Am I a bad SEC fan?
by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Jan 4, 2010 5:00 PM EST
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PrintWith just a couple of minutes remaining on the Cotton Bowl's game clock, the section of Cowboys Stadium to which Ivory Tower and I had migrated during halftime began the increasingly ubiquitous "S-E-C, S-E-C" chant. It wasn't a powerful chant, nor was it long-lived, and nor did Ivory or I vigorously participate in it. I think between the two of us, we might have announced the acronym of our football team's conference five or six times before just letting it go, ceasing our voices and allowing the chant to die a then-seemingly necessary death.
We won a sloppy game against an opponent which played an even sloppier game. It was hard to get too thrilled about the bowl victory, subsequently making it difficult to once again pull the conference superiority card again. But, for me at least, there was more to it.
I think I am becoming a bad SEC fan.
That, of course, relies on the assumption that a good SEC fan actually a) believes in the superiority of the Southeastern Conference above all others and b) becomes a temporary fan of otherwise rival squads during out of conference matchups, especially when these matchups are bowls. On Saturday, neither of those were really the case for this Rebel bloggeur.
Nor was it on Friday. Still a bit nauseated from an eventful New Year's Eve, I sat in Juco's living room with Ivory Tower while sipping on whatever champagne we had left and watching the Outback Bowl. Juco's wife was packing for our Cotton Bowl trip, so we rather expected had a decent bit of time to watch and chat football before hitting the road to Dallas (you've been sexism'd, Cup readers). And, as we watched Northwestern force an overtime and claw tooth-and-nail, getting every lucky break imaginable and playing their absolute hardest, I found myself cheering firmly against the Auburn Tigers. I did not want them to win. I wanted Northwestern to win, bad.
When Auburn won, I felt a bit miffed. Yes, our conference and region defeated "their" conference and region, but I was most definitely sippin' on purple at that moment.
The same thing happened while on the road. As we fiddled through various stations, picking up bits and pieces of the Capitol One Bowl, I found myself rooting for the Nittany Lions. At that point, I had rooted for a Big Ten team to defeat an SEC team twice in the span of a few hours. I was committing some sort of sacrilege, I knew it, but I really didn't give two shits. LSU lost in poetically atypical fashion, I smiled, and then immediately began thinking of ways by which we Rebels were going to tragically lose come January 2nd (it's just part of Ole Miss fandom, you know it).
The Cotton Bowl comes and goes, the Rebels win, we leave Jerry World and, in preparation for the greatest all-ages Rebel shitshow I've seen at the Hilton Anatole, head back to my cousin's digs for some rest, food, and a change of clothes. While there, we pop the Liberty Bowl on, and proceed to once again allow the dirty, warm feeling of schadenfreude inflate our chests. I was legitimately upset when ECU's "kicker" missed three separate field goals in a minute of play--or however exactly that went down. I was, once again, rooting against the SEC.
Now, I imagine you are curious as to how I feel about this upcoming BCS National Championship game. Here too, am I having a difficult time being pro-SEC. While the importance of our continuing perceived dominance of football as both a conference and a region cannot be overstated, I really don't want to cheer for Alabama. I'll cheer for Greg McElroy and Mark Ingram, two football players who seem to me to be fantastic individuals on their own accord. I'll cheer for Nick Saban, a coach who I find impossible to disrespect, despite his somewhat cold, selfish demeanor. I'll even cheer for the South, the region in which I grew up*.
But I can't be certain I'll cheer for Alabama, whatever that means. Thing is, my parents are Longhorns. I like the school and program. I like Mack Brown. I like Colt McCoy. If Texas wins, I'll likely be happy. Of course, I won't be upset if they lose either, but you get what I am saying.
I have not always been this way. I cheered for Florida and LSU during each of their last two BCS National Title games. Of course, they were playing either Oklahoma or Ohio State which did not present me with any sort of "well I kinda like the other team" dilemma. Hell, I even mildly pulled for Mississippi State even when they faced UCF in the 2007 Liberty Bowl. Nor was I this way with other bowl games. I pulled for Georgia, Florida, and Kentucky. I was apathetic towards the Chick Fil A bowl and only mildly embarrassed by the Papajohns.com bowl.
So, to re-submit the question that is the title of this post: am I a bad SEC fan? Is my deliberate and somewhat humbling move away from brash, SEC arrogance the wrong move to make? Am I moving away from the light?
*For the two or three Big Ten or Pac 10 fans who will stumble upon this: no, Texas does not count as a part of the South. Texas is Texas. That's how they would have it said, and that's how must of us would have it said.
