re: Sidewalkers

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More like a monthly occurance as an Aggie living in Austin. What I learned this week is your orange UT fans are better than mine.

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I'll grant that Vandy fans don't get much vitriol from other fanbases, even Tennessee. So our situations are slightly different. The only time I can even recall being called out was the constant stream of "Tiger Bait!" at LSU while wearing a Vandy cap, and it wasn't even a Vandy game I was attending.

If I may wax philosophical for a moment, I think the crux of my attitude lies in the fact that college sports, for better or for worse, are so deeply engrained in American culture that it seems rather cavalier to tell someone he or she can't be a "real" fan simply because he or she didn't attend the university in question. It's just hard to escape collegiate allegiances in our society, whether by geographical proximity, familial associations, childhood admiration, or just enjoying watching a particular team's coach, players, or style of play over others. When every Saturday in the fall is filled with college football programming, and people all around you are sporting emblems of their loyalties (shirts, keychains, emblazoned penis sheathes, whatever) it feels a little unfair to deny people the right to participate in this particular aspect of our society. If they enjoy cheering for a team, I'm not going to rob them of their pleasure out of some sense of exclusivity.

Ranters need a ruling here...

Grew up a Missouri fan, have two uncles and an aunt that are alums, applied and accepted to UM-CoMo (id card at my patents house somewhere) and planned on walking on the baseball team. Then a late scholly opportunity opened up at the little brother school in Rolla so went there and graduated. Football season ticket holder, donate enough to get decent seats and parking.

What say you?

This is where I parked my mopad.

Hierarchy of fandom

1. Booster/Bagman

2. Alumni

3. Sidewalk alumni/fan - ultra-loyal lifetime committed non-alum.

4. T-Shirt fan - less fanatical and knowledgeable than sidewalk fans but also less annoying, "just has the t-shirt", usually has some kind of connection to school.

5. Bandwagon Fans - similar to t-shirt fan but has zero connection to school and jumps for other teams when the going gets rough

6. SECRanters - The lepers of college football.

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Yes I agree 100%. And no teabaging, tree-killing, etc.

But if people are going to do that kind of stuff without a vested interest in the university they should be called out as shitty sidewalk fans, not celebrated

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And those that went to the University yet do those things? What do we call them? They are no better.

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Bottom line is you don't get called a sidewalker if you are behaving. It has a certain connotation that should mean something as a social mechanism to prevent the lack of shame that would harm the game and harms some brands.

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But what does it do to that same brand when a representative of that University does those things? I would think it reflects MUCH worse on the University, wouldn't you? You don't get a free pass just because you went there.

And to all you arrogant sip your tea with a pinky in the air types...if there were no "sidewalk fans" I do hope you enjoy club football, because that is what you would have. Most of you probably would be more at home watching polo.

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When every Saturday in the fall is filled with college football programming, and people all around you are sporting emblems of their loyalties (shirts, keychains, emblazoned penis sheathes, whatever) it feels a little unfair to deny people the right to participate in this particular aspect of our society. If they enjoy cheering for a team, I'm not going to rob them of their pleasure out of some sense of exclusivity.

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There is a reason college football is the only really successful minor league sport. It is the same reason college baseball has a following despite the fact that the best talent is taken by the MLB minor league- the core of the fanbase is connected via the university to the team.

You take away that connection, and allow each program just to be the local NFL-lite, and eventually you threaten and cheapen the core of fans in the sport- aka the ones that carry each program through hard times.

I am not saying that someone can't be a fan. What I am saying is unless you have a personal stake in the university then you have no right to completely appropriate the team.

The way I see it, if you aren't connected you are basically a guest in the house of others every time you go to a game or wear that brand. So just like momma taught you when you are visiting someone else's house, you need to be polite.

The issue is that some people feel that "because I was born in this state, pay taxes, and my grandpappy was a fan" means that the brand is also "theirs." Like Rick James they kick their feet up on the metaphorical couch and act the fool, basically spending the goodwill and brand equity someone else worked hard to earn.

I will agree sometimes these fans can be better fans of the team than those actually connected to the school, so there is a positive benefit for sidewalk fans. I do have a problem when they believe their claim to the brand is just as solid as an alum, even though they personally care more about the team than the university.

Maybe if these court cases ruin college football and turn it into a pro minor leagues some of this won't matter anymore. But for now these players wear the brand the alums "wear" into every job interview and social encounter, so those people with legitimate ties should have a stronger claim to that brand.

I feel that there are quite a few posters on here that did not attend the university they like. I didn't go to MSU because of money and my parents moved right after I graduated high school. That was 16 years ago. I now attend NSU and have absolutely no interest in their athletic program. I am not in school for the contacts, just a degree. I will forever be a bulldog at heart.

The Aggies are very proud of their university. They also are very proud of the networking opportunities amongst their former students.

Some Aggies( mostly the Gen Xers) have so totally bought in to some sense of TAMU superiority that they have become elitist in their hearts. They believe most degrees are not as valuable or honor-worthy as their Aggie sheepskin. In that sense, they are slowly morphing into that which they so fervently loath: the Texas alum.

It's a bit funny to watch from the outside looking in.

Oddly enough, my Aggie friends( I'm 52) don't have this same elitist attitude.

They love their school and degree.
They don't bash others

But then again, most of my friends are Drs and Attys, so the whole "I got my BS degree at -------" doesn't get anybody any kudos.

The Vandy guy got it right. There are so many ways to become the fan of a team. Pretty much like Christianity. How you got there doesn't really matter.

There is some truth to that Texas talk I hate to admit. But we are not just talking about A&M, all large public universities have an important alumni network.