re: Rivalry discussion: What's worse?

What were the levels of fear?

Fuuuuuck

^^^^^^^^^^

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Who the hell cares?

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In relative terms none of this is really important. The value attached to the sport is an emotional value, a nostalgic value. With that in consideration the rivalry thing makes sense- you want to beat the teams that your team has played for a long time because of the nostalgic value of past bouts. Hence you get -cessed about it.

I guess my point was maybe they have the correct way of looking at it and we are the weirdos over in our part of the world. I mean, the biggest program in our state lopped off two of its three biggest rivalries the last few decades for ego and money. We dumped almost every rivalry we have in order to move forward as a program. OU allowed the formation of the Big 12 to wreck their NU rivalry. Baylor needed us to sell tickets ten years ago and they flip us off today. People in this region simply don't value this stuff.

Meanwhile Bama will share everything with everyone, and give up a chance for something like a Bama Network, just to be able to play the poor UT every year. A team like South Carolina will play Clemson every year, even though that gives Clemson an unbalanced advantage (and their program isn't prestigious enough to undo that advantage). Ten of the 14 votes were for permanent rivals. The SEC seems to value partnerships and not islands, which is maybe how it should be in a sport tied to Universities.

I honestly think we Texans overthink the money and business side. We think winning the the boardroom is how you win on the field because it is how you win in real life. Meanwhile Bama (whose state sucks at real life) takes that passion from its many rivalries to forge a stronger steel and build a machine that has dominated the sport.

Maybe the rivalries are the real engine that makes it all go and the money is just the grease.

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Maybe I don't fully understand the SEC operational definition of rivalry?

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I think we don't understand it. Two reasons for that:

1. WCA is right, A&M has no real rivals right now. Maybe LSU grows into that, or Arky does, but for now I too just want to beat every team because a W is a W. We are in a serious GOT mode that a program like USC can't seem to get into, and I feel until we win something big we won't be able to exhale and enjoy anything more than direct success.

2. I think the SWC screwed up the rivalry thing for us. Because most of the teams we played were SO much less as programs resources-wise (Rice, Baylor, Tech, etc.) it made us value having a history with a team less. Meanwhile Bama and Tenn are closer than we are to Rice, so is an Auburn or a Georgia or a USC to a Clemson. We are handicapped by the fact that Texas's NFL focus means we have a weaker set of programs overall instate.

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It seems very overused in these parts.

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Well sure, running something into the ground is a Rant tradition (Bert Fat). With that said there is a truth in that which I feel you are missing.

Think about your life without the Aggies- you probably still have access to big football games via the NFL, a few local Whole Foods, a few big name concerts, etc. Your quality of life is still high.

If you live in say a Mississippi then you don't have all that other stuff. There is one freaking Whole Foods in the whole state for crying out loud! No freaking Frys or an outlet mall worth a damn. It sucks. So since your life is more primitive and closer to what we would consider to be a more simple lifestyle then the relative importance of something like the football team matters more. The MSU fan in your life won't have a better job, or a Tesla, or he can't get organic produce either, so the only way to compare yourself to him is through the success of the football teams. Suddenly it is all more important.

I love how boxer shamelessly and indiscriminately hurls these truth bombs and insults the frick out of the entire conference with zero regard for the dicks he just ran over.

Don't ever change, buddy.

You neither Kaiser, I missed the energy level when you weren't on here.

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So basically you are trying to say the SEC East cares less about football than most of the SEC West because they have more going on in their lives? I won't refute you.

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No, im saying Mississippi sucks as a state

SEC West Standings:
Bama
Miss St.
OM
Auburn
LSU
TAMU
Arky

Notice that the states with higher populations have higher WFIR (Whole Foods Incidence ratings)

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Not necessarily. I mean, Alabama has a little larger population than South Carolina with one fourth the Whole Foods South Carolina has. But South Carolina DOES have a larger percentage of college educated citizens as well as a higher median household income. That makes the difference for a company like Whole Foods.

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Additionally, Alabama is Alabama, and that's a big factor