From the Seattle Times (a must read): The rules of being a college football fan

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Bronko Nagurski Gopher

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannyoneil/2009983183_oneil02.html

considering who we are playing tomorrow i found this article to be interesting and timely.

here is today's homework assignment: i highly suggest that some of you wishy-washy types who seem to find ways to justify and make exceptions for enemy teams and/or fans read this thouroughly.

a few things you should have learned after reading this article:

1.) don't be a sell-out punk........for any reason.........ever........alma mater first.........alma mater always.

2.) follow the cardinal rule of college fandom: thou shalt not covet another college's program. you don't get multiple favorites, and if you enroll at college, the team you grew up rooting for gets trumped by the one whose college you attended. there can be no ambiguity who you cheer for when the schools meet. no bigamy. you have one school that you get to be passionate about: the one you attended. WISCONSIN NATIVES ATTENDING THE U OF M.....I AM SPEAKING TO YOU!!!!
 


and Wisconsin still sucks.
 


anonymous said:
Wonder what BleedGopher is going to think of this.
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There are always exceptions to the rule, but in general I think people are inclined, out of personal pride, to root for their alma mater. I know plenty of wiscky guys who came here, some switched allegiances and others didn't. Some transferred to Madison.
 


Hmmmmmmm.....


ooops(sarcasm).

Granted I believe its true that you can only be a die-hard fan of one program...

and that will always be the gophers for me.
 

?

2.) follow the cardinal rule of college fandom: thou shalt not covet another college's program. you don't get multiple favorites, and if you enroll at college, the team you grew up rooting for gets trumped by the one whose college you attended. there can be no ambiguity who you cheer for when the schools meet. no bigamy. you have one school that you get to be passionate about: the one you attended.
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I'm not a Minnesota grad. But my ancestors were early pioneers in Minnesota and three generations of my family have gone to the U (including both parents, who met there). So I think I get free pass on this one. This article needs to make room for old-fashioned filial piety (how many Notre Dame or Alabama fans went there?).
 

Studwell55 said:
I'm not a Minnesota grad. But my ancestors were early pioneers in Minnesota and three generations of my family have gone to the U (including both parents, who met there). So I think I get free pass on this one. This article needs to make room for old-fashioned filial piety (how many Notre Dame or Alabama fans went there?).
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if you actually read the article (it is much better than my attempts to quote it) you will see that there is a very specific list of exceptions. you might fall into one of the categories.
 

O'neill nailed it: "Shared suffering defines a fan base". Given the past success and glory of the the U of M football team, and their failure to win a championship of any kind during the last 40 years, no fan base in the country has suffered for as long or as painfully as Gopher fans. The diehard fans who stuck by the team through all those years have absolutely earned any success that comes our way this year, or at any time in the future.
 



I will be faced with working through rule #3 later this year when my undergrad school-South Dakota State comes to TCF to face the Gophers- where I received a master's. I have yet to figure out what colors I will be wearing. My hope for the game is a Gophers win, but also hoping that SDSU keeps it interesting. Thankfully, these two schools, plus my third degree school-Nebraska-all play in different conferences and rarely play one another.

One thing I will not do, and nobody should ever do, is wear both colors at the same time. I have seen this at games before, and it always bugs me. Seriously, choose a side!

Entertaining read. Thanks for posting.
 


GopherBeef said:
I will be faced with working through rule #3 later this year when my undergrad school-South Dakota State comes to TCF to face the Gophers- where I received a master's. I have yet to figure out what colors I will be wearing. My hope for the game is a Gophers win, but also hoping that SDSU keeps it interesting. Thankfully, these two schools, plus my third degree school-Nebraska-all play in different conferences and rarely play one another.

One thing I will not do, and nobody should ever do, is wear both colors at the same time. I have seen this at games before, and it always bugs me. Seriously, choose a side!

Entertaining read. Thanks for posting.
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Doesn't the higher division (FBS vs FCS) exception apply in that case?

Wear Maroon & Gold
 

For the record, I am a Wisconsin native but went to the U. I am forever maroon & gold and I hate the Badgers almost as much as I hate Iowa. There is hope for some of us. Too bad all Wisconsinites cannot be like this.

Go Gophers!
 



I'm with Studwell

I got degrees from two schools with no football team, Hartford and NYU, and only went to the U for one year. What else am I supposed to do? Plus two grandparents and both parents went there. Oh, and the Hartford basketball team is a regular doormat in the American East, yuck.
 

vaporboy said:
I got degrees from two schools with no football team, Hartford and NYU, and only went to the U for one year. What else am I supposed to do? Plus two grandparents and both parents went there. Oh, and the Hartford basketball team is a regular doormat in the American East, yuck.
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there was an exception for this situation (i.e. schools without a football team). you are good cheering for the U of M
 

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