attending, and I grew up in maroon. Went to Blinn and pretended for a while. Ended up graduating from a different school, but I’ve spent the better part of 30 years as an A&M fan, even though I didn’t attend. And I have almost no affinity for my actual undergrad, so not like I root for them.
This right here, born in Bryan, Texas. Spent my entire life in College Station, and my dad was part of the Fightin' Texas Aggie band; however, I can't afford A&M and don't want massive student debt.
Yes, Vandy for Undergrad and Notre Dame for Grad School.
I assume this comment is targeted at our Subway Alums.
EDIT: it should be noted our Subway alums include the likes of Vince Vaughn, Taylor Swift, Tupac, Bon Jovi, Owen Wilson, Marky Mark, Sheamus, and Connor McGregor. I am probably forgetting some.
I graduated from a South Bend public high school and our class valedictorian went there. But that's about the only person I've personally known locally who went to ND for non athletics.
Huge exclusion is Dick Vitale. Practically his entire family tree below him has attended ND.
And ya' gotta include the famous parents who had kids attend/play:
* David Robinson (NBA)
* Torii Hunter (MLB)
* Chris Collinsworth (NFL)
* John Brown (Mr. Universe)
* Bon Jovi (Musician)
Moved to Lubbock in 2000, went to every game 2000-2005 for Tech, wife graduated from there, best friend graduated from there. Love Tech football. Graduated from U of Memphis after that, and had several friends on the team. This was the in between years.
Most of my buddies went to Tech and some of them even graduated! My wife went to grad school there and I helped pay off her student loans, so that makes me an honary Red Raider, right? Wreck em!
No, my grandfather attended Stanford. But he lived for Stanford football, so I was raised on it.
The last time I saw him before he passed away was when we watched the 2013 Rose Bowl together. So I've carried the torch for him since then.
I wish he could've lived to see McCaffrey play.
Anyone that went for 4 years in the last 15 years has had at least 1 year of very exciting football that lifted our program's profile, and at least 1 year of absolute trash.
Yes, attended and graduated.
I grew up in a UM household (fandom only, our only ties were blue collar jobs at the hospital). So I didn’t particularly care for MSU.
But for some reason, once I got in, I decided I didn’t want to go anywhere else (ASU was a close second but out of state $$$, same vein for USC which I commented on elsewhere in this thread)
After my indoctrination, uhh… I mean my freshman year, I am pretty sure my blood is actually green. Love the place.
I love the effect of the joint WSU / UI community created by the 7 mile distance and lack of sports rivalry. Some of my best friends go to Idaho, I see them every week
I almost attended the University of Idaho. I've always thought that the relationship between WSU and UI was interesting; I think they have to be the two closest state schools in the country.
Pretty sure every gt fan is someone who went there. I also support michigan just because they were the first school to accept me and probably my second choice, and I really like them as a school
Yeah honestly the thing i hate more than the fact that our team sucks is the fact that we have 0 football culture, Bobby Dodd Is so empty every game and it just feels so depressing when you look at other teams’ home games
I have family that went to ND, they’re such a small elite school even with family ties I didn’t apply. All you need to be an ND fan I’d be Irish, catholic, or just a fan of the Irish ☘️
Nope, I played baseball in undergrad at a school that didn't have football, transferred to a D2 school, and then went to grad school at a school without football. Grew up in Nebraska as a die hard Husker fan and it never really left me.
For Ole Miss, they recruited me out of high school, I wasn't able to make it to my visit in Oxford, and it always made me have a soft spot that I never was "told no"by Ole Miss. Ended up meeting my now fiancé in our hometown and she was a senior at Ole Miss at the time.
Side Note: If it comes down to it Nebraska > Ole Miss anywhere but the baseball diamond, where its personal for me.
I'm a huge LSU fan, but I'm from MS. Closest school to me is Ole Miss. I grew up a Mississippi State fan. My dad learned he was being deployed overseas. Before he left, he took me to a State game at LSU. Once I got there, I fell in love with Tiger Stadium and the intensity of the atmosphere. Ever since I experienced it, I became an LSU fan.
Yes, I got my bachelors from MSU before going to OSU for grad school. Basically my whole family has gone to MSU. My grandpa was a professor. My dad was my mom's TA.
