OT: For which B1G team would you most hate to be a fan?
Out of boredom, I've been scanning some of the other B1G sports blogs (plus ND's), and of course reading posts here on MGoBlog linking to and dscussing other teams, and it just made me realize how fortunate I am to be a Michigan fan. I got to thinking about which B1G fanbase I would least want to ever be a part of. Looking at football especially, I considered such aspects as program history, recent success, coaches and ADs, scandals, and the quality of the fanbase. Here is my thoroughly researched, scientific, unbiased and objective ranking of B1G fanbases I would hate to belong to with worst being number 1, and reason(s) in parentheses:
1. PSU (Jerry Sandusky, JoePa and administration's response)
2. OSU (the rest of the fanbase is the worst part--the scandals, another lesser issue)
3. IU (football so crappy basketball is the #1 focus even in September)
4. ND ( strong history; sucky team for decades, and a delusional fanbase)
5. PU ( better at football than IU; worse at basketball, no money being used to support athletics)
6. Illini (Year after year of good recruits and crappy teams; does place players in NFL)
7. NW (Good coaching, teams that battle, indifferent fanbase)
8. MSU (good success lately, good runs going back 70 years, thug players, burning couches)
9. Minn (tough place to recruit, positive sparks now and again)
10. Neb. (great tradition, team showing signs of some recent success, coach named Bo)
11. Iowa (quality sports blog, decent team year in and out)
12. Wisc. (Good success in past decade)
13. UM (need I say more?)
How would you rank the teams you would most hate to be a fan of?
Because that might mean that I live in Nebraska.
This coming from a guy who lives in Ohio??
Ohio actually doesn't exist south of Columbus. It's just more West Virginia and Kentucky down there.
The scariest Ohio State fans I've ever met were in Plymouth and Ironton. There's plenty of Ohio south of Columbus and East of Cincy. They all have Ohio State mailboxes, porches filled with hoarding detritus, and they readily call people with Michigan license plates "fags!"
From a football standpoint, Indiana would have to top the list because I would have to go all the way back to the Bo McMillin era (30s and 40s) to find a coach that brought my team a cumulative winning record. Beyond that, aside from a shocking Big Ten championship in 1967, I would only have 9 bowl games in 120 seasons of varsity tradition and the hilarity of the Gerry DiNardo years and a brass spittoon for which I can play. Further, just going by number of bowl appearances and conference titles, I would historically actually have to be jealous of Northwestern and Purdue.
Overall, I would make an argument for MSU - to define the success of my programs in terms of another program would be a recipe for psychological disaster over time. After all, I would have to be able to live with telling people that I hate being called "little brother", but yet give every implicit indication through my actions and words that I actually enjoy my role as the perennial undercard in my home state.
It would be hard to be an IU Football fan. And a Purdue fan of anything. And Minnesota. The others seem to at least compete, or to have something going for them.
Champaign is in the middle of nowhere. Chicago area athletes have better, closer options. It is a good school with a huge alumni base, though.
Indiana, hands down. Basketball success notwithstanding. Have you ever been to Bloomington? It's awful.
I was thinking about coaches' salaries. You're right, it was an overly broad statement. But here's a link to a story from last year about B1G football coaches' salaries. Hope comes in dead last. This is something the Purdue sports blogs complain about as well.
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/39131/a-look-at-big-ten-head-coaches-salaries
Edit: Here's a Hammer and Rails post with concern about Matt Painter (from a year ago). If he's in it for the money, there are places willing to offer him quite a bit more than Purdue is paying him: http://www.hammerandrails.com/2011/3/27/2075760/the-future-of-matt-painter
I would pick Northwestern, but their "That's alright, that's OK; you'll all work for us someday" cheer would be so much fun that it would negate the record of futility.
Indiana is terrible at football, but do quite well for themselves in football.
Purdue seems to have mediocrity as their ceiling, but at least they have accepted it, and still get to play "spoilermakers" every once in awhile.
I am going to pick Illinois. Every time their football team has a brush with competence, they get "too big for their britches" and the coach gets fired after his first bad season. Then, they start over again. It's been a long time since Red Grange played for them.