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Nah...after Kentucky screwed the pooch
I decided “FUCK the SEC, I’m an Ole Miss fan first, Bama fan second, and fuck the rest of ’em.”
I decided this after a story my dad told me, of a plumber who came to fix something at the fraternity house back when State was in the Final Four. Dad mentioned he cheered for State to win in contests where they weren’t playing against Ole Miss because and I quote, “I always want a Mississippi team to win.” The plumber was a State fan and said that he was stupid to do that, and I quote the plumber “we want Ole Miss to lose EVERYTHING. Football, basketball, tiddlywinks, federal grants, academic programs…hell we’d love nothing more than for Ole Miss, the City of Oxford, and Lafayette County to crumble down into a giant sink hole and disappear forever.”
Dad fired the plumber and has rooted against State ever since. Even now he hopes I come to my senses and quit my job someday.
"I feel like I’m in The Sound of Music and the theme is "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Jevan?"
by Queen Hoka-Hotty-Toddy on Jan 4, 2010 5:09 PM EST reply actions
Good for your daddy!
I daresay that most State fans act that way, when it comes to Ole Miss…. so he needed his ass fired! I remember that trip to the Final Four. Mis$take fans like to mention this trip to us pretty often, still. What they always fail to mention is that Syracuse sent their asses home, pronto, so it was a short trip to NYC and back.
It’s gonna be tough to get worked up for the Evil Empire, and for the Great Saten. In fact, I don’t much think I can. I guess we don’t get exposed to enough Texas fans to adequately hate them, although I came close that year they brought their baseball team over to Oxford… but generally, they were a pretty well-mannered bunch.
You know, the more I look at it, I’m sorta glad we didn’t go to the Capital One bowl. First of all, that field looked like a big, wet, cow paster. One or two cow piles would have completed the picture. Secondly, either LSU stunk up the place pretty good, or that was a pretty decent Penn State team that we would have faced.
You weren't alone
I, too, cheered for Northwestern, Penn State and East Carolina.
And I also found myself pulling for Florida, Georgia and USC. (And may I just say that South Carolina is a sorry-ass fucking team. Watching their pathetic effort in the Papajohns bowl really pissed me off. UConn dragged them all over the field in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated. Losing that Thursday night game to those dumbasses is a crotch kick I’ll feel for the rest of my life.)
The BCS title game is easy: I’m pulling for Texas. But I should say that my temporary Texas fandom is the only one that involves any malice; I sincerely dislike Alabama and their fans and would have a hard time cheering for them if they were playing North Korea.
I don’t hate those other teams — more like I was just pulling for the good storyline.
Don't try and lay no boogie woogie on the king of rock 'n roll.
Thanks...
,,,you reminded me I also pulled for Florida…what can I say, I like that Tebow kid. And I was happy Tennessee was beaten. Partly because I’m a Bama fan, partly because I think Kiffykins is a douche anyway.
The rest I attribute to absolute hate (LSU, Auburn) or simple indifference (Arkansas, whoever else).
"I feel like I’m in The Sound of Music and the theme is "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Jevan?"
by Queen Hoka-Hotty-Toddy on Jan 4, 2010 5:36 PM EST up reply actions
I agree with you about Alabama.
I am a lifelong, third generation Ole Miss fan who went to Auburn and is now unfortunately in the third year of law school in Alabama. I didn’t even hate Bama until I started law school (while I was at Auburn we beat them every year…they were irrelevant compared to Georgia and LSU). The Bammers have been UNBEARABLE this year, and a win in Pasadena would negatively effect my quality of life.
I have a hard time cheering against the SEC, but I respect Texas and hate Alabama. I don’t think I’ll cheer for anyone…maybe I’ll cheer for the ground to open up and swallow the stadium.
"all ages" in reference to the Anatole should have been underlined and capitalized......
I felt old at times and I’m not old
by shitnowiworkinjackson on Jan 4, 2010 5:33 PM EST reply actions
Not a bad SEC fan.
But I think you have to ask why you wanted Northwestern, Penn State, and ECU to win. And why you’re feeling iffy about rooting for ‘Bama. Ironically, or coincidentally, or whatever, I notice that those are all SEC West teams. Is it because you wanted Ole Miss to be the only SEC West team to win a bowl game, and thus cement some sense of pseudo-superiority in the west? I pull for SEC teams in bowl games for selfish reasons, too, though. Any SEC team that my team played that loses a bowl game makes it looks worse for my team, i.e., a win looks less impressive or a loss looks worse.
For what it’s worth, though, this is one Hog fan who didn’t pull for the Cowboys in the Cotton Bowl.
I root for SEC teams in nearly all out of conference games.