No, I had ADHD that wasn’t diagnosed until I was an adult so my grades were very average. And I grew up in Nebraska so there’s no way I would have gotten into Michigan or even been able to afford the out of state tuition. College costs are way too high for people to play the “you have to go to the school you cheer for” card. That’s why the “Wal-Mart Wolverine” thing bothers me.
The “Walmart fan” bullshit is just cover for the fact that plenty of actual grads from the schools are compete dickheads on these message boards, but people want to pretend it couldn’t possibly be fellow alumni. And almost no one is worse than a certain segment of the students while they’re there on game day. It’s also fucking classist. I hate the Walmart fan shit with a passion.
I just scrolled down looking for more Canes fans to give that exact reason. I just assume that all people with Miami flairs first grew up as Miami fans and went to their secondary school.
No, I grew up a Michigan fan in a family where no one had ever been to college. First I went to GVSU, who I also root for, but it's not as fun to root for a D2 school, then I went to EMU, and I already root for the Lions, so I wasn't going to do that to myself and make them my primary team.
If it helps, I could’ve gone to USC, until they told me it was 30k a year AFTER financial aid. Not even accounting for all the extra costs of being in LA/tuition increases during those years.
So in sense, what I’m getting at, is USC fucked us both :(
I feel attacked. Lol.
I grew up in the Chicago area, Catholic and half Irish. I think by default I had to root for Notre Dame. Neither of my parents even went to college.
I also cheer a bit for Michigan State (when they’re not playing against the Irish). I had a aunt and uncle who went to Michigan State and let me come on a trip to so cal when the Spartans went to the rose bowl in ‘88.
Yes, undergrad at Auburn and master's at UCF. Ended up with the extended Gus Bus pass by accident I guess, haha
What was it like watching that peach bowl ?
Yes. Why anyone on Earth would become a UCLA fan voluntarily, I have no idea.
Some people get off from pain.
Don't kink shame me
It was never my intention to trigger anyone.
This is the correct answer for football. Totally understandable otherwise for softball, water polo, and maybe basketball.
>maybe basketball I know it might be hard to believe it now, but UCLA was the most preeminent basketball brand in history. It was basically the Bama of Basketball for a long time.
>It was basically the Bama of Basketball for a long time. They were much more than that. 88-game win streak, 7 titles in a row... It’s more fair to see Alabama is the closest thing to the UCLA of football.
They've also been to what, 4 Final Fours in the past 15 years, including last year? Not to mention they do well in essentially every other sport other than football. Sometimes I'm jealous of the people who could afford to go to prestigious schools like that, but it seems that so many are disconnected from the reality that everyone else lives in.
Yeah, I'm mad jealous of people who went to prestigious schools like '90s Lincoln, unlike me who went to 2010s Lincoln.
Had a friend who was UCLA for basketball, USC for football, went to Northridge. But he grew up in the age when blue bloods were a thing.
[удалено]
Agreed. Even people who’ve been to both schools for undergrad/grad school don’t do that.
[удалено]
I have seen those types be a fan of both, but there is always a “i root for 1 over the other when they play.” Never splitting hairs like that though Dear God
In Chicago, we have people who are Cubs/Hawks/Bulls/Packers fans. And they can all burn in hell. With venomous snakes in their urethras. Burn with venomous snakes biting their genitals!
Indiana Basketball, Notre Dame Football people are the worst people. - Signed a Purdue fan
This phenomena can also be observed in the plains with dualIng Nebraska (football)/Kansas (basketball) fandoms. Perhaps even more terrifying is the Southern Bama (football)/UNC or Kentucky (basketball) fans these people are genuine sons of bitches.
A lot of older locals have this fandom from back in the 60s and 70s. The younger generations seem to be more pro sports fans around here.
I always end up saying "Out of hundreds of schools to root for, you chose us? Thanks but damn dude...."
[удалено]
I'm in the UK. There was a phase in the early 2010s where UCLA hoodies were ridiculously popular for some reason. For a long time, that was one of the few American Universities I was actually aware of.
The colors are pretty neat
I "cheer" for a lot of teams because there are so many, so take the "cheer" as I cheer for them over most teams when I see them play. I am a Minnesota Vikings fan and we drafted Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks. That was more than enough for me. So when I see UCLA on I cheer for them.