Their basketball team is even more frustrating, because they are so close to greatness sometimes, but never quite make it all the way there. The shooting death of uber-recruit Ben Wilson as a senior in high school was probably the difference between Illinois and Michigan winning in 1989 and going on to take the NCAA Championship.
After Lou Henson left, they have never really gotten back on track. Bill Self dumped them and went on to win one NCAA Championship (so far) at Kansas, and they pulled the same shit on Bruce Weber that they normally pull on their football coaches.
So now, despite a very fertile Chicago recruiting area, both of their major sports suck. Most of all, their hatred of Michigan is even less rational than Ohio State or Michigan State's hatred of Michigan. That leads me to conclude that they are really, really miserable and have nothing better to do.
It would suck to always have an inferiority complex so have to go with little brother.
Penn State right now...you can't go 30 seconds as a PSU fan and not hear a Pedophile joke. God forbid you wear your team gear around kids....
Prolly NW as a close second, Ryan field looks like a tier 2 texas high school stadium.
MSU hands down. I wouldn't want to have the inferiority complex that most of their fans have.
Sparty.
Always the bridesmaid.
Never quite enough to get the gold ring.
Usually blows games on the big stage.
Dreary football stadium/atmosphere.
Gets no respect nationally.
Obscure even to B10 fans.
Knows the end is nigh.
Inferiority complex.
Burning sofas.
Etcetera.
Illinois hands down. There is nothing worse than constant failure to meet expectations or constantly choking away talent. Illinois wastes decent recruiting and loses their best in state talent for both basketball and football. They fold in every opportunity they get to advance their program. Imagine if Illinois had beaten Carolina in the basketball national championship and had beaten USC in the Rose Bowl. The momentum they could have gained would be crazy. But, they lost like we all knew they would because no school throws away talent and opportunity like they do.
They got into the Rose Bowl and the BB NC game. That's hardly folding . . .
How is Indiana not #1? They have nothing to be excited about, ever. There is no joy involved at all.
While PSU is going through a tough time, they'll be back. There is hope. But IU? Always sucked, always will suck. (They don't even have a single football recruit at this point.)
It's a football disaster area.
Indiana is a false example. IU football fans (such as they are) are never disappointed because they harbor no expectations. I've been to games there. They just go for the hot dogs and beer. It's a basketball school, period. They get this. They're okay with it.
Ditto for Minnesota. Hockey school. Football is largely incidental there. If you're a football fan, you'd never invest in the Gophers in the first place.
Ask yourself: How many hardcore Indiana or Minny football fans have you come across in your lifetime?
'Tis better to have won and sucked than to have never won at all. Or is it?
What a broad brush you paint with.
It's not like OSU fans help themselves, though, with stories like this:
http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2012/5/9/3009187/ohio-state-recruiting-alex-anzalone-penn-state
In the days following his son's decommitment from OSU, Dr. Sal Anzalone's ratings page was hit by a string of negative reviews. Most of the new posts were vague, some were offensive. They have since been scrubbed from the site.
One =/= all.
and doesn't have Ohio at the top of their list?
I'm guessing this goes a lot by geography, with the Michigan natives more likely to lead with MSU. If you're an Ohioan you look around, pick out the most obnoxious and offensive person you see, and realize that if you were an Ohio fan that would probably be you.
I'd hate to be an Iowa fan. That's because I find it hard to believe there's any Iowa fans outside of Iowa and I can't imagine saying, "I'm from Iowa." What is there to do in Iowa? Watch corn grow and then eat it while awaiting football season?
they kill a lot of time with picking the corn too. Sometimes they get into corn wars with the neighbors from Nebraska. Those can be a hoot.
I think this is a stupid question. I'd have learned to love whatever university I attended, even if it wasn't the one I always wanted to attend.
I feel like any answer other than Indiana or Minnesota is just dumb..Bottom line as a fan is winning, and those two programs cannot win right now. You could probably toss NW in there as well..Winning is everything for fans.
Imagine being a whiny baby who's happiness depended on someone elses failure rather than your own success.
Gotta be Purdue. Just good enough for you to care, but not good enough to ever achieve anything.
At least if you are Indiana or Minn in football, or NW or PSU in basketball, you know not to get too invested. With Purdue, you always think there could be a chance. But there's not.