SEC dominance helps ensure that there won’t be another 2004 Auburn.
So I guess
this is our support group meeting.. I too found myself in this catch 22 as well.
Bad SEC fan in me:
I wanted Cincinnati to destroy Florida – no go
I wanted Northwestern to beat Auburn – no go
I wanted ECU to destroy Arkansas – no go
I wanted Penn State to beat LSU – check
Good SEC fan in me:
I wanted Tennessee to beat Virginia Tech – no go
I wanted Kentucky to beat Clemson – no go
I wanted South Carolina to beat UCONN – no go
I wanted Ole Miss to beat OSU – check
And finally, I want Alabama to beat Texas. Why? Because it’s for the national championship and when it comes down to that, I’m SEC all the way! Even if it was Mississippi State playing for the national championship, I’d get high and drunk just so I could do it and I’d pull for them to win it. FUCK TEXAS and any other non-SEC team/conference when it comes to the national championship!
DAMN IT TO HELL!!! I WAS going to say something nice about LSU... but my clock ran out.
by BimBamOleMissByDamn on Jan 4, 2010 5:44 PM EST reply actions
BimBam, you are hilarious
Even if it was Mississippi State playing for the national championship
…
State playing for the National Championship… that shit is funny b/c we all know it will never happen!
This I know.
I was just using them as a representation of how loyal I am to the SEC when it comes to the national championship.
DAMN IT TO HELL!!! I WAS going to say something nice about LSU... but my clock ran out like theirs did against Ole Miss and Penn State. Dumb coonasses. I bet if they tied corndogs to the clock, they'd keep a better eye on it. heh.
by BimBamOleMissByDamn on Jan 5, 2010 12:36 PM EST up reply actions
You are definitely loyal...
I could not say the same thing. I could get behind every SEC team in a bowl game, except State and LSU. But I can see your point if it was for the National Championship.
The title of your post is: "Am I a bad SEC fan?"
If you cheered against an SEC team in anything, than yes. I get where you’re going with this article and the title is almost certainly a rhetorical question. But, I think you know the answer.
Personally, I never cheer against an SEC team playing an out of conference team. I’m just not that big on schadenfreude, I guess. I once heard a State fan say, “I hope Ole Miss never gets another first down.” I thought it funny and chuckled but then immediately realized he was being completely serious; and, while a friend of mine I found of moment of hate in my heart that would make Lord Vader proud. I decided I would never want someone to feel that much hate towards me then and there.
I feel the exact same way.
It hate to see another team lose when they played better, tried harder, etc. Their loss was undeserving. I hate just as much when teams get by on luck. Arkansas beat ECU by pure luck. They deserved to win.
Furthermore, I don’t care about conference dominance. As long as the SEC has a winning record in bowls, we will always be the top conference.
It's walking a fine line
but I don’t think rooting against certain SEC teams makes you a bad SEC fan. I picked against LSU, Tennessee, Kentucky. Of those three picks, only one was made without any malicious thoughts (Kentucky. There was no way they were going to beat Clemson).
I picked Arkansas because I don’t give a shit about the Liberty Bowl, Auburn because I am displeased with Northwestern for injuring Ricky Stanzi and ruining Iowa’s perfect season, UGA because I knew A&M was unreliable, Florida because…c’mon.
I’m not sure why I picked South Carolina other than no good reason to pick UConn, Ole Miss because it’s Ole Miss, and I will be rooting for Bama on Thursday because it’s the SEC.
Oh, and because I hate Texas. Hook ’em? Go hook yourself.
Fuck Texas!
Opinion from Up-North
As a New Englander (or Nutmegger as a UConn Alumnus) (don’t call me a Yankee, I’m a Red Sox fan), I regard the SEC as the best college football conference. It has been a two-tiered conference the last few years, Alabama & Florida and everyone else. I am hopeful that UConn can keep progressing and beat some better SEC teams in the future (Tennessee is on the schedule). We would like to open up Michigan’s schedule with 103,000 disappointed fans in September.
As a Red Sox fan I can speak about rivalries. In 2001, after 9/11, the Yankees went to the World Series. A friend of mine, a Yankees fan, asked if I would root for the New York team in the Series. My response was, if Osama bin Laden was managing the Diamondbacks I would still root against the Yankees.
After the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in WWII Winston Churchill (a staunch anti-communist) was criticized for speaking glowingly about Joe Stalin. His response……………..“If Hitler invaded Hell, I would have a few kind remarks about the Devil himself.”
Think of it this way...
