Being alumni of the college = "real fan"?

[Bamabuzzard]

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?

 

[TideEngineer08]

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

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.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

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

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.

I should have known something this stupid originated at the cow college.

 

[JBama_in_PCOLA]

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

I wouldn't get upset. I usually just show them all the fans of their school and ask him or her to justify that.

 

[alwayshavebeen]

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

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?

It is a stupid argument for sure. Those of us that did not attend the University, but rather adopted them as our team are everybit as passionate. And while I didn't spend thousands on tuitition there, I sure have invested in a lot of merchandise and travel and tickets over the last several decades...Not to mention some miserable times durign the lean years. Heck how many people are Packer fans that don't live in Green Bay Wisconsin? Roll Tide!

 

[ValuJet]

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

The way most fan bases behave, they're better off not claiming many of them at all.

 

[BamaMoon]

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

Agreed that the Barners were the first to use this but the funny thing is with their recent success I think they're getting more "side walk alumni" too. :biggrin:

Difference is they now believe all of their fans that actually didn't go to Auburn all graduated from an Ivy League school and don't shop at Walmart.

 

[nickel42]

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

Yep, I get this all the time from Barners despite being an alumni. And last week I got it from a Vol, too.

Also remember that we only care about Alabama football, but at Aubren they care about the whole school

 

[theballguy]

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

It's an easy knee-jerk, asinine comment to make that requires no thought -- usually made by butt-hurt fans of teams that ain't doing so well. Consider the source. :biggrin2:

 

[AgentAntiOrange]

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

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?

Hmmmm...Facebook and opinions of Auburn fans in the same post. Sounds like grounds to yank a man card to me.

 

[mikes12]

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

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!)

 

[Bamabuzzard]

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

Hmmmm...Facebook and opinions of Auburn fans in the same post. Sounds like grounds to yank a man card to me.

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

 

[Jessica4Bama]

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

I'd rather be a sidewalk Bama alumni than a real Barner alumni any day...

 

[KentuckianaBFan]

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

The more the merrier, I would think...what moron would turn away genuine support?

 

[Rush]

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

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!)

Masterfully put, Mike...

 

[Jessica4Bama]

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

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!)

I was wearing a Seahawks shirt the other day, and I had a customer ask me why the Seahawks where are you from? I said I'm from Alabama. He said why the Seahawks? I said because I like the Seahawks. Haha it was funny.

 

[mikes12]

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

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.

 

[cbi1972]

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

I was wearing a Seahawks shirt the other day, and I had a customer ask me why the Seahawks where are you from? I said I'm from Alabama. He said why the Seahawks? I said because I like the Seahawks. Haha it was funny.

Shaun Alexander had nothing to do with it?

 

[bamaee04]

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

Growing up in MS and being a Bama fan, I heard it all the time...especially the sidewalk alumni crap. Once I graduated in 2004 that idiotic argument was squashed for good. It really is silly since you can't be an alumnus of a MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL team, but you can be a fan. There are so many fan bases that are jealous of Alabama and always will be. They will come up with any kind of argument imaginable to try and make themselves look good or make us look bad. True fans of the Tide are some of if not the most loyal in any sport. I am proud to be a fan first, alumnus second, and I am happy to call any real fan of the Tide a brother/sister whether they ever stepped foot in Bryant-Denny, went to class in Bidgood Hall, or just listened to Eli and company on the radio for 10 years. RTR!

 

[Chukker Veteran]

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

I agree it's a ridiculous argument.

It is also possible to have a grad of a school who is indifferent to how the school's team does.

You don't have to have gone to a school to be a fan... and just because someone might have gone to a particular school doesn't guarantee they are a fan of that school's team either.