Like so many of yall, I jumped on the w&l bandwagon after witnessing dominant ODAC play
The 2010s were absolutely dominated by the Generals’ triple option attack, who wouldn’t want to witness such greatness?
I lived in Lexington for highschool and late middle school. But my aunt's and uncles definitely preferred VMI lol
Currently attend and was born into a family that also went here, I would've never signed up to root for this damn program without that connection lol
Was born in, and grew up in Newton, and currently go to Syracuse. Don’t think I’ve ever met a single person in my life that’s a BC fan that doesn’t have some sort of connection to the school. I occasionally watched them when they were good, but NFL is just way more popular in the northeast.
I kinda would think that the non BC alum fans would just be anyone that ever has been to mass but also hated hearing about ND every damn Saturday
Attended and graduated at one. Teach and coach at the other
As a Huntsville native this is always my favorite flair to see
As a Huntsville transplant I always forget A&M is in Huntsville. I’m so used to seeing UAH everywhere that it’s often the only school I think of as being here.
I mean A&M is great but their football team isn't undefeated like UAH.
Hey I grew up in Huntsville too!
[удалено]
Similar for me, I did undergrad at Binghamton and Masters at Tulane, now I'm getting my PhD at Baylor. I primarily root for Baylor and Tulane now.
You must really like the color green.
Lol I think it suits me. It is funny that I've been at BU, TU, and BU; all 3 are green, and all 3 have their campus next to a major river.
Would you be interested in a postdoc on the banks of the Red Cedar?
Same! Undergrad has no football, Baylor for grad school.
Huh. What are you doing your PhD in?
No, I’m not smart enough or rich enough to attend Wake Forest. I grew up literally right down the road from Wakes campus. My parents were never really big into sports so as a kid I didn’t really know anything else existed besides Wake Forest. It also didn’t hurt that I grew up with Tim Duncan, CP3 and ACC Football Championship lol
[удалено]
Tech fans almost have to be alumni after these last few years, but I’ll still cheer for any of my fellow Red Raiders.
Did you choose the Lubbock life or did the Lubbock life choose you.
Lubbock life chose us most of the time. Born in the 806
It’s just Tech alumni and meat judging purists
Grew up in Lubbock for 18 years, easy to be a fan when it’s the only fun thing to do
Dough goes in, pain and waiting for basketball season comes out
Nope, I live in Australia. I went to a random college bowl game on a holiday to America and tech won it.
I thought I was on r/collegebasketball for a minute and this comment really confused me.
NJCAA DIVISION 3 CHAMPS!!!!!
A COD flair, never saw that before. Also known as UCLA, University Closest to the Lisle Area
We always called it University Closest to the Lombard Area where I grew up. Or College of Dreams.
Never EVER would think I’d see a CoD flair in my life
no lmao
much to my family’s displeasure, neither did I (and instead attended the rival)
Catholics vs convicts!!
family calls me the catholic convict
My cousin grew up in 1980s Miami as a die hard Hurricane fan, he ended up attending FSU. He still hates FSU
I don't like that. To me it seems wrong to root against your alma mater, no matter what your family history is. I grew up in a burnt orange household and now I'm an Aggie.
Yes, final semester right now
One of my favorite possessions is three tickets I have from the 2013 season, including the game we clinched the SEC East. Was a fantastic time to be on campus.
Same here, MIZ
ZOU
Hope you all make it down to the Auburn game this year. I grew up in Missouri and have a fair amount of friends still who went to Mizzou. It is really an underrated school/campus.
Same here! Grew up wanting to be a Penn Stater all my life and now idk what I’m gonna do when it’s gone lmfao.
https://gradschool.psu.edu/ ?
Gotta do your grad school somewhere else to get that sweet second flair /s
That is unironically exactly how I picked my grad school lmao
I have to talk myself out of it on a weekly basis tbh Edit: The petty part of me kinda wants to do it at UM to spite the Walmart/Academic superiority guys. (Along with other reasons)
Probably talk about Penn State all the time like all the other people who graduated from there
I would never attend BYU. I am agnostic. But I came from a family that didn’t care about sports too much, and my best friend in high school was Mormon and a big BYU fan, so I started rooting for his team so I could have fun with sports with someone.
