re: Fanhood discussion- what is considered sidewalk/bandwagon?

I'd say its acceptable to still be a fan of a school you didn't go to if the school you attend is in a different academic tier than the school you're a fan of.. IIRC there is a poster here who is an LSU fan who attended Dartmouth. Obviously he isn't going to all the sudden denounce his LSU fandom to cheer for the Big Green.

People that go to an SEC school and continue to cheer for a different SEC school (even while at school) tend to annoy me. Saw plenty of people wearing Auburn/Tennessee gear while on campus at Alabama.

quote:

---

I don't mean to be lame about it, but alums spend some of their most significant adult maturation years at these respective places. People meet wives and develop lifelong friendships and business relationships.

---

To me a fan comes down to: how much of my identity is tied with a sports brand and how much am I legitimately affiliated to the program.

An alum covers the second part, so they can have as much of the first part as they want. A sidewalk doesn't have the second part, so I feel they need to be careful when it comes to their personal identity.

If you are a positive sidewalker then no big deal, just like a bandwagon fan really. But if you are a negative sidewalker, the kind that will talk trash about other programs, then the brand would be better off without you as a fan.

It is about being good brand ambassadors. An alum has more skin in that game.

I think this is where the respect thing comes in.

For a bandwagon fan, your fandom gets no respect. Period. And most bandwagoners don't ask for respect, they just want to enjoy the ride. If they go around rubbing it in everyone's face that their team won no one will take them seriously.

Many sidewalkers DO want respect. They want to be seen as "real" fans, or at least just as real as alums.

There is the disconnect.

As an alum, I am wary of sidewalk fans because on gameday there is no little name badge that says "this person has earned the right to represent this university."

It isn't until after the drunk bitch punches someone, or the tree is poisoned, that we all go back and say "and that person never even attended the university!" By then its too late, damage done, no take backs.

So I feel sidewalk fans should have more respect, even than an average alum, for the brand they have attached themselves to and take great care not to misrepresent that brand.

That is how I am with the Saints because all NFL brands are sidewalk brands. I never talk trash to rival NFL fans because I have no right to, as I don't work for Benson or the organization.

Problem is many sidewalkers have less respect than the average alum for the brand they follow, and that is why sometimes I am wary of them representing my university's brand. Let someone else sell the shirt, another oil well will be drilled tomorrow no matter what.

Not all alums are arrogant but it reeks of it here. What the hell do you think happens if you have no sidewalk or even bandwagon fans?

You can sip your tea in a 10, 000 seat high school type stadium(if that big) watching club football, that's what happens. TV ratings? Forget it. There probably wouldn't even BE an SEC.

Like us or not, you need us.

quote:

---

What are the official rules?

---

There are none.
Do whatever the heck you want--life's short.

That said, you're going to have to get over being surprised when folks who actually put in the blood, sweat, and tears to attend and graduate from a university feel an allegiance that's different than the "I grew up in the state," and/or "my brother and grandfather went to school there" crowd.
We are, after all, talking about academic institutions--not professional sports (as someone else mentioned)
Graduates of a university are going to feel a different sense of camaraderie with the team, than do you.
Right or wrong, that's just the way it is.

quote:

---

Its a fricking sports program. And especially in a state that doesn't have a professional team, it's something you're born into.

---

I think that right there is the key difference: It's much more than a "sports program."
I can't even relate to that sentiment.
If football at Texas A&M University disappeared tomorrow, the university would remain a huge part of my life and who I am.
Not judging you at all; just pointing out the difference.

Support whomever you want.

I get the difference.

I'm not claiming to be the same as an alumni or student. I'm not claiming to be a better fan. I just don't get how I'm not a "real" fan

Great post.

it's stupid, a fan is a fan is a fan. an alum is an alum is an alum. they are two different words with different meanings that really don't have anything to do with each other until this stupid thread comes up once every month or so then here comes all the 'this is > that' and then the other side comes and says 'no it's not', rinse/repeat rinse/repeat rinse/repeat.

imo, you're a fan if you're a fan end of story.

quote:

---

I'm not claiming to be the same as an alumni or student. I'm not claiming to be a better fan. I just don't get how I'm not a "real" fan

---

See, I have a problem with that as well

Anybody who tries to put on airs as being a "better fan" just because they're an alum of a school is being a jackass. I know plenty of Aggies (ok, not PLENTY, but you get what I'm trying to say ) who are less emotionally invested in the school/teams than many fans who never set foot on campus, didn't attend, or couldn't attend for whatever reason.

There IS a difference between being an alum and being a fan, and it's not arrogance to point out such. It becomes arrogance when one tries to put on airs as being somehow "better" when folks are side by side in the stands cheering for the same team.

We should have our badges here changed to Alum, Sidewalker or Bandwagon.

shite will get real quick. Those identifiers would cause some ruckus