Can You Be a Fan of a School's Team If You Didn't Attend That School?

I give you all permission to be a fan of whichever team you like.



DD

 

Does is actually matter? No.

But "the rules of collegiate fandom" is one of my favorite mock-serious debates of all time. So I'm going in. Grab a seat.

If a person has a pre-college connection to a college team (Team A), then yes, you can still cheer for them, even if you attend another college (Team B). That being said, you have to cheer for Team B over Team A.

For example, as a native Houstonian, I grew up cheering for both UH and Rice. Eventually, I came to attend and graduate from Rice. After enrolling at Rice, my affinity for the Coogs decreased, while my affinity for the Owls increased. I still like to see UH do well, but never against Rice and not if a UH win is going to negatively affect Rice in a conference race. And that's the way it should be.

A guy I know at Rice grew up a die-hard Notre Dame fan (I think his dad went there). He maintains his allegiance to ND sports, which is acceptable. However, when there were rumors that Rice was going to play ND in the Texas Bowl last year, he said he was conflicted and wasn't sure who he would cheer for. Unacceptable to say the least.

I mentioned this in the UT/TTU Game Thread, but it does seem odd to me that someone born in Houston with no immediate ties to UT or A&M would arbitrarily cheer for UT or A&M in college sports over UH and Rice. To me that's a bandwagon fan. Why else would a native Houstonian with no outside influences choose an out-of-town school over to homegrown D-1 programs other than the relative success of UT/A&M (as compared to UH/Rice)?

I think UT fans (especially the ones that have experienced nothing but success on the football field) get a bad rap because they seem to confuse having a winning program with being a fan. Now that I'm at UT, I get a lot of comments from Longhorns like "now you can cheer for a real football team" or they're shocked when I tell them that I'm never going to support UT athletics. Like, I have a chance to cheer for a team that'll win the NC...why wouldn't I take it??? Because that's not what being a fan is about.

What's the point of being a fan when you simply select the team you feel has the best chance to win now and follow that team (until another team comes along and has a better chance to win it all)? That's meaningless. That's like working on your basketball skills by playing 6-year-olds in pickup games. Sure, your W-L record looks nice, but what are you really getting out of it?

Those that attend UT as undergrads don't know how lucky they are. They get a legitimate claim to root for a national powerhouse. Those that chose UT "just because" or "because they represent Texas the best" yeah, you're a bandwagon fan (barring extenuating circumstances, of course).

That being said, the fandom rules look markedly different for the pro sports landscape, and probably warrant their own post (which I'd be happy to make once this one dies down )

 

Try not asking that to the entire state of Nebraska. Or any other old Big 8 or WAC state where 90% of the residents are farmers. Or a third of the UH and Tulane alums on the planet. Or 99% of the fans of that mid-sized, private Catholic school in Indiana.

 

How do really weak connections to a school work?
I graduated from Lamar, so until next year I don't have an automatic football team. I have connections to two schools: My birth-mom, who I never met, was a UT student. And I took two classes toward a masters online from Oklahoma State. I always root for OSU, and I root for Texas unless they are playing OSU. Am I allowed?

 

The court finds nothing objectionable in the above statement.

 

Doesn't this go against everything you said? By your rules aren't you forced to cheer for the school you attend? Or do you not attend UT and I am misreading this?

 

How does this even make any sense? How am I an attention w****?

 

Ay, good catch. I should've been clearer.

When I was discussing schools attended, I was thinking more of undergraduate schools, since that's where most of the school spirit/rah-rah-rah goes on.

I went to Rice for undergrad, now I'm at UT for graduate school.

I haven't thought about the undergraduate/graduate conflict that much, but I would think one can cheer for their graduate school (I'm just choosing not to), but should still put their undergraduate school first.

 

Oh okay. I still think it is strange to not root for the grad school. It almost seems like a conscious point just to be like "hey look, I'm not rooting for UT!" I definitely think undergrad comes first, but if I decide to go to grad school you can bet I will be rooting for them (unless they play my undergrad) out of pride for the University I chose to attend.

 

think it's a problem when certain people decide to criticize a school or administration they "root" for if they had not attended that school. That's what bothers me. Not that everyone does care what their school is doing off the field, but I don't think it's right for those people to blame the school if their team suddenly starts to show decline.

