Good 11W article on rooting for the conference
http://www.elevenwarriors.com/college-basketball/2015/04/52196/the-killing-tree-ohio-state-buckeyes
Based on something like 5 years of mostly-lurking, I know 11W is not anyone's favorite here. However, I thought this was a particularly good article, especially in light of the immense consternation Wisconsin's loss on Monday caused on the board.
My personal favorite portions:
Conference pride started as southern bullshit and then infected the rest of the country via ESPN bullshit and lucrative television contract bullshit.
and
As for the non-southern regionalism bit, it's bullshit. Ohio State's national title win is a boon to Ohio State alone. Had Wisconsin beaten Duke Monday the spoils would have been all theirs. Conference pride is delusion wrapped in hubris.
Undoubtedly, this gives away my personal feelings on the matter.
I'm also a UVA fan, and I often hear my classmates talk about ACC pride, which I am not a big fan of either. That isn't to say I would never root for a fellow B1G or ACC school - it's just I wouldn't root for them just because they were in the conference.
For example, I did root for Wisconsin to win against both UK and Duke, but that wasn't because they were in the B1G - it's because I have an utterly irrational dislike of both of those teams. If it had been Wisconsin vs Florida, OTOH, I would not have had strong feelings either way; if forced to pick, I'd honestly have gone with UF, because Wisconsin's style of play is irritating (and yes, I fully recognize the hypocrisy of that as a UVA fan. What can I say? That's what make sports fun - I can be a total hypocrite and not feel bad about it!)
Anyway, I'm interested in hearing everyone's thoughts on this.
Cheers!
It did feel good that ESPN couldn't shit all over the B1G for yet another offseason. I wish it would have been us shutting their mouths, but at least their mouths are shut.
Fuck OSU.
11 Warriors has really started to suck a lot in the last couple years but Ramzy has always been their one bright spot.
You mean since everything is written by "perpetually agrieved" DJ Byrnes? The nice thing about Mgoblog is that even as the commenters on the forums have gone downhill as the site grew, they haven't hired any lower quality writers.
They certainly seem to. The best part is that most of them seem to have convinced themselves through crazy rationalization that Harbaugh is only a slight improvement over Hoke.
That's rich considering I have seen way to many threads about OSU on this blog lately.
You mean watching Cardale Jones and Urban Meyer lift the National Championship trophy didn't send a thrill of Big Ten pride up and down your body??
I for one let out a bloodlust roar when the clock struck 0 and OSU were the champs... envision the end of Braveheart... "BIIIIGGGGGGG TTEEEEEEENNNNNNNNN"
I had to clip my nails.
After the last 7 years I can not, will not, ever - root for MSU or OSU. Fuck em. PSU is on that bubble too with that dirtbag Franklin. Now, everyone else? Come bowl time, I do root for teams like Wiscy, Iowa, etc. My hatred for Dantonio and Meyer runs too deep.
I only wanted MSU to beat Duke and then lose to Wiscy cause it would've hurt more.
Same with OSU and Bama in football - wanted OSU to beat Bama (cause, Saban - duh) but then get blown out by Oregon. Obviously neither happened, but a guy can dream.
I think the whole "conference" pride thing stems from friends wanting to try and "get along" when it comes to sports stuff.
Franklin is the dirtbag at PSU? Really?! Just Franklin?!?!
How about the thousands and thousands who still worship at the altar of JoePa and show absolutely no contrition for what happened -- it's all about the 409 ya know!
was just the first one that popped into my head due to recent events. Fear not brother, I share in your opinions on this matter.
creepy. Try checking out a Paterno article at www.pennlive.com. They are the most obtuse bunch north of the Mason Dixon line.
Now they are screaming for the administrators (Spanier, Schultz and Curley) to be acquitted.
Wow. That's dispicable.
Haven't you heard Pennsylvania's state slogan? "Pennsylvania: The best southern state in the north." Those hills are quite home to those from down in the hollar
Pennsylvania is Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with Alabama in the middle.
-James Carville
I've been to Montgomery and Birmingham... while there are definitely red-neck-back-water-bubba-country-fuck places there, I cannot think of anyone in Alabama defending those who covered up child abuse with the enthusiasm they have at State Penn.
at least you're consistent.
Keep making excuses for a pedophile and a bunch of enablers.
come bowl time. Mostly because ESPN spends 365 days a year blowing the SEC, but then Nebraska beats Georgia and Iowa nearly takes out LSU. I'm sure watching OSU beat Alabama was akin to the Miracle on Ice for John Skipper.
If tOSU wins OOC, I don't have a problem with it. At least tOSU has been there and done that before so it's not like they are a statistical outlier or something when it comes to success.
Fuck Sparty on the other hand. I will never root for them. If the B1G has 7 teams make bowl games, I hope the conference goes 6 - 1. Fuck smug Dantonio too.
This is kinda what I've come around to. The Michigan-OSU game is better when it's two good teams. I'm not actively rooting for OSU and if they happen to blow a game against Purdue or whoever, lulz all around...but I don't really care if they win other games as long as we beat them.
State on the other hand can go 0-12 in perpertuity for all I care.
I also extremely dislike PSU and then not a big fan of any of the other "new" teams (Rutgers, Maryland, Nebraska)
Whomever is downvoting a "fuck Sparty" needs their ass kicked.
