quote:
You mentioned people connected to AU but not alumni. I love doing stats but there just isnt a way to do that one. Plus we have all agreed that sidewalk means the closest you got to going to the school is walking by on the sidewalk so even someone who grew up their whole life in Lee County and has worked making lemonade at Toomer's Drugs for 20 years but didn't attend AU is still sidewalk. The "myth" is all to often repeated on this board that AUs fan base is mostly alumni, if not a large percentage.

I understand. But tying in to my response to the LSU guy above, I think there are different levels of sidewalk when it comes to accurately representing the school as the school would like to be represented.

Clearly the pseudo-alum folks who are very connected without attendance or degrees probably carry out that representation in a manner closer to what the alums hope for.

Of course I'm not saying all alums are great and all sidewalk fans tend to be terrible, but I do think you're more likely to pick up things through attendance, familial connections, etc. that aren't conveyed through simply following a team and bantering with your buddies about them.