I love "my" College Football

Redwood Forrest · Jun 18, 2015

From time to time the discussion comes up about conference pride and because I am a college football fan I have been thinking about this lately. I think some people are not college football fans, they are Alabama, Ohio State or Oklahoma fans and their team is all they really care about. The Big 12 is "my" other conference. I visit several of their boards because I like to keep up to speed and find out what their mindset is on other issues, like early signing, conference realignment and etc.

With me it comes down to identification. I don't say "they" have won 15 national championships, I say "we" have won 15 national championships because I identify with "my" team. I also don't say "they" have won seven BCS titles in a row, I say "we" have won seven in a row because I identify with "my" conference." There are a couple of teams I "hate" in "my" conference but still it is my conference, much like the family member I wish would skip the next reunion, but they are still my family and I will do my best to threat them like family if they will let me.

I have been thinking about BYU fans. They are all alone on an island and can never say "We" unless BYU does it. Notre Dame has one foot in and one foot out of the ACC, but I'm sure they don't say "we" till Notre Dame has won something. Anyway, I am glad I don't live on an island. I am glad to be in the SEC family for a lot of reasons and now I can say, "We" have own network. I don't want Alabama to become an independent.

Not dissing those who live on an island, just explaining why I identify with "my" college football and "my" SEC. No one can tell you where to live or who to root for. Roll Tide.

Tideflyer · Jun 18, 2015

Redwood Forrest said:
From time to time the discussion comes up about conference pride and because I am a college football fan I have been thinking about this lately. I think some people are not college football fans, they are Alabama, Ohio State or Oklahoma fans and their team is all they really care about. The Big 12 is "my" other conference. I visit several of their boards because I like to keep up to speed and find out what their mindset is on other issues, like early signing, conference realignment and etc.

With me it comes down to identification. I don't say "they" have won 15 national championships, I say "we" have won 15 national championships because I identify with "my" team. I also don't say "they" have won seven BCS titles in a row, I say "we" have won seven in a row because I identify with "my" conference." There are a couple of teams I "hate" in "my" conference but still it is my conference, much like the family member I wish would skip the next reunion, but they are still my family and I will do my best to threat them like family if they will let me.

I have been thinking about BYU fans. They are all alone on an island and can never say "We" unless BYU does it. Notre Dame has one foot in and one foot out of the ACC, but I'm sure they don't say "we" till Notre Dame has won something. Anyway, I am glad I don't live on an island. I am glad to be in the SEC family for a lot of reasons and now I can say, "We" have own network. I don't want Alabama to become an independent.

Not dissing those who live on an island, just explaining why I identify with "my" college football and "my" SEC. No one can tell you where to live or who to root for. Roll Tide.

In my younger days, I used to feel a much closer bond with the conference. That`s waned over the years as Alabama experienced the period (what I call the "Kramer era") where I believe that there was a concerted effort, led by Phil Fulmer with Kramer`s complicity, to put Alabama football, if not out of business, in a position of such weakness that it would take decades to recover if it ever did. I also believe that there were no tears shed on behalf of Alabama because everybody else was sick of getting run over by us. Everybody despises the top dog. So, right or wrong, misguided or not, I`ve not felt a particular allegiance to the SEC. I care only about my alma mater and our teams. That`s all.

GA Bamafan · Jun 21, 2015

I have always been an Alabama fan. As for a fan of the SEC when a team is playing out of conference, 95% of the time I am cheering and pulling for the SEC to win. The 5% of the time is when it could be to Bama's advantage for the conference team to win. That leaves a lot of football to enjoy and on many fall Saturday's I am close if not glued to the TV watching Bama and SEC football.

B1GTide · Jun 21, 2015

I love college football, Ohio State and Alabama football more than the rest, but I still love the game. That said, I don't use "we" because it implies that I am a part of something that I did nothing to earn.

My son graduated on Friday. I don't say that "we" graduated and I actually had a great deal to do with his success. Why? Because it is his achievement, not mine. It doesn't bother me to see/hear others talk as if they have achieved something by proxy, but I choose differently.

