OT - Michigan Man stuck in the Dirty South
I thought I would vent on the board for a bit. I really hope Alabama loses. I get sick of hearing LSU fans here in Baton Rouge talk about SEC football. I understand they have fared well in the BCS title game this decade, but I don't rub it in their faces that pro sports down here suck. I try to be nice but it is very difficult. Anyone care to share a similar experience.
January 7th, 2010 at 1:43 PM ^
For Drive By Truckers reference in title.
January 7th, 2010 at 1:50 PM ^
While a young lad growing up in Michigan, I loved the Cornhuskers. And in some strange twist of fate, I ended up moving here in 1982.
So, I thought, "Wow! I've always loved the Huskers, so now I can rot for Michigan AND the hometown team!"
After a couple weeks of living here--I HATED them. The fans were--over the top. And this was a decade after they had won their NC's, and Osborne was routinely getting bitch-slapped by Barry Switzer.
Now 1982 happens--and the Huskers only loss was to Penn State (who was later drubbed by Alabama) in a game that was decided by a very controversial play. Both teams won bowl games and PSU was awarded the NC.
Holy shit--the whining that came out of the fans here was unbearable and I really wished I could kill every Husker fan in the world. AND--at that time I noticed they began to rip Big Ten football up one side and down the other. Compared the B10 to the MAC. Oh, the plagues I prayed for. But Zeus would not deliver.
This continued over the years--until the Big 12 was formed and Nebraskans felt but-raped by that conference and all their hatred turned toward Texas.
In the ensuing years, we've made peace with each other. But those first few years---man, give me a high-powered scope rifle and a bell tower to climb up into, and who knows what might have happened (I'd have probably aimed wrong and blown my own head off).
January 7th, 2010 at 2:20 PM ^
Agree 100%... Live in Austin - Hate the Longhorns.
January 7th, 2010 at 2:35 PM ^
Can not stand SEC fans, they are the worst. They think the whole football world revolves around the SEC...Ridiculous
January 7th, 2010 at 3:37 PM ^
I hate hearing about Gator football and how it started in 1996. That's all I ever hear!! Being in Florida you must of heard the same quotes.
"SEC speed or Speed kills"
"Best players are down south"
"Nothing like southern football"
"Tebow is god"...or the occasional superman reference
I always reply, "Thank the northern coaches, they are doing a wonderful job".
Urban Meyer (northern coach)
Les Miles (northern coach)
Nick Saban (northern coach)
Go Blue!!
January 8th, 2010 at 1:07 PM ^
helped them understand.
January 7th, 2010 at 1:56 PM ^
I think there is a good message here in these posts -
"If you love your college football team, keep it amongst other fans of that same team, or to yourself. Otherwise, people will just think you are a total asshole."
Home over the Holidays, I had lunch with my dad's side of the family (big time Mizzou homers). They are great people, but it was unbearable to hear them talk about Mizzou. Just terrible. Worst line was "The KC Chiefs made a mistake passing on Chase Coffmann in the draft" to which I responded (quickly), "well, you are correct on that - he looked great on Hard Knocks and has been able to crack those extremely strong incumbent Bungles TEs".
January 7th, 2010 at 2:10 PM ^
I understand LSU fans being obnoxious a few seasons ago when they were doing well. I'm sure we'd all be douchebags too if Michigan won the title this year. I can not get over the southern pride thing. Its like they think Bama and Florida's success the last two seasons is some how an accomplishment on their part. Not only do they think that their football teams are better, but they think their schools are on par with the rest of the country, better looking women, nicer people, better food, etc. They truly believe everything in the south is better than anywhere else. I love Michigan (the school and the state) but I am ok will the fact that California has nicer weather, Chicago has alot of fun shit to do, etc. Southern Pride makes me fucking sick.
January 7th, 2010 at 2:25 PM ^
I think it has something to do with getting their asses kicked up, down, and across at the end of the Civil War. Pack mentality and groupthink and all that afterwards.
Still, I'm a fan of Sherman.
January 7th, 2010 at 2:45 PM ^
Loved Sherman's work in Atlanta.
January 7th, 2010 at 3:02 PM ^
Ha! Yes, his architectural schemes and urban planning designs were fabulous.
January 7th, 2010 at 3:30 PM ^
The kicker with that is that many Southerners joined in with Sherman in burning Atlanta. Tell that to Southerners...they hate it.
January 8th, 2010 at 1:14 PM ^
that's when they learned to run so fast.
