Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?
I grew up a Bama fan, but accepted an academic scholarship to Southern Miss. My brother was actually at UA at the time, but I couldn't turn down a free education with my family situation. Now I have to hear it left and right about how I don't cheer for my alma mater. I've tried my best to explain that it's more like cheering for an NFL team. You know, you grow up pulling for Bama whether you intend to ever go to school there or not.
I would say it doesn't bother me, but I get irritated by the lack of understanding.
Gump, I hear it NON-STOP living in H'burg. Over the 25 years we've lived here (& we love it here!), I've developed 3 trump answers that I hold back unless pushed hard:
1) I
know I've been a Bama fan since Joe Namath was QB for the Tide; I'm unsure of my allegiances before I was 5 years old.
But I also know I sat in BDS & watched every home game the first time in my lifetime we had a losing record. And I know I still wore my Tide-wear proudly when we went 3-9 a few years back.
2) I have three degrees from UA & am proud of them. But they no more entitle me to call myself a "fan" than my beloved late Dad who never went to college at all. (He was a little busy in the Pacific in the Army Air Corps after he graduated HS in 1945.)
3) $9 million. <they'll stare back like a calf at a new gate> That's the figure I saw a couple of years back that UA earned just from licensing merchandise. <Then, to finish them off...> Wonder if, say, USM could stand a $9 million paycheck every year from large #s of "sidewalk alums" or "Walmart alums"...(note to all: USM's athletic budget is VERY tight these days, partly because they're paying Auburn's DC.)
Bonus trump answer: "I hear what you're saying. Does that mean I should burn all of my USM attire & stop attending home games? I'd hate to dilute the purity of the Golden Eagle fanbase, since I've never attended there..."
To all who didn't actually attend UA, Roll Tide! Thanks!
To all who didn't, but cheer for the Tide, Roll Tide! Thanks!
p.s. - I'm also a "sidewalk alum" of USM & attend all the home games. Been a brutal couple of years here inside The Rock. And of Ole Miss every week except this one, & get up there for a game or two every year (going up to the Auburn game this year
)
p.p.s. - My son, the 2x Ole Miss grad, figured this out too. He very much welcomes any & all "sidewalk/Walmart alums" of his team.