GrayTide · Jun 21, 2015

An Opposing View
I have been a college football fan since I knew what football was all about. Heck, at one time I was even a fan of the NFL. As the NFL evolved with its heavy commercialization, player strikes, unions, owners arrogance and ESPN's over exposure I simply could not longer watch the NFL.

Unfortunately college football, at least for the power 5 conferences, is following the NFL model which has somewhat soured me on college football. I will watch and attend Alabama games and most of the SEC games, but rarely have much interest in games that I used to not miss such as: tOSU vs Michigan, UT vs OU, USC vs UCLA. I understand and do not need to be lecturered on how money is the major driver in college football and the arms race in facilities and fund raising rankings are so important. IMO ESPN and the other media outlets have saturated television with games starting on Wednesday night and running through midnight on Saturday. Were I not a long time Alabama fan and alum I would probably no longer be a college football fan.

CrimsonEyeshade · Jun 21, 2015

GrayTide said:
An Opposite View
I have been a college football fan since I knew what football was all about. At one time I was even a fan of the NFL. As the NFL evolved with its heavy commercialization, player strikes, unions, owners arrogance and ESPN's over exposure I simply could not longer watch the NFL.

Unfortunately college football, at least for the power 5 conferences, is following the NFL model which has somewhat soured me on college football. I will watch and attend Alabama games and most of the SEC games, but rarely have much interest in games that I used to not miss such as: tOSU vs Michigan, UT vs OU, USC vs UCLA. I understand and do not need to be lecturered on how money is the major driver in college football and the arms race in facilities and fund raising rankings are so important. IMO ESPN and the other media outlets have saturated television with games starting on Wednesday night and running through midnight on Saturday. Were I not a long time Alabama fan and alum I would probably no longer be a college football fan.

I'm with Gray. It dawned on me last year just how little football I watch when Alabama is not involved. Sundays in the fall become my favorite day because the golf courses are empty starting at noon. if my wife is not around, I might surf a couple of college games before or after we play. If not, I don't feel I'm missing that much.

On the other hand, putting all my emotional energy behind one team and one team only may explain why the losses seem harder to handle the older I become.

cuda.1973 · Jun 21, 2015

Make that 3 in a row. Only interested in our games. Might watch some conference games, mainly because they impact conference standings.

Never watched any of the other stuff on ESPN. There are other things to do before and after our game.

In the good ol' days, we had to be glued to the tube, in order to see the scores. There was no Internet. We were only on 2, maybe 3 times a year. LSU or 10RC, and the Iron Bowl.

Then they moved the Iron Bowl from ABC to ESPN. Those of us without cable were cutoff from watching a traditional game, that we could count on viewing, every year. I guess the only blessing was not having to suffer watching some really bad teams, lose to API.

ESPN might be a blessing to the conference coffers, but they cut me off from watching my team. With no interest in watching B1G or Nutter Dumber, I found other things to do on Saturday.

Now that I have a place to go, to watch our games, I do not pass on the chance. But after the game is over.................ESPN can go pound sand.

mulletover · Jun 21, 2015

CrimsonEyeshade said:
On the other hand, putting all my emotional energy behind one team and one team only may explain why the losses seem harder to handle the older I become.

I can certainly identify with this. Even when I was very young there wasnt another team that I followed. Then and still now a loss ruins my entire week. I dont even listen to sports radio or watch ESPN for a week after a loss. Whenever Bama loses it becomes a national story that runs on a continuing loop. After all Bama's the team everyone loves to hate.

CaliforniaTide · Jun 21, 2015

I enjoy watching the SEC and most Pac-12 games. I have no desire to watch Big 10, Big 12, or ACC games. I personally could care less if someone from the SEC wins another game, particularly during bowl season. If I root for a specific school during bowl season not named Alabama, I probably have a personal connection to that school or I despise the other school.

gtowntide · Jun 21, 2015

I too am like the previous 5 posts. I love Alabama football and I watch conference games also.
I'm not too interested in much else. Last year I tried to watch some of the late Pac 12 games but I end up falling to sleep. I'm not at all interested in the NFL. Growing up I was a huge Cowboys fan but now I really don't care.