I grew up in H-town, but never even bothered to care about college sports; I viewed it as a lesser level of competition. Granted atmosphere and exposure certainly do play a role, but when the only college football games you go to are a handful of 90s Rice and UH games, it isn't exactly inspiring. I was all about Rockets and Astros.

Then I moved to Alabama. Totally different environment. Attending those games, working at the stadium, and watching SEC football does have an affect.

Yet I didn't attend Alabama. Instead I went to Miami. Up until recently I would have said I was more of an Alabama fan. That changed most likely because I was familiar with the athletes and had worked with the athletic programs as well in Miami.

So now I've managed to find a middle ground by following both schools. It helps there are common "rivals" as well as them being in separate conferences.

Gotta tell you though, I haven't met one Bama fan that even remotely likes Miami.

 

What you're saying makes total sense.

I just can't bring myself to pull for UT after 4 years of actively rooting against them. Rice-UT isn't really a rivalry except in baseball, which happens to be Rice's marquee sport, so on the Rice side of things, we do see UT as a rival.

Plus, there's always the BCS vs. non-BCS resentment, the crap I get from assorted Longhorns in my life about Rice football, and now being surrounded by smug Longhorns...lol

Ask me again in 3 years and maybe I'll have come around, but at the moment, nope.

Besides, navy blue is soooo much easier on the eyes than burnt orange.

 

Aside from the obvious element of why you would care, the lack of logic here is astounding. I've got plenty of friends who go to UT, pretend to "celebrate" when the team wins, and in reality could care less if the team isn't contending for a national title. Obviously, I went to Mizzou and not UT, and yes, I do cheer for Mizzou when they play UT. With that said...

I grew up living and breathing every UT game from the time I was five years old. I was at the 1996 Big 12 championship and both Rose Bowls. I was also at multiple games in John Mackovic's last season, when they won four games. It seemed like every UT student I knew jumped off the basketball bandwagon a year ago when they were a disappointment, yet I went to multiple games in Austin as well as College Station to support them.

I've been there my entire life, win or lose, ups and downs. Meanwhile, I can identify thousands of students or alumni that could honestly care less, show up only when the team's in national title contention, and have about 1/4 of the passion and knowledge that I do. But, because they magically took some business classes there, you'll listen to them seriously and not me? Explain, please.

And yes, I practice what I preach. I went to Mizzou, still live and die with every game, have my diploma framed and all sorts of random Tiger things all over my apartment. I also recognize that there are plenty of people out there who are as big or even bigger Tiger fans than I am, even if they don't have an academic degree with the magic words University of Missouri in it. If you don't like bandwagon fans, that's fine. But if you see a fundamental flaw in the status of diehard fans of a school - win or lose - who follow them with the same passion you do the Rockets, that's just ridiculous and I'd love to hear the explanation.

 

I said they're all disputable, not just Texas'. It's one reason I'll never like college football, the bowl system sucks in my opinion.

 

I don't see why it's a big deal. Everyone can do whatever they want to get entertained.

Not a big college football fan. But I do root for UT/A&M in college football, albeit not strongly, for the sake of familiarity and for the sake of rooting interest.

For me, watching a game where you don't root for either team just sucks, and personally unwatchable even if it is the best matchup known to man. This is why I routinely skip final four games or BCS championship games. Because I just can't see the point in watching games that don't matter(for me).

So yes, in a way I root for all Texas college in general against other teams, because mock fandom and rooting interest makes for better entertainment than no fandom.

 

Ask what:
I am a new member to this forum,I am from China,I am now in China

Yesterday, I registered at the forum

But...until now

I can only reply to thread,I can not post new thread

Why?

 

You are still considered a rookie. Eventually, if you show that you can make quality posts, then you will be upgraded to member status and will be able to start a new thread.

Tip #1 towards becoming a member: Don't reply with this in any more threads. It is not good.

 

It's the yankees/cowboys logic.

It's just too easy to be a UT fan, much like the aforementioned.

How your logic doesn't see this is astounding, as well.

 

sorry...


and...thank you
(*^__^*) ...

 

No problem. Welcome to the board!