January 7th, 2010 at 2:19 PM ^
I’m stuck in Alabama for two months (early 2000’s ) in the ship yards there. Being an arrogant UM fan I start yammering about the 2000 Orange Bowl, not really rubbing it in but just staking my claim on life. They took it pretty good but then I started gauging the Auburn situation and it was like I was Malcolm X at a clan meeting, definitely Tide Country. I found the Bamains pretty cool people except for almost getting lynched for talking about Auburn. Living conditions though holy shit I’m glad I’m a Yankee.
Doing work in Ohio or dealing with MSU fans when they’ve beating us the last two years. That is were I’m glad I’m not home and +1 to all the people who have to deal with all the shit in MI (Economy/Spartans/Buckeye that we allow to live in Michigan)
Sorry in advance for grammar/spelling. (Fucking NAZI in this place)
January 7th, 2010 at 2:44 PM ^
...it wasn't just the Civil War. The 40 years after it were no picnic. And yeah, we had that one coming. No question.
Irony of ironies...just yesterday, I got an email full of pictures and pride from someone in the Upper Peninsula outlining the details of their most recent weather disaster. They were so proud that, unlike southerners, they didn't require federal assistance and bailouts and FEMA trailers and Wal-Mart gift cards.
Everybody thinks their place is the best. See: The Onion article on "My Team Will Humiliate Your Team." I know a guy from Dover, DE who just RAVES about how great his hometown is. I know people from California who think Bakersfield is a great place to raise kids. I know folks from Idaho who aren't bothered by the short-wave radio crowd at all.
I've said many times that the ONLY place that I've never heard anyone defend is Syracuse. Everyone I know from Syracuse couldn't wait to leave and gladly admits that Syracuse sucks.
January 7th, 2010 at 7:20 PM ^
...absolutely correct about Syracuse. That city is a dying pit trapped between the most polluted lake in America and a failed attempt to build a shopping mega-resort that has collapsed in an orgy of corruption and fraud.
My best friend's wife is originally from Syracuse and she is greatly relieved she doesn't live there anymore.
The only good things in Syracuse are Al's Whiskey Lounge and the pizza joint open at 2 AM in Armory Square.
Pray that the Big 10 doesn't add Syracuse, because all they would do is dilute the conference's football brand.
January 7th, 2010 at 3:13 PM ^
I live on the border of Georgia and Tennessee. I am surrounded by SEC fans and I have to agree with jb504, they are the worst. It's one thing to have blinders for your team and rah rah rah, but in SEC country it doesn't matter if your team sucks, because you can always talk about SEC DOMINANCE and how if any undefeated team came to the SEC, they would immediately be a 3 loss team every year and never make it to the SEC championship.
I know fans of teams can be real insufferable sometimes, but in the southeast United States it's the pure condescending of all things not SEC that gets to you. I can handle Ohio State fans going off the deep end. I can handle Tennessee fans going off the deep end, but what I can't stand is 7-6 Tennessee fans going off about their hated rival Alabama and how they will crush everyone (unless that team is in the SEC!) just because they won the SEC title.
Nowhere else in america is there the sense of entitlement that comes with being in the SEC. In these states, if you win the SEC, you win the MNC.
-UMichGA
January 7th, 2010 at 3:25 PM ^
I live in South Carolina.
All I hear is..."Alabama might win the national championship and we(Gamecocks) only lost to them by 14 points! We are just as good as anybody and next year will finally be THE year".
Kill me now.
January 7th, 2010 at 4:35 PM ^
Hasn't South Carolina never won more than 9 games ever or something like that?...
January 7th, 2010 at 3:27 PM ^
I have to hear it every single day from my wife, a Gamecock, who is now in Grand Rapids with me. Every trip to the Big House she claims the SEC is better. She is slowly turning over to the Big Ten but she is brainwashed...
We had a pool with my family and hers...it was a great divide over Big Ten picks and SEC picks.
January 7th, 2010 at 3:36 PM ^
I am glad I live in Michigan and don't have to put up with the SEC superiority mantra other than on the intewebz and ESPN. I only have to put up with MSU "taking over the state".
Logic is lost on SEC fans. They project their two great teams' successes onto their own mediocre team that gets shut down by a school from up north. But the SEC is better, no, we didn't fare particularly well out of conference (unless you're playing The Citadel or Chattanooga or something), no we lost some mid-level bowls, but WE WON TWO BCS GAMES!! WOO SEC, WE'S THE CHAMPS!!! THE SEC IS AMERICA, WOOOOOO!!!
January 7th, 2010 at 3:44 PM ^
Living here in North Carolina there isn't a ton of focus on college football. Even though we have UNC, NC State, Wake Forest, and East Carolina - all who have experienced success this past decade - we are unfortunately more of a basketball state. That, and living near the triangle (Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill) requires everyone to hate each others teams.
It's rather amusing.