TommyMac · Jun 21, 2015

This might depend on one's age.

You young'uns are used to a serious glut of CFB with games almost every day (and night) throughout a much longer season and an endless progression of bowl games, deserved or not.

Then there's replays, a never ending amount of replays from what seems to be endless sources.

Us old-timers had to be content with much, much less. Y'all get more exposure to Bama games in a month than we got in a year, maybe two. And replays, no chance.

bama2112 · Jun 21, 2015

The good thing about the internet is we can at least watch some of the old bama games that we didnt have vcr or dcr to record them. I was hoping the SEC network was going to do more with some old games but I have to see it.

teamplayer · Jun 21, 2015

GrayTide said:
An Opposing View
I have been a college football fan since I knew what football was all about. Heck, at one time I was even a fan of the NFL. As the NFL evolved with its heavy commercialization, player strikes, unions, owners arrogance and ESPN's over exposure I simply could not longer watch the NFL.

Unfortunately college football, at least for the power 5 conferences, is following the NFL model which has somewhat soured me on college football. I will watch and attend Alabama games and most of the SEC games, but rarely have much interest in games that I used to not miss such as: tOSU vs Michigan, UT vs OU, USC vs UCLA. I understand and do not need to be lecturered on how money is the major driver in college football and the arms race in facilities and fund raising rankings are so important. IMO ESPN and the other media outlets have saturated television with games starting on Wednesday night and running through midnight on Saturday. Were I not a long time Alabama fan and alum I would probably no longer be a college football fan.

I am having those same types of feelings more and more.

CrimsonPassion · Jun 21, 2015

I still consider myself a young man (born in 1984), but I tend to lean more towards old-school football. I love to see two physical teams line up against each other and try to dominate the trenches. I've never been one to mind a 3-0 or 6-3 game. I consider that "my" college football. Sadly, though, that seems to be disappearing with each passing year. This is the era of flashy, gaudy uniforms and optional defense where the sole objective is to go fast and hope the refs don't notice you exploiting the rules. If this does not get sorted out somehow in the future, I believe I'm going to seriously limit my football game viewing. These video game offenses are meant to attract viewers, but it's going to have the opposite effect on me. Give me a chess match instead of a track meet!!

Redwood Forrest · Jun 22, 2015

I grew up listening to LSU on Saturday nights on WWL (I think) and FSU on some station. Cullman FM had "Pick of Dixie" football games, usually an SEC team or Miami or Georgia Tech. Of course I listened to John Forney and Doug Layton too. This was before cable and usually only one game a week on ABC. Now, if you only cared about Bama back then, you would have watched two or three games a year. I guess that is why I love the game, because I was "raised" on various teams.

Roll Tide 57 · Jun 22, 2015

Tideflyer said:
In my younger days, I used to feel a much closer bond with the conference. That`s waned over the years as Alabama experienced the period (what I call the "Kramer era") where I believe that there was a concerted effort, led by Phil Fulmer with Kramer`s complicity, to put Alabama football, if not out of business, in a position of such weakness that it would take decades to recover if it ever did. I also believe that there were no tears shed on behalf of Alabama because everybody else was sick of getting run over by us. Everybody despises the top dog. So, right or wrong, misguided or not, I`ve not felt a particular allegiance to the SEC. I care only about my alma mater and our teams. That`s all.

This is the very reason I like this site.

There are still enough people to remember what the SEC has done TO not FOR Alabama.

Mke4Bama · Jun 22, 2015

CrimsonPassion said:
I still consider myself a young man (born in 1984)

LOL,good grief!

GrayTide · Jun 22, 2015

TommyMac said:
This might depend on one's age.

You young'uns are used to a serious glut of CFB with games almost every day (and night) throughout a much longer season and an endless progression of bowl games, deserved or not.

Then there's replays, a never ending amount of replays from what seems to be endless sources.

Us old-timers had to be content with much, much less. Y'all get more exposure to Bama games in a month than we got in a year, maybe two. And replays, no chance.

