Being alumni of the college = "real fan"?

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

I usually don't spend too much time with folks that use these kinds of arguments. It is just silly. I would have given anything to go to Bama but I just couldn't afford out of state tuition. Both of my parents are alumni and Alabama football is the link I have to my extended family. I have family in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, and even New York. When our family gets together over some tasty grub the thing that binds us together is talking about our beloved Tide!! On Saturdays no matter where we all are there are constant text messages containing pre-game jitters and raucous RTR's after a big play. While I've only lived in Alabama ten months of my life, I have followed our team more closely than many "true fans." I've had the opportunity to witness the '92 championship in 'Nawlins and the 2012 championship in Miami. Alabama football is apart of my identity and family unity....and I went to UCF, my brother went to FSU, my sister went to UF. We all still passionately and proudly follow our team.

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

mikes12 said:

Here's a response I think would be fun:

Ask him if a moral victory is a real victory?
Then ask him about moral superiority.

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That's the thing that grinds my gears the most! Somehow many of them believe they are a notch above Bama fans morally, scholastically and socially.

They really believe that all Bama fans are like Harvey Updyke, live in trailers, and didn't graduate from any college.

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

If I happen to tell an Auburn fan that I graduated from UA, then he or she (women are really bad about this) will make some patronizing, sarcastic comment like, "Well, at least you went there," as if I have barely met some mystical criterion.

It's a specious argument that you hear a lot from fans of schools that have cult-like atmospheres (Auburn, Texas A&M, Penn State).

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

mikes12 said:

I hope he's not a fan of an NFL team if he's never lived in a state with an NFL franchise.

Are school age kids not allowed to follow college sports or must they forego their fan loyalty if they go to another college or university (for whatever reason, be it scholarship/financial, academic program)?

(For the record, I am a Bama fan. I was born in Dothan. My family moved to Tennessee in my adolescent years. I went to UTC for in-state tuition costs and commuting. If it makes some people feel superior to me for being a "sidewalk fan", I think it says more about them than it does me. Roll Tide!)

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Go Mocs!

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

The University and the football program wouldn't be where they are today without "non-alumni" support.

I guess we can blame most of indignant attitudes from other fanbases on Coach Bryant.

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

Bamabuzzard said:

Thank you! I wanted to go to Alabama but my parents couldn't afford the out of state tuition and we thought it was in my best interest not to take out a ton of student loans that I would strapped with after graduating.

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Sounds like your situation was grounded in good judgment, which in my opinion is one of the best indications that someone will make a great fan. Plus, you had good upbringing, and topped that off showing excellent judgment yourself becoming not only a good fan but an excellent football moderator.

How's that for brown-nosing a mod? :cool2:

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

[Heck how many people are Packer fans that don't live in Green Bay Wisconsin? Roll Tide!]

This really hit home for me. I grew up in the Boston area in the 60s and early 70s and like most "Yankees" I was a pro football fan before I was a college fan. I pretty much always watched and followed the Patriots, but the team I really loved was Lombardi's Packers. I was as much a Packer fanatic then as I am a Bama fanatic now. Long story short, I became a Bama fan because of Bart Starr. I became a full-fledged CFB convert in the early 70s when Coach Bryant introduced the wishbone. Once I saw that there was no going back. I was hooked for life.

Personally, I have not run into this argument very much, except for some good-natured ribbing from a good friend who is an LSU grad. But I agree it is a stupid argument. What makes a fan a fan isn't whether s/he attended a particular school. It's the simple fact that there is something about that team that s/he likes and relates to. For me, it was the way CPB handled that team, and the team's unselfish nature. CPB would routinely use 2, and sometimes 3 QBs and 8-10 running backs in almost every game. Most of those guys had been superstars in HS and could have been full-time players just about anywhere else. But they chose to come to Bama, share time and win championships playing for Coach Bryant rather than pile up individual accomplishments somewhere else. It takes a special coach, and special players, to pull that off. I know it's a different era now, but my Tide fandom has just stuck for 40+ years.

