Do you have to go to a school to root for a school?

[samikeyp]

In your opinion?


This was brought up on a radio station up here so I wanted to bring it up here.

I was born and raised in SA and have been a fan of UT for as long as I can remember. I currently do not attend nor have I ever attended UT. Does that make me less of a fan? Do I still have the "right" to root for the Longhorns?

My answers are no and yes.

IMO, the definition of a true fan is one who supports his or her team win or lose. A true fan always roots for that team but also acknowledges the other team when they win and is not afraid to point out any flaws their team has or mistakes that his or her team have made. I don't believe that you are a bandwagoner if you support a school you never attended. You are a bandwagoner if you were nowhere to be found when the team was 2-9 but you are on the lead float in the victory parade when they win it all.

I have always made this distinction....I am a Longhorn fan, not a Longhorn. IMO, being a (insert team mascot here) means you actually are a grad. Its like the "we" and "us" thing. If you are like AHF and have that Aggie diploma, you can "we" and "us" all you want, but it wouldn't be right for me to do that as I never went to school there. Again...this is an opinion it is not a recommended course of action.

Thoughts?

[NoMoneyDown]

I went to West Virginia University for two years, but got my Bachelors at SWT (now Texas State University). Never attended UT. I root for WVU, Texas, and Texas State. People can call me bandwagon, not a true fan, or whatever they like.

Edit: I also went to Palo Alto College in San Antonio, so I root for their sports teams as well. :drunk

[leemajors]

it doesn't make you less of a fan if you didn't go there. my best friend is a georgia tech fanatic but went to SMU. people rag him all the time about never having been there but you can't deny he is a die hard fan. i went to UT and was a die hard fan who went to games while i was a student, and i still follow the horns and watch most games but i am not devastated when they lose anymore, which is a good thing.

[samikeyp]

I also went to Palo Alto College in San Antonio, so I root for their sports teams as well

Me too! :)

[KewlKat00]

i agree samikey. i think you can be a huge fan regardless. but i do know that for me, my connection to usc is alot stronger than my connection to the spurs even though i have only been a trojan for a little over 6 years, but was born and raised in san antonio before that and have always followed the spurs. don't get my wrong, i am a huge a fan of both, but i do find it a little different feeling.

[samikeyp]

Kat....are you going to SC currently?

[johngateswhiteley]

interesting question. couple thoughts:

1. i prefer fans to have attended a school to root for them, there is nothing more irritating than fans who just jump on teams

2. although, i can understand there are other connections than actually attending a university. i can understand you grew up in the area, family members attended, its the only team you have ever pulled for...etc

...admittedly, i am kind of a Nazi about this stuff. but on the other hand, i suppose you like who you like...and thats that.

[johngateswhiteley]

I think you either have to be from the region or have gone to that school.

USC Class of 95 (Y Que Putos, Puro Califas)

Fight on Men of Troy

:elephant :elephant :elephant

[K-State Spur]

it doesn't make you less of a fan if you didn't go there. my best friend is a georgia tech fanatic but went to SMU. people rag him all the time about never having been there but you can't deny he is a die hard fan. i went to UT and was a die hard fan who went to games while i was a student, and i still follow the horns and watch most games but i am not devastated when they lose anymore, which is a good thing.

By the same token, it doesn't make anyone more of a fan simply because they root for a better team.. I went to Kansas State, and am sick of hearing from Nebraska fans that they are better because of their tradition, past champions, and heisman winners when the vast majority of the fans who talk this trash have never even been to Lincoln.

[samikeyp]

agreed.

[KewlKat00]

Kat....are you going to SC currently?

i graduated in 2004. i still live out here though and have had season tickets the 3 seasons since graduation (in school, you get a whole athletic pass).

[Brutalis]

It's quite stupid to think someone who attends a school is a bigger fan in any context. It making them a better fan, true fan, anything of the sort is pretty bogus. I know that was not the point made by samikey but that's the general consensus I have heard over the years that relates to this topic.