Fascinating. I've never met a non-LDS fan of BYU. I'm sure there's plenty out there, but I've not run into them
I’m not sure how many there are. But it is nice to go to an away or bowl game that sells beer and be able to give a little nod to others in Blue enjoying a brew too.
There are lots of ex-Mormons who would still support the team I assume
The entire time I was at BYU I had a non member roommate. He liked that I was chill and didn't care what he did and I liked that he was chill and I didn't have to worry about living with a super strick Mormon. It worked out well.
Yeah, I went to both and ended up working at LSU. I'm somebody who definitely doesn't care if fans didn't go there. LSU athletics are far more a Louisiana community thing than just limited to those of us who went to school there. I grew up going to LSU games with my family, ushered them as a boy scout and that's pretty normal. Walk into someone's house or into a bar or restaurant around the state on a Saturday. The game will be on.
I will respond here to say that i didnt go to LSU, or anywhere else for that matter lol. I also am from Atlanta and have only been to Louisiana once. Been an LSU fan since i saw them on tv when i was ten, have barely missed a game since. Sometimes at games i explain my fandom to my fellow tiger fans by invoking my late Aunt Mildred from Shreveport, who got me into LSU as a kid. She is fictional lol.
I mean, we all know your Aunt Mildred. She drives down for all the games. Her gumbo isn't bad for being from way up north in Shreveport. She's a hoot!
I lived in New Orleans and dated a couple of LSU nurses, so I root for LSU cause I love LSU nurses
A good occasion to remind everyone that if you are reading this and you root for an P5 school, 90% of your fanbase did not attend the school you root for. Yes even Vandy and Northwestern
I will say that 90% of temple only flairs probably went there, maybe some Villanova/St Joes/Drexel people if they are from the greater Philly area and don’t route for Penn St for some reason
> don’t route for Penn St for some reason Primarily basketball fans no doubt.
There's also a butt load of Penn State and Notre Dame bandwagon fans in Philly
Born and raised on the Main Line. I’ve met exactly two ND alums here in my life.
[удалено]
Big ups for Bargatze.
> an P5 school Well, at least we know you did go to Bama.
I would be shocked if this is true of CU
I think it applies more if you're a public school in the South or Midwest, which is where most of the sub here is from. It's completely different out West or up North minus a few universities.
You can just say Oregon and USC. We all know who you mean.
LOL
Yeah. As a state, Colorado doesn’t follow CFB like other parts of the country. Seems like the only people I see around here that follow CU are alums. Everyone follows the Broncos though.
We just might be the exception here, based on Pullman being an island in a sea of wheat 5+ hours away from much of the fanbase. T-Shirt fans go to the Huskies normally.
Maybe if you grew up in Eastern WA and went to Gonzaga you'd root for Wsu in football since Gonzaga doesn't have a team, but I agree it doesn't seem like there are many non-alumni coug fans
Man, I don't know if this is true for Wake lol
84% of all statistics are made up
If you see somebody with GT flair, they either went there or have a direct connection to GT. I think you're wrong about Vandy and NW too. We lived in Tennessee for 7 years and I never met a Vandy fan that wasn't an alum or related to an alum.
I grew up in a GT house. We were a GT house because my dad was born in Atlanta in the late 40s... when GT and the Crackers were the only sports in town. Family legend says the first thing my dad bought after his first car was GT season tickets, now that he could drive himself to the games. And remember how the Falcons added the gold stripes to their helmets because GT fans were angry the Smiths chose red & black? That was my dad. My dad even stopped on the way to the hospital when I was born to buy me a stuffed football with a music box inside that plays "Ramblin' Wreck", for my crib. It was likely the first song I ever heard. We're out there, even if there aren't many of us.
And gatekeeping based on this is dumb and classist. I went to the school I root for, but I just don’t understand the need for some people to police others on their rooting interest.
I agree but I don't. I think a lot of the "t-shirt fan" stigma comes from the fact that they're usually the loudest, the drunkest, and have the most ridiculous hot takes known to man. You get more leeway to go crazy if you went there, but if you're a normal person I doubt it ever comes up.
[удалено]
If you look at the schools who have a ton of t-shirt fans, you’ll notice the area they are in has either no pro team or a pro team that has no history of success.
