I too once lived in NY, in Flushing, not far from Shea, as a matter of fact, I have never lived in Alabama my entire adult life,and I am pushing 50. I have heard discussion of the game from coast to coast. anywhere CFB is taken seriously (which isn't much in NY). IF you like CFB, you like Bama/barn , UT/OU ND/USC and so forth. Heck, I watched New Hampshire/ Maine when I lived in New England. Go Black Bears!!
That (the bolded phrase) is certainly true. The NY metro area has no good college fb programs to excite the populace. They still watch because they are avid football fans (NFL), but there is no passion associated with the college games up here. Heck, they don't even watch their alma maters play on Saturdays.
"Water cooler" discussions in this part of the country all center around the NFL games - even if the local team(s) stink. Are they aware of the rivalry games? Yes, the fb fans are aware. But do they
care? Not one bit. Every place that I have worked, I have tried to turn that around, but it is useless. They all went to colleges without competitive fb teams. As a result, they see college fb as the minors for their league (NFL).
The good news, the rivalries are not diminished in any way by this. I don't care any less about the games because those that don't get it couldn't care less. If anything, this sort of discussion helps to heighten our feelings about the rivalries...
