Stories of Northerners' Misconceptions of Southern Football

[CHATTBRIT]

Sure you can learn to speak Italian/Russian/Spanish through classrooms and cd's but the only way to be fluent...is to reside in a place where that language is spoken. Football is taught up north, it's native here.

I tried that when I lived in Germany. I was later informed that I spoke Hessich German (from the State of Hessen) with a Swedish accent!!

 

[geauxbama14]

"The SEC: our food is better, our women are hotter, and our football teams will beat yours by 30."​

Well, unless you're Auburn!!

 

[UAME]

A myth? Really? As a "Northerner" who fled south for college and has since returned, I have been fortunate to see my fair share of football games in both "climates". I will say that while the conditions can get a bit nasty in the south w/ the 40 degree temps, rain and wind which you speak about, but they do NOT come close to comparing with the miserable conditions football is played in up north...

I have been a season ticket holder for the Ravens for 8 years and have sat through weather conditions that can make grown men cry in and around the North East. 40 degrees and rain stinks. We get that in September. 25-30 degrees with 25 mph winds and freezing rain is flat out miserable. We get this from December on; and Baltimore really is not that bad compared to NY, Boston, Buffalo, Cleveland and Green Bay, etc. I prefer the snow to freezing rain any day of the week. You just can't escape the wet stuff.

One question... When has this ever happened in the south (Buffalo 12/2008 - Winds 40-60mph, )

In regard to the photo, if that were induced by wind, wouldn't the goalposts be leaning in the same direction?:conf3:

On the topic of temperatures, I'm not arguing that it doesn't get colder up north. You mentioned it stays miserable from December on. Well, Div I college football isn't played throughout the month of December. (On that note, though, the Div II National Championship game is held each year in Florence, AL in December.) I remember several years it has been bitter (for us), temp's in the 20's at mid-day, and windy. Us locals were bundled to the max, but some North Dakota State fans were running around shirtless.

My main point is that Southern teams wouldn't be helpless in a game played in sub-freezing temps.

 

[tambo410]

Hate to jump on my fellow Maryland friend but the first SEC championship game was indeed with Florida but it was played not in Atl but in Birmingham, not 3 years ago but Dec 5, 1992. We won that game 28-21 for our 20th SEC title and went on to beat Miami in the Sugar bowl Jan 1, 1993 for our 12 th National title 34-13. As a true Maryland Bama fan I was where I was supposed to be that day, at Legion Field.

Correct... I was at that one too. And also at the Superdome as we kicked some cane arse! What I meant was her first SEC Champ game.

 

[Black Warrior]

"The SEC: our food is better, our women are hotter, and our football teams will beat yours by 30."

These kinds of posts are usually made by someone who's never been out of Gordo. It perplexes me when people get into these kinds of discussions about "my part of the country is better than yours etc...." No, the food is not better. It's just what you're used to. No the women are not necessarily hotter. They just talk a little different. And the "our team beats you by 30" only applies to 2 or three teams in the SEC. We were about .500 in bowl games this year. Don't get me wrong, I love Alabama and the south but these kinds of uninformed comments just make more divisiveness in our Nation. And we ARE a Nation composed of many regions with different aspects.

 

[tambo410]

In regard to the photo, if that were induced by wind, wouldn't the goalposts be leaning in the same direction?:conf3:

On the topic of temperatures, I'm not arguing that it doesn't get colder up north. You mentioned it stays miserable from December on. Well, Div I college football isn't played throughout the month of December. (On that note, though, the Div II National Championship game is held each year in Florence, AL in December.) I remember several years it has been bitter (for us), temp's in the 20's at mid-day, and windy. Us locals were bundled to the max, but some North Dakota State fans were running around shirtless.

My main point is that Southern teams wouldn't be helpless in a game played in sub-freezing temps.

The wind swirls around that stadium there... I think I was making a point regarding the weather in December in on reference to the Ravens games I attend. Sorry to confuse you if I did. I don't think southern teams would be helpless in the cold but you certainly build a team that has to play in the cold differently what one who does not. For example, cold weather teams are usually built around the run and seek out quarterbacks who have very large hands to better grip a wet or frozen ball.

 

[BAMAFAN IN NY]

A 35-40 degree rainy day feels more bone-chilling than a still 25 degree day.