Tommy is spot on, especially about the age part. Not only has the game itself changed, all the activities surrounding the game have changed. Radio call in shows, non-major TV network coverage, tailgating, concessions, pre and post game shopping on the Strip, giant screen replay screens in the stadium and especially the horrible artificial music and last but certainly not least, the incessant traffic. This is how college football has changed over the last few decades, but we all know change is inevitable. You can embrace it or stay at home and get a much better vantage point of the game on TV. I do attend at least one game a year though to see what I am not missing.

crimsonaudio · Jun 22, 2015

I used to be a huge SEC Fan - then the dark decade from the mid 90's to the mid 00's came and I saw first hand how gleeful most every fan from every SEC school I cam ears was about Bama's struggles. Many were downright nasty, relishing being Bama hurting.

That did it for me - my attitude now is screw them, I'll never pull for any SEC team other than Bama and couldn't care less about them.

I love watching good football from any conference, but will never pull for another SEC team again unless it helps Bama. if it were possible for every other SEC team to go 0-12 I'd be all for it.

Irrational? Yeah, probably so. But those SEC teams LOVED seeing Bama down, and an elephant never forgets.

selmaborntidefan · Jun 22, 2015

(Full disclosure, I'm 45).

My mind goes back to the days when Alabama played AT MOST four nationally televised games a year, the last one always being a bowl game. This was a contractual thing with ABC. And this will surprise many of you but there was a time:

a) a telecast on Saturday night was a once a year treat (in 1981, Alabama and LSU moved their game up to the season opener for a chance to be seen on Saturday night prime time)

b) there were no highlight shows unless you had ESPN, who had quite primitive replay techniques and low production values and was only available in a few areas of the country

c) your college football game for the day was whatever game was on at 230 central time on ABC - period.

d) there were about 1/3 the number of bowl games (it actually MEANT something), the games tended to be closer, and you missed a couple of them a year because it wasn't carried in your section of the country OR your antenna didn't pick up the affiliate showing the Mizlou version of the telecast (Coach Bryant's final game was carried by Mizlou and announced by the legendary Harry Kalas)

It was probably a little easier to pull for the other conference teams back then - in part because only LSU, Alabama, Tennessee, and occasionally UGA were on TV. If Florida played on TV, it was always the UGA game. Ole Miss stadium was so small in Oxford that they played their big games in Jackson - same with MSU. (Last night I rewatched the 1990 Ga Tech-VA game. It was the game of the year that year, a truly excellent contest. UVA had a record high attendance of.....49,000 people, or fewer than were OUTSIDE the stadium at the 2011 Alabama-LSU game).

Furthermore, while it was quite maddening, there was a certain anxiety/uncertainty as to who exactly would win the national championship back when the teams didn't play each other. The vote MIGHT end with a split championship (1978), there might be an injustice (1977, 1983, 1993), or a team nobody saw winning it without all the dominoes falling properly might take it home (1965 and nearly 1990). This made ALL of the New Year's Day bowls important.

Furthermore, I was talking to a buddy of mine in Eugene, OR yesterday who is a lifelong Washington Huskies fan (and he's 52). He summarized how much it has changed with this observation: "Oregon won the Rose Bowl and nobody around here even cares."

Think about how unlikely that would have been even THREE years ago.

You see, this is the thing: I don't watch much college ball that isn't Alabama, but occasionally I like some of the SEC games on CBS, esp if it's a big rivalry (Tenn-UF, UGA-Auburn, Vandy-Kentucky - just seeing if you're actually reading). And I DID watch an entire sequence of games in November 2011 I would not have paid any attention to with the current playoff setup: Iowa St-Ok St, TCU-Boise, Bedlam and in November 2012, K-State/Baylor and Oregon/Stanford.

I just can't get all "into it" in the season opener of Ole Miss-Boise. It makes no difference to me although I hate loud-mouthed Boise fans with a passion so I do sorta pull for the Rebs.

But tune it in? Nah.

The day we played aTm here in 2013, I suddenly found out I could leave work early. I ran and bought an A/C filter, grabbed a pizza for lunch, and that was the only game I even paid any attention to that day.

I might have it on for TV noise, but I don't usually pay much attention. That's just me.

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