OK, I've rambled enough.

ROLL TIDE!

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

crimsonaudio said:

I think this attitude stems from the more 'obnoxious' aspects of any fan base - IME they generally are not the ones who attended the university.

That said, I couldn't care less if a Bama fan attended UA or not - I give 'em all a hearty Roll Tide!

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What he said.

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

I was born and raised in Oklahoma. My dad passed on the love and passion for Bama to me. This was the final few years of the Coach Bryant days, when Alabama was only on tv three or four times a season. It would have been easy to be an OU fan like all of the other kids and pretend I was Billy Sims, playing pee wee football, but I wanted to be Major Ogilvie. My dad came to my school on the day Coach Bryant died to tell me. We both cried like he was part of our family. I played football on a scholarship at a small college in West Virgina and graduated from a small college in Oklahoma. Through the good years and the bad, I have loved no other team but the Crimson Tide. That's all that matters to me and I will never care what other fans or people think about it. Roll Tide!

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

mikes12 said:

I hope he's not a fan of an NFL team if he's never lived in a state with an NFL franchise.

Are school age kids not allowed to follow college sports or must they forego their fan loyalty if they go to another college or university (for whatever reason, be it scholarship/financial, academic program)?

(For the record, I am a Bama fan. I was born in Dothan. My family moved to Tennessee in my adolescent years. I went to UTC for in-state tuition costs and commuting. If it makes some people feel superior to me for being a "sidewalk fan", I think it says more about them than it does me. Roll Tide!)

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Well put. It's a pretty weak and stupid argument.

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

TideEngineer08 said:

You used to hear it from Auburn fans all the time. Every single one of them graduated from Auburn and are "true fans" while Bryant-Denny is filled every Saturday with "sidewalk alumni" who never set foot on campus otherwise.

You are right, it is one of the most asinine arguments in college football.

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The few times I have heard it is from Auburn fans also. I always tell them I am perfecting fine if Auburn instituted a rule that said only "true fans" that went to Auburn could support their team. I imagine the stadium would be half empty. Have to show your old school id before you could buy Auburn sports paraphernalia. I have no problem with them doing it.

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

Bamabuzzard said:

Not to derail all the good football discussion but I've got a bone to pick with I guess anyone who believes that if I didn't go to Alabama then I'm somehow not a "real fan" and not eligible to be one. I've "unfriended" a relative on facebook recently because rather than having a good, logical, conversation on how good the SEC West is this season and actually talk about football. He wants to continue to discuss how he "laughs at" those who passionately root for teams like Alabama yet didn't even go to school there. My response, "Who cares? I didn't realize there was an official manual or criteria that said someone cannot be a fan of a team if they didn't attend the college." Why do people hang on this argument? It is about as asinine of an argument as there is out there in college football.

Does anyone else run into this?

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Well, name-brand Tide gear makes you a much better fan .... so it only makes sense ...

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

TideEngineer08 said:

You used to hear it from Auburn fans all the time. Every single one of them graduated from Auburn and are "true fans" while Bryant-Denny is filled every Saturday with "sidewalk alumni" who never set foot on campus otherwise.

You are right, it is one of the most asinine arguments in college football.

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Half of my extended family are *U fans, and only one of them went to school there.... haha

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

Bamabuzzard said:

LOL! Actually the opinion was from a Miss St fan.

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Every state has their ag school equivalent of API. They all have lots in common.

(Yes, that includes Penn St. Except they don't have an older stepbrother to be envious of.)

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

I know Latin is a dead language, but can we please stop saying that a person is more than one alumni? Unless you have a clone who is mentally connected to you, you are an alumnus or an alumna.

Bamaee04, thanks for having good grammar despite being an engineer. :wink:

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.

Re: Being an alumni of the college="real fan"?

Interestingly enough, ole siss fans are also ones to use the line, I graduated from ole siss, therefore I am a real fan. I hear it mostly from barn fans and ole siss fans, especially on Facebook. I just laugh it off. My college has never had a football team, so I guess I am not a real fan either.