Cold is cold....but wet-cold sucks.

maybe you havent been where it gets really cold.. but believe me there is a difference. Here it gets so cold, that your eyes tear up.. and then it freezes.. your eyelashes get covered in ice.. the snot in your nose freezes.. you have to tak your breaths in sips, cause its so cold it hurts your lungs and you start coughing.

And on the other hand.. Ive lost 15 lbs in one football practice during 2 a days in august in alabama, when it was 95 degrees out with 90% humiduty. Both places have their extremes. I ve also been standing on a deer stand in alabama when it was 15 degrees out.. i used to think that was pretty cold.

 

[THE BAMA IRISHMAN]

A while back I posted an article from the Chicago Tribune where the writer actually thought Auburn was in West Georgia. I also call everyones attention to Lionel James from Warren Robbins GA who actually stated he grew up thinking Auburn was in JOE-GA. Having lived in Indiana for 9 years I had heard everything from wearing no shoes to slopping hogs. Anyone care to take a shot at which state has the most hogs!:BigA:

Now you would think the farmers of Indiana and the Midwest (Sports Fans) would have a good handle on who really slops hogs and goes without shoes. It might be they just do not know their live stock like Auburn. :biggrin:

One Southern State North Carolina is ranked in slopping hogs. Not all Hoosiers are that foolish about sterotyping.

Top 10: States With The Most Hogs & Pigs | Cattle Network

Top 10:States With The Most Hogs & Pigs

United States 68,657,000

State Head Percent Of U.S.

1 Iowa 19,800,000 28.84%

2 North Carolina 10,300,000 15.00%

3 Minnesota 7,700,000 11.22%

4 Illinois 4,400,000 6.41%

5 Indiana 3,700,000 5.39%

6 Nebraska 3,350,000 4.88%

7 Missouri 3,200,000 4.66%

8 Oklahoma 2,460,000 3.58%

9 Ohio 1,940,000 2.83%

10 Kansas 1,830,000 2.67%

 

[Capt. Jack]

These kinds of posts are usually made by someone who's never been out of Gordo. It perplexes me when people get into these kinds of discussions about "my part of the country is better than yours etc...." No, the food is not better. It's just what you're used to. No the women are not necessarily hotter. They just talk a little different. And the "our team beats you by 30" only applies to 2 or three teams in the SEC. We were about .500 in bowl games this year. Don't get me wrong, I love Alabama and the south but these kinds of uninformed comments just make more divisiveness in our Nation. And we ARE a Nation composed of many regions with different aspects.

Don't be a ... It was a tongue-in-cheek comment.

 

[nasatidefan]

Don't be a ... It was a tongue-in-cheek comment.

That Obama speech the other night must've had a profound affect on him.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

The old "the SEC won't come up here in November" whine is a straw man large enough to make a group of three sing, "If I Only Had A Brain." Can anyone who invokes this argument please tell me WHEN THEY HAVE AN OPEN WEEKEND IN NOVEMBER? It's virtually never. You might find a stray team here or there that does. Besides - as I've noted many times - when is the last time you heard a Big Ten Yankee complain about the weather in Pasadena on January 1?

Let me add something else - does anybody REALLY think that if the game is below a certain temp that either team has anything resembling a REAL advantage? Nobody on either team has ever played a game in minus-15 wind chill.

Furthermore, I sat through a rainy, cold mess in the 1998 MSU game. I sat through a season opener in 1996 of Braves baseball on the back row of the old stadium with a 29 degree wind chill. That's more uncomfortable for the fans than the players.

Here's the bottom line: there were no pro sports in the South until the mid-1960s when Atlanta, New Orleans, and Miami got some sports teams. By that time the SEC had been around for 30 years and between 1951-1962 five SEC teams won national titles (Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee). That's half the conference in a little more than a decade. Those powerful teams made for close games that established many of the traditional rivalries.

The North got to see Michigan-Notre Dame on Saturday and then go drop some money to watch the Detroit Lions on Sunday. We in the South watched Saturday ball and spent all Sunday talking about it.

The irony is they stereotype us as NASCAR and wrassling fans as well yet the biggest draw ever for a wrestling card in the USA was in Detroit in 1987.

 

[p'colabamaman]

maybe you havent been where it gets really cold.. but believe me there is a difference. Here it gets so cold, that your eyes tear up.. and then it freezes.. your eyelashes get covered in ice.. the snot in your nose freezes.. you have to tak your breaths in sips, cause its so cold it hurts your lungs and you start coughing.