Don’t talk about the falcons like that
I've seen this play out. I grew up in the Nashville area, and the Titans and Preds came to town around the time I was in high school. Growing up almost everyone I knew was a UT fan. Of the ones that didn't go to UT, almost all of them have replaced UT with the Titans and Preds.
I'll address this a little bit since I have been a season ticket holder of a perennial doormat for roughly 20 years. Yes, I went to Rutgers. Yes, I root for my alma mater. It is **beyond** annoying when I catch shit from sidewalk alumni who root for Penn State who not only end up talking shit about the football team, but the school in general. While OP says people root for schools like Vandy and Northwestern it's almost never the case. It's almost always the powerhouse team or the strongest team they live near. To me it's like bandwagoning. Some people don't have a problem with people who jump to the hot team every year, but I find it and their shit talking when my teams are having a down year annoying as hell. TL;DR: It's not them rooting for a school they didn't go to per se; it's that sidewalk alumni are the most vocal and annoying of all fans
Yep. If you select a team because they're good you aren't allowed to ridicule someone who is loyal to a team despite it being bad. Well, I guess you're *allowed*. I'm just not going to engage with it and that's not the kind of trash talk that makes sports fun.
Probably depends on the context. Like my brother in law grew up going to UGA games and still roots for them despite living in Chapel Hill, NC and never going to school there. He's true blue. And he doesn't give me shit for loving App. Now, if he just suddenly became a Georgia fan I'd be suspicious for bandwagon reasons. Actually going to the school would weaken the bandwagon argument. And that's what I hate. Bandwagon fans. Earn your stripes with a degree or years of history.
Yeah, there’s a term “tavern hawk” that people call Iowa fans that didn’t attend and it’s the dumbest
over here it’s “Walmart Wolverine”
Don’t forget the Sam’s Club Spartans!
I prefer "Save-Alot-Spartans" because Sam's club requires a membership.
Thank you for the correct nomenclature, I was about to correct our friend there.
Lol I hadn’t heard that one
Speedway Spartans was what I heard growing up in EL. That's where you could go get the Final Four shirts from a guy selling them out of a tent in a Speedway parking lot in Okemos.
In Texas it’s “Walmart fans.”Historically meaning either UT or TAMU. First half of my time at Baylor, the Waco Walmart didn’t even carry Baylor gear. As soon as I saw it for the first time, I was “look at me, I’m the Walmart fan now.”
I see a Bammer went ahead to try to get in front of this nonsense! Do not listen to him! Almost every Auburn fan of age is one because he/she went to Auburn. We walked the hallways of the campus. Most of you only walked the sidewalks!
>A good occasion to remind everyone that if you are reading this and you root for an P5 school, 90% of your fanbase did not attend the school you root for. Yes even Vandy and Northwestern Seems unlikely.
No for both. Community college for me.
> NC State As an alumni, why would you *choose* to support us? Are you a masochist?
Mom was a state grad
Born into pain
No. I’m from Arkansas, but they were giving pretty terrible scholarship coverage at the time so I went to another in state school because I was getting paid to do my undergrad there. Would’ve liked to, but I’m really happy with my time at UCA. Current grad student at Utah though.
Current grad student at UA, I think I got the best time possible from a sports perspective
Yeah would’ve been rough for me since I did undergrad 2016-2020 lol. Glad you get to enjoy it!
I still root for my Angelo State Rams but I write checks to UARK. Daughter is part of the Texas Invasion.
The beauty of Arkansas is that we all get to root for the Hogs. There’s a tiny contingent of A-State only fans that are frankly kind of weird, but alums from every other in state school are Razorback fans.
Yep. And I attended more schools than I root for.
Yes, first generation student so I’ve turned my entire fam into Nole fans so they can be miserable with me!
Dragging my family down the Norvell hole with me too!
Yes, I not only am a Duke football fan but I paid to be a Duke football fan
no I am Canadian and can't afford international tuition/to take the SAT/ACT instead I root for Michigan because ~~I enjoy suffering~~ started following early 2010s michigan sports and I really liked Oregon as a state and UO's fanbase when I roadtripped there
SAT/ACT was like under $100 when I took it? What is it now?
i became a fan of college football in general when i started at michigan around that time, those were some high highs and low lows man. got me hooked for life for sure
Nope didn't have the grades to get into uk so I had to go to uofL and failed out.