January 7th, 2010 at 3:57 PM ^
I have to admit: I have a seriously irrational hatred of the basketball side of that conference. I loved me some Roy Williams--but the minute he took that NC job I knew that national championships were coming and I hated him.
The only ACC basektball guy I've ever liked was Lefty Dreissel. He was a total character.
Lots of guys in that conference have RFS--Rat Face Syndrome.
January 7th, 2010 at 4:22 PM ^
I live in SoCal. There are almost as many Michigan transplants as there are USC grads. They all leave in search of affordable housing and we all leave Michigan in search of SoCal. It works really well.
January 7th, 2010 at 4:22 PM ^
If Alabama wins tonight, I will be hearing about it for the next two decades. Like I've been hearing about 1992 for seventeen years. It is impossible to describe the cult of the SEC. If Michigan/Ohio State ia a 10-7 score, it's just that boring Big Ten. If Alabama/LSU is 10-7, it is that fabulous, SPEED oriented SEC defensive battle. If a Big Ten Game is 45-42, it's because those SLOW fat guys don't play defense. If an SEC game is 45-42, do you OMG believe that SPEED and SKILL?
And did you know Peyton got raped for the Heisman??? And that's from the Alabama fans, who hate Tennessee.
Aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh.
January 7th, 2010 at 4:50 PM ^
I don't get the whole SEC SEC SEC thing. I mean, yes, it's the south and all, will rise again, blah blah blah...but they claim to have all these intense rivalries that are unmatched anywhere...then ROOT for those teams in the bowl games?!??!
Sure, we've had some posts and notice that some are glad the B10 has a winning record. But it's mostly built on Iowa, Wisconsin, even PSU how can you hate them that much teams. There were a few OSU for the B10 rooters here, but they were few and far between. MSU likewise. And I'm sure the opposite is even more stacked.
If you REALLY hate someone, can you really cheer for them in victory? I'd say the fact that we hate someone or they hate us more than they love their conference speaks of stronger rivalries than a team vs. teams we really hate...unless they're playing someone else, then we like them.
January 7th, 2010 at 5:59 PM ^
I love the fact that the folks down here are passionate about their football - albeit annoyingly SECentric in my opinion - I just can't get my mind around the whole Dawg/UGA #VIII or something thing.
Howevaaah....if the Tide wins tonight, that'll be what, four national championships in a row. I'd say that was reason to feel pretty good about the quality of ball they play down here. Sprinkle in the fact that the area is so heavily recruited by everyone and his brother, and the notion that the ball down here is superior begins to take form. I don't agree with it uniformly because it is largely manifested by the success of three teams, namely LSU, recently Bama with Saban, and of course Florida. The SEC has won the BCS 5 times, FL and LSU twice each, and Tenn once since 1998. In most years, everyone else in the SEC is fair to middling (although those clad in orange - or is that tangerine? - would argue to be thought of otherwise!)
I am as Blue as anyone, but honestly, it's hard to deny southern football the respect it deserves.
January 7th, 2010 at 6:07 PM ^
It's not the quality of the football that's the problem. It's the mentality of the fanbase.
January 7th, 2010 at 6:07 PM ^
it's hard to deny southern football the respect it deserves.
It's hard to deny that Florida, Alabama and LSU deserve respect, but for the rest of the mediocre conference: y'all ain't as great as you think you are.
January 7th, 2010 at 6:21 PM ^
It's why everyone is saying the Big Ten kicked arse this bowl season: The top four teams all won their bowl games.
Nobody noticed that MSU shit their pants again, and no one cares that middle of the pack SEC teams won or lost.
But--when you finish The Deal three years in a row--well, you got some braggin' you can do.
January 7th, 2010 at 7:27 PM ^
...ten days I have a n00b from the Georgia Institute of Technology starting his first real job in my group.
I was wondering if people had any good ideas about welcoming him to his first real job above the Mason-Dixon line.
I'm already all over the Orange Bowl and the Hawkeye rap on Youtube.
I was thinking I'd do a Hawkeye fact of the day and put something like this up on my cube so he has to walk by it everytime he enters and leaves his cube:
http://www.footballfanatics.com/COLLEGE_Iowa_Hawkeyes_Flags_And_Banners…
Yeah, like several others in this thread, I am a huge Sherman fan.
January 7th, 2010 at 9:48 PM ^
Introduce him to a woman who's not his cousin and has all her teeth?
January 7th, 2010 at 9:24 PM ^
Funny thing about Michigan football: even living down here in the Floridian Triangle (UM, FSU and UF), there never seems to be a shortage of Michigan merchandise. Anywhere that sells football merch? Sells Michigan stuff.