And on the other hand.. Ive lost 15 lbs in one football practice during 2 a days in august in alabama, when it was 95 degrees out with 90% humiduty. Both places have their extremes. I ve also been standing on a deer stand in alabama when it was 15 degrees out.. i used to think that was pretty cold.

I was just thinking about the fact that if you want to talk about the extremes in one sense, you should talk about the other. The heat and humidity in the South during summer practice and fall camp is just as bad, if not worse, as the cold in December. Yes, it gets hot up north too, but the humidity down here is stifling. But with that said, the conditioning that players get down here could be one reason why the SEC is considered to be a tougher conference than the Big Ten.

 

[VegasTide]

Let's be honest guys... you're all just jealous that you don't live in Vegas.

Now, I don't have much of a story, but I do know that I can't really talk football w/ any of my co-workers... they just don't 'get it'.

However, we have an office in Columbia, SC. I was recently helping them out w/ a recruiting search for their office and we were hammering out the details of the job description. I did a 'reply to all' email where I stated, "If this position is going to be in Columbia, maybe we should add a bullet point that says 'Must believe losing 4-5 games in college football is a dream season' on the job description". Now, because this was the first time I've helped them w/ a search, my first response was from a Clemson grad (who runs that office) who LOVED the comment. I then got a reply from a SC grad who said "It is a dream season when you play REAL football like we do in the SEC!"

After a few exchanges, when they learned that I was a Bama grad, all was good and my comments were suddenly OK. I just thought it was funny w/ how defensive WE SEC folks can be and how defensive you southern folk can be. All in good fun though....

 

[Sagamore Bill]

Funny story: The night before the Sugar Bowl, 1979 (Bama vs, Penn ST.) I am walking the French Quarter and standing in the middle of Bourbon St. are 8 guys. 4 are wearing Bama shirts, 4 wearing Penn St. shirts. Whatever liquor they have in that big brown bag is working...they are all laughing and sharing the booze, yelling "YOU TALK FUNNY-YOU TALK FUNNY".

North & South, modern style.

 

[Rueben]

"The coldest I have been was 45 degrees in Wilcox county Alabama."
That quote came from a man who was born and raised in North Dakota.

 

[Let's Roll Tide]

I was just thinking about the fact that if you want to talk about the extremes in one sense, you should talk about the other. The heat and humidity in the South during summer practice and fall camp is just as bad, if not worse, as the cold in December. Yes, it gets hot up north too, but the humidity down here is stifling. But with that said, the conditioning that players get down here could be one reason why the SEC is considered to be a tougher conference than the Big Ten.

This! I grew up in Tuscaloosa, now live in Colorado. I went to visit my parents back in June and I just could not get over the humidity-it was AWFUL! The temps were in the mid 90s and I complained every time we left the house. My mother got fed up with me and told me I had turned soft.

Regardless, I have never heard any player from a Big Ten team complain about a Florida bowl game. Wasn't there a bowl game this year in New York somewhere? Wonder how the fans and players of those teams felt?

 

[3rdandLong]

I've seen threads like this before....and I think it's just who has the better players, coaches and what kind of match ups you have in a particular game. It's a football game, nothing more.

 

[TideprideRTR]

Just from my experience of visiting family up north and looking around, it seems that the northerners are more into the NFL than college football.

 

[BAMAccounting10]

Not a fan of these types of threads guys!! From Washington DC, graduated from BAMA, got engaged to a southern girl I met at BAMA from Huntsville, AL. Moved back to DC with her and she loves it here!!

While the South has its unique qualities Im not a fan of bashing northerners over football or stereotypes in general. Shes a southern girl and she loves it up here. Im ROLL TIDE all the way but never liked the way southerners talk smack about people up north and vice versa. Theres no doubt the south owns college football ROLL TIDE. But the north owns the NFL. I just think its stupid to smack talk people from the otherside of the mason dixon. Our only Heisman is from Flint, MI and he seemed to know a thing or two about football. ROLL TIDE

 

[GCtidefan]

The SEC: our food is better, our women are hotter, and our football teams will beat yours by 30.

AMEN Brother!
After spending 8 years in Chicago I can affirm that statement!