My brain had a divide by zero error malfunction when I read "Good 11W Article" and then it shuttttttttttttttttjjjjjjjjjjjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiioi*&%O%%%%%%%%%%%11111111111111111111111111111100000000110101010101010010010101011111111111110101001010101010101010101011111101001
be the most annoying response I've ever seen on here simply due to, 1. the number of different characters, which, I'm still trying to figure out what you were trying to accomplish here and 2. the fact that the formatting put it outside the box.
But, can't argue with your point. 11W's can suck it.
I like to think outside the box.
That's good. But it made my mousewheel scroll wobble. Now I'm drunk.
But I do have to agree with this, I have absolutely no love for any of the other teams in our conference just because they are in our conference. There are certain years where I like certain players on certain big ten teams, but that just has to do with me liking the players.
Eff those guys.
For me it was more wanting Coach Cal and Kentucky to lose rather than a B1G victory.
in light of the immense consternation Wisconsin's loss on Monday caused on the board.I think you are overstating the amount of "consternation" people felt. Most here rooted for Wisconsin and thought they got a tough whistle from the officials, but I doubt many people are still upset over it. It's just more fun to watch a championship game when you have a rooting interest.
does anyone know how to upload charts made in Excel? I made a breakdown of stats from recent 5 star wings and I want to upload them as a forum/diary topic.
I signed in just so I could tell you that I do not know. Actually, I was already signed in.
I've had good success just copy/pasting, but this explains Seth's method for dealing with stubborn tables as well.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
I don't agree that regionalism came from the south at all. In my experience this sentiment was pretty commonplace and remains prevelant with older generations (50 plus). There seems to have been a cultural shift towards hostility and antagonism in rivals to the point of schadenfreude being common. I grew up thinking schadenfreude reflected a failing or even vice, but obviously others feel differently. I feel like legitimate hostility has replaced a lot of good natured ribbing. Maybe it's just me...
Anyway, I personally have generally TRIED to root for MSU. Not always successfully, but when they have kids like Draymond Green or Tum Tum it helps a lot. When their football players beat up Engineers it's hard... I grew up in Michigan have family members who went there and so on. The rivalry generally felt good natured (unlike the OSU rivalry). I also try to root for Notre Dame too, as they didn't quite reach the Duke/Dallas Cowboys/NY Yankees level to me because the program is so similar to Michigan and non-SEC/south.
This year in the final four I rooted for MSU and Wisconsin, but that's not a high bar when the alternative is Kentucky and Duke. In football, I rooted for OSU to beat Alabama, but not Oregon. I guess you can say I take it on a case by case basis, but generall try to support the upper midwest/Big10 even though I no longer live in the area, for Michigan's sake and national narrative.
I don't agree that regionalism came from the south at all. In my experience this sentiment was pretty commonplace and remains prevelant with older generations (50 plus). There seems to have been a cultural shift towards hostility and antagonism in rivals to the point of schadenfreude being common.
How much of that is the internet bringing the most rabid fans into contact/conflict? I never heard an anti-Michigan word from my family (a half dozen OSU grads, 2 OSU profs), and never encountered the "fuck Michigan/OSU" stuff before I googled Ohio State and Michigan blogs just prior to the 2006 game.
So noobody has ever pooped on your car in the shape of an "O"?
It didn't always feel that way. I recognize it is that way now. That vibe was always there somewhat (at least that I can remember from the MSU side) but the UM side, until the last 10 years or so I would estimate, kind of shrugged at MSU and didn't care. Losing changes things I guess but it's bigger than that.
I don't know why in the world I would ever read RCMB.
I will never root for either of those schools. Why? Because when they win, we lose (recruiting, fan base wise etc. etc.) I do, however, root for the rest of the conference during bowl season, March Madness, College World Series and so on.
For non-Michigan games, I will root for whomever is less awful. On Monday it happened to be Wisconsin. For almost any game involving MSU or OSU, it will be their opponents. Fuck conference pride. Does nothing for me
If the Big Ten can regularly make the final four in CBB and CFB that helps the overall prestige of the conference, which helps attract better players, bigger TV contracts, and better coaching.
The only time Big Ten pride in athletics exists for me is when I can use it in an argument against a fan either lambasting the B1G or extolling the virtues of another conference, like the SEC.
It will be a cold day in hell when I can root for MSU or Wisconsin or OSU or PSU, except when they play each other, and then only if it can help Michigan. Otherwise, they can all rot in hell.
I freely admit that I enjoyed watching Bo Ryan lose due to some crappy foul calls because of the number of years Wisconsin had played football on a basketball court with Ryan looking like he lost his prom date when a foul was called on his holy badgers.
This is only about athletics. All of these schools are good academic institutions educating a boatload of kids and doing it well.
I root for the B1G if it's good for Michigan and doesn't hurt us.
I was VERY actively rooting for Wisconsin for this reason because Ryan and Beilein do not recruit the same guys. Ryan has an obsession with white guys from Wisconsin who can shoot the three ball. Therefore, if Wisconsin had won, the B1G's credibility would have been boosted and it wouldn't have impacted our program negatively.
On the other hand, Duke, UK, and MSU all recruit some of the same players that Michigan recruits, so I wished them all doom and gloom.
That said, I will never root for Ohio even if it would be good for Michigan (which it never is). MSU? Maybe. Not Ohio.
Whereas we are obssessed with white guys from outside Wisconsin who can shoot the three ball. Huge distinction there.
I will never root for osu or msu. I can take or leave other B1G teams winning but you'll never hear me chant "B1G!111!1" or brag about any B1G team but UM.