The main thing people need to take into majority considerations when deciding or assuming who is a bandwagon and who is true is this...

Some states have one major school, but most have at least two big time college teams. Arkansas for instance. --Yes there is Arkansas State but they have no fanbase. If they did they would be in a big conference eating shit like Miss. State and Vandy. Without the fanbase you don't have the money, and that alone explains why 99.8% of Arkansas roots for the Hogs.

States like Michigan and SC have two choices. MSU or Mich, Clemson or SC. A lot of their fans ride one side then the other, and yes it's pretty annoying.

I was born and bread in Razorback Red. Hey that r... anyways... so I can't understand as well as others why that idea is even talked about on the radio moreless TV. But that's my take.

I attented U of Arkansas school for technology for a 1.5 years but couldn't afford tuition anymore as I became screwed in debt. So technically speaking, I did attend my teams school. But to me it don't matter.

[j-6]

There's some good thoughts in this thread. I don't think you have to be a student, current or former, to cheer on a school's athletic program. That's almost like saying you have to live in a certain city to cheer on a pro sports team, or saying that once you live in a region that you're obligated to cheer for whatever team represents that area. A quick look through this thread shows Spurs fans in LA, Lansing, Dallas, and some places in Arkansas and Montana, among others.

I'm not exactly a Metro State or a UH athletics fan, but I am a UT fan, and I went to school at all three. Part of it was growing up a Longhorn, part of it was going to games all the time when I was in Austin, and part of it is something I identify with years later.

I will say that piling on a college team's bandwagon annoys me a helluva lot more than jumping on a pro team's, but I really don't have any reason why.

[LaMarcus Bryant]

You have to say no, because some people may not go to a school they've been a fan of since their youth; they are fans all the same. Just as long as they don't jump ship.

[Extra Stout]

Anyone can root for any team they want. I know plenty of folks who grew up in Michigan, never had the opportunity to go to UM, but are die-hard Wolverine fans. Folks may have gone to school in Hammond but root for LSU. It's normal.

However, if you did not go to the school you root for, but rather simply flunked out of ITT Tech and are now working at a convenience store, and then feel free to cast aspersions upon the people who did get an actual and useful degree from the rival(s) of the school you root for, it kind of makes you a pathetic asshat.

For example, one can root for the football/basketball teams at Texas if one likes, but rooting for Texas does not make one the second coming of Denton Cooley.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I don't really have a problem with folks who didn't go to a school rooting for school.

I have a problem with two types of people along those lines though:

1. Those that change their 'affiliation' based on who is at the top. The bandwagoners. If you've been a Bulls fan, Lakers fan, Pistons fan, Nebraska fan, Michigan fan, Texas fan, etc. in the past 15 or so years, this means you.

2. For whatever reason, there definitely seems to be a trend where people who are a fan of a team but didn't go to that school talk a lot more smack, and the majority of it pathetic smack, than those that did attend a school.

All that does is make said school look bad, and it's not even alumns that are the cause of it.

[LaMarcus Bryant]

Well you forgot number 3, the fans in the tpark mold, that are just obnoxious and blockheaded

[gtownspur]

If you didn't go to school you have everyright to be a fan of UT.(no pun intended)

[johngateswhiteley]

If you didn't go to school you have everyright to be a fan of UT.(no pun intended)


so true.

[JoeChalupa]

It doesn't matter. I've never lived in Dallas but love the Cowboys.
I was a Spurs and Cowboys fan before I moved down here.
I grew up in OHio sot I'm a beloved Buckeyes fan and support the Big Ten.
Don't mean squat as far as I'm concerned.

[Horry For 3!]

I have been rooting for Texas all my life but won't be attending there.

So I would call myself a true fan of Texas.

Also, I would never go to any of the universities that is a rival with Texas.

My mom mentioned about going to A&M for Sports Management and I was like fuck no. I think I am goin to University of Houston for that.

[baseline bum]

No. I've always been a big Georgetown fan, even though my degree is from UCLA. Of course, I'm a much bigger UCLA fan now since that's where I went to school.