re: What % of Bama fans ever stepped foot in a U of A classroom?

That’s what families are about.

I don’t mind and welcome the non-students/alums who conduct themselves with class. It is the cajunbama/tidegirl types and crazies like Updyke we don’t want and who don’t represent the university.

Bama is the only public university in the SEC where a majority of students are from out of state. There is a reason for that. Most Bama fans are 8th grade drop outs...so the average Alabamian.

Let me set Captain Coonass and the rest of you snopesian tea sipping bastards straight once and for all. If it were not for " sidewalk alums" then your program, and all others, would be club football . There would be no massive Tiger Stadium. NO Bryant Denny. No mega TV contracts. No huge royalties from licensed gear. NO SEC. NO playoffs. Probably this very board does not exist.

You could sit on your wooden bleachers suck the heads off your crawfish with your pinky in the air and watch Ivy League at best level ball.

No I did not attend The University but it is a State Institution and I am a Taxpayer and a Citizen of the Great State of Alabama. Therefore I OWN the Son of a Bitch, or at least my little share of it. So mind your manners when you walk in BDS boy, you are in my house. Show some respect to those like me, that make it possible.

2.777896

Do you have stats? Pretty high percentage in my family. Me, Dad, 2 uncles and Grandpa (class of ‘28) all graduates. Does LSU not have bandwagon fans? I wish Harvey Updike had never heard of us but plenty of nut jobs exist in all fan bases. This is a tired and boring topic.

What difference does it make? I never set foot in a Georgia classroom, but I paid for my daughter to go there for four years. She had a 4.0 GPA with a double major in their Honors Program.

I would be willing to bet, that I have put more money into UGA than most students who attended class there every day and momma and daddy paid their tuition for them.

While the largest source of funding for most major athletic programs comes through private foundations associated with the University who manage revenue generation from sales, booster and alumni donations, you bring up a great point.

If not for the sidewalk fan support via the purchase of trademarked apparel, items, and tickets for games, the cost to the University and, by extension, the students would be extraordinary. Look at any study on the rising costs of athletic fees hidden within tuition costs. These go directly to the athletics departments. At smaller schools without extensive external support to generate revenue, the cost to students can be in the 1000s. Even at power 5 schools, it is not uncommon to see it in the low 100s.

This is another reason out-of-state student recruiting is so vital to some schools as it offsets a variety of other costs through a much higher generation of revenue per student.

So, at a University like Alabama with a large out of state population, huge booster network (composed of alumni and sidewalk fans), and extensive sales of merchandise (again to alumni as well as sidewalkers and bandwagoners), the in-state students truly benefit from lower tuition and fees, quality facilities and athletics to round out their college experience.

With that in mind, some students should thank the sidewalkers and others should hope their university grows more.

97.265

So, did either of you attend the school or not?