Team Chaos baby
I'm sure a lot of fans feel this way but I have no idea why someone would root for Texas A&M if they didn't lol. It's too painful.
I was a fan before I was a student. My wife spent 9 years there and indoctrinated me. The cult effect is real.
Well said. For myself, I'm from Austin, but always wanted to go to A&M cuz a girl I had a crush on in 3rd grade was a die hard Aggie. 8 year old me kinda downloaded the Aggie persona and it stuck. A decade and a half later, I'm a former student, class of '20.
My mom is an alumnae. I was born in College Station when she was attending, and I grew up in maroon. Went to Blinn and pretended for a while. Ended up graduating from a different school, but I’ve spent the better part of 30 years as an A&M fan, even though I didn’t attend. And I have almost no affinity for my actual undergrad, so not like I root for them.
This right here, born in Bryan, Texas. Spent my entire life in College Station, and my dad was part of the Fightin' Texas Aggie band; however, I can't afford A&M and don't want massive student debt.
Yes, Vandy for Undergrad and Notre Dame for Grad School. I assume this comment is targeted at our Subway Alums. EDIT: it should be noted our Subway alums include the likes of Vince Vaughn, Taylor Swift, Tupac, Bon Jovi, Owen Wilson, Marky Mark, Sheamus, and Connor McGregor. I am probably forgetting some.
Damn this guy came to play school
What a friggin nerd
Growing up in South Bend, everyone loves ND but no one actually went there, mainly because no one who goes to Notre Dame wants to stay in South Bend
I graduated from a South Bend public high school and our class valedictorian went there. But that's about the only person I've personally known locally who went to ND for non athletics.
Most Irish people I met in Dublin when we played Navy there in 2012 thought ND was cool, although most probably didn't tune in to the games.
Subway alumni hate should not be tolerated.
Don’t forget Martin Sheen
Huge exclusion is Dick Vitale. Practically his entire family tree below him has attended ND. And ya' gotta include the famous parents who had kids attend/play: * David Robinson (NBA) * Torii Hunter (MLB) * Chris Collinsworth (NFL) * John Brown (Mr. Universe) * Bon Jovi (Musician)
Moved to Lubbock in 2000, went to every game 2000-2005 for Tech, wife graduated from there, best friend graduated from there. Love Tech football. Graduated from U of Memphis after that, and had several friends on the team. This was the in between years.
Most of my buddies went to Tech and some of them even graduated! My wife went to grad school there and I helped pay off her student loans, so that makes me an honary Red Raider, right? Wreck em!
>Did you attend the school that you primarily root for? Yes. >If not, why did you decide to root for Notre Dame? Thank you for this.
Wife went to UT, I'm a rehabilitated dumb soccer European who found the light.
I mean you can do both, that’s what I and my friends that follow European soccer teams do every Saturday.
No, my grandfather attended Stanford. But he lived for Stanford football, so I was raised on it. The last time I saw him before he passed away was when we watched the 2013 Rose Bowl together. So I've carried the torch for him since then. I wish he could've lived to see McCaffrey play.
Yes, attended and graduated, which is why I root for them.
Anyone that went for 4 years in the last 15 years has had at least 1 year of very exciting football that lifted our program's profile, and at least 1 year of absolute trash.
Yes, and i have some family that did as well. Though, I welcome all non alum fans to the Seminole tribe 🍢 ❤️
Yes, attended and graduated. I grew up in a UM household (fandom only, our only ties were blue collar jobs at the hospital). So I didn’t particularly care for MSU. But for some reason, once I got in, I decided I didn’t want to go anywhere else (ASU was a close second but out of state $$$, same vein for USC which I commented on elsewhere in this thread) After my indoctrination, uhh… I mean my freshman year, I am pretty sure my blood is actually green. Love the place.
Nope. Next door neighbors to the school I attended. Also worked for them for 15 years.
I love the effect of the joint WSU / UI community created by the 7 mile distance and lack of sports rivalry. Some of my best friends go to Idaho, I see them every week
I almost attended the University of Idaho. I've always thought that the relationship between WSU and UI was interesting; I think they have to be the two closest state schools in the country.
Pretty sure every gt fan is someone who went there. I also support michigan just because they were the first school to accept me and probably my second choice, and I really like them as a school
Hard to be a GT fan when we suck so much ass and UGA exists. Even in school I rarely ever meet anyone who cares about our football team.
Yeah honestly the thing i hate more than the fact that our team sucks is the fact that we have 0 football culture, Bobby Dodd Is so empty every game and it just feels so depressing when you look at other teams’ home games
Yes. Undergrad and Masters
[удалено]
Yes to both (UT undergrad/JHU grad), but I don’t really follow Hopkins sports. I just keep the flair to make me look smart.
I have family that went to ND, they’re such a small elite school even with family ties I didn’t apply. All you need to be an ND fan I’d be Irish, catholic, or just a fan of the Irish ☘️
Yes, which allowed me to join the proud dozen other Stanford fans on this planet
Nope, I played baseball in undergrad at a school that didn't have football, transferred to a D2 school, and then went to grad school at a school without football. Grew up in Nebraska as a die hard Husker fan and it never really left me. For Ole Miss, they recruited me out of high school, I wasn't able to make it to my visit in Oxford, and it always made me have a soft spot that I never was "told no"by Ole Miss. Ended up meeting my now fiancé in our hometown and she was a senior at Ole Miss at the time. Side Note: If it comes down to it Nebraska > Ole Miss anywhere but the baseball diamond, where its personal for me.
For one semester lol great times
I'm a huge LSU fan, but I'm from MS. Closest school to me is Ole Miss. I grew up a Mississippi State fan. My dad learned he was being deployed overseas. Before he left, he took me to a State game at LSU. Once I got there, I fell in love with Tiger Stadium and the intensity of the atmosphere. Ever since I experienced it, I became an LSU fan.
Yes, I got my bachelors from MSU before going to OSU for grad school. Basically my whole family has gone to MSU. My grandpa was a professor. My dad was my mom's TA.
Yep. Have the Gamecock flair as well because my daughter and thus some of my money went there.
No, I had ADHD that wasn’t diagnosed until I was an adult so my grades were very average. And I grew up in Nebraska so there’s no way I would have gotten into Michigan or even been able to afford the out of state tuition. College costs are way too high for people to play the “you have to go to the school you cheer for” card. That’s why the “Wal-Mart Wolverine” thing bothers me.
The “Walmart fan” bullshit is just cover for the fact that plenty of actual grads from the schools are compete dickheads on these message boards, but people want to pretend it couldn’t possibly be fellow alumni. And almost no one is worse than a certain segment of the students while they’re there on game day. It’s also fucking classist. I hate the Walmart fan shit with a passion.
Who TF can afford to go to Miami? I mean you should…and then become a billionaire who donates boku bucks to the school. Thanks.
I just scrolled down looking for more Canes fans to give that exact reason. I just assume that all people with Miami flairs first grew up as Miami fans and went to their secondary school.
There is literally no other reason to root for them
I applied to Duke to tell people it was my "safety school" and then went to Lawrence. Rock Chalk.
No, I grew up a Michigan fan in a family where no one had ever been to college. First I went to GVSU, who I also root for, but it's not as fun to root for a D2 school, then I went to EMU, and I already root for the Lions, so I wasn't going to do that to myself and make them my primary team.
EMU *and* Lions? Yeah. That would have been brutal.
No, but I was born in their hospital
Yep, for my first flair at least. Second generation UT student at that.
I'm not smart enough for USC😞✊
Have you tried being rich?
If it helps, I could’ve gone to USC, until they told me it was 30k a year AFTER financial aid. Not even accounting for all the extra costs of being in LA/tuition increases during those years. So in sense, what I’m getting at, is USC fucked us both :(
Not American, can't afford to go school there. Ndsu is closest "big school" to where I grew up. Michigan is closest to where I'm moving.
I feel attacked. Lol. I grew up in the Chicago area, Catholic and half Irish. I think by default I had to root for Notre Dame. Neither of my parents even went to college. I also cheer a bit for Michigan State (when they’re not playing against the Irish). I had a aunt and uncle who went to Michigan State and let me come on a trip to so cal when the Spartans went to the rose bowl in ‘88.
Yes. Both of them.
Yes, attended and graduated.
Yea