…if Ole Miss left the conference you wouldn’t give a flying fuck about ANY of the SEC teams (except those you had a personal stake in). Being part of a conference is certainly beneficial financially but my first loyalty is to the team, not the conference. If you had a couple of ACC teams on your schedule, wouldn’t it make sense to want the ACC to do well in order to boost your strength of schedule? It doesn’t? Well, according to the BCS equation you should want that.
And that’s just another reason why we need a playoff…but that’s another thread, another day.
"I feel like I’m in The Sound of Music and the theme is "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Jevan?"
by Queen Hoka-Hotty-Toddy on Jan 4, 2010 8:26 PM EST reply actions
You are not a bad fan if you stay true to your team.
Why would you call a rivalry a rivalry if it was possible for you to root for your rival. The way I see it, the only time that I could possibly root for a rival is if my team benefited by my rivals success. Unless of corse you’re talkin bout; Bama, LSU, Miami, and especially FSU, and UGA but the team I want to lose even if were to cost my Gators a BCS bid has got to be that Elane Kiffin coached bunch of &^$@#$& UT (^%$#$$&#*%& vols. If they’re playing North Korea I’ll root for North Korea.
PS Thursday Night I’ll be rootin for Texas…….Hook ’em horns
As far as the conference goes,
it is becoming harder to pull for other SEC programs b/c does anyone nationwide really consider the SEC upstarts or underdogs in any endeavor concerning football? I did chant that embarassing SEC chant during the last two BCS titlegames. Not because I have any residiual affection for LSU or FU but because of the sheer number of idiotic Big Ten fans who refused to acknowledge how crappy their football is. And there is an added measure of regional and cultural chauvinism thrown in, granted.
With the contract the SEC signed with ABC and ESPN for, what, a billion dollars, I would feel funny to pretend that any Southron football team is hard done by or discriminated against by the other conferences or tv networks. This new position does make it harder to cheer for those teams I consider to be downstairs cousins.
Screw the rest of the SEC....
I couldn’t pull for Alabama under any circumstances whatsoever.They can go straight to hell.As for the rest of the league,if it helps Ole Miss for a certain team to win then great. If not,screw em.
by rightwingconspirator on Jan 5, 2010 7:57 AM EST reply actions
I agree with rightwing.
It’s nice to be the best conference, but I don’t have to pull for my rivals.
Especially the West teams, I love to pull against all the West teams. Familiarity breeds contempt. We play West teams about twice as much in everything as we do East teams, so I hate them more.
I pulled for ECU, Northwestern, and Penn State. I’ll probably be pulling for Texas too. I pulled for Ohio State in the title game two years ago, and I pulled for Oklahoma following the 2003 season.
Screw the SEC.
I very rarely pull for the SEC in bowls or out of conference games. These other programs would rip our heart and show it to us, if it were possible. I realize the better the SEC is, the more it benefits my school, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to cheer on schools that we compete with. How exactly does Bama winning a MNC help my school?
It all depends on who the SEC is playing.
I use the fact that a school is an SEC school as a factor in determining whether I’ll go for them or not, but not the determining factor. For instance USC and The Ohio State will never have my support and thus when they play an SEC the fact that I pull for the SEC school is completely unrelated to their conference. However, in the National Championship this week it may be the fact that Alabama is an SEC school that is putting them over the top for me. I’m not a big fan of either school, although I respect the football tradition at each school. So being a fellow member of the SEC helped me decide to support the Crimson Tide. Sure it’s a really flawed system for various reasons, but it’s worked so far.
by unidentified black male on Jan 5, 2010 12:00 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
That's how it works for me.
Believe me, though, I would LOVE to see LSU lose to UNC to open the year in Atlanta next season.
I think
Since the SEC has been dominant nationally for the past six years or so, none of us are defensive anymore. We don’t have to “stand up for our conference”. The SEC winning is old hat. So we spend more time standing up for our team and rooting against those teams that talk shit to us.
by Greg H on Jan 5, 2010 12:19 PM EST via mobile reply actions
I normally
pull for a team because I think they deserve to win by the way they have played all year or in the game I am watching. With that said I will not pull for any Big 12 team this year or next. After the hit on Jevan on the interception return some jackass two rows in front of me stood up and turned around and yelled at our small group of Rebel fans surrounded by OSU fans “welcome to Big 12 football.” He disappeared quietly after Trahan’s score.
Same boat here
I’ve always found myself pulling for SEC teams not named Mississippi State in bowls. I especially took great pleasure in seeing the OSU fans cry against UF and LSU. This year, I just can’t pull for Bama.
I hope LSU never wins another game....not just bowl games..
IMO I would call you a bad Ole Miss if if you ever rooted for LSU…. unless a tiger win put us in ATL for the SEC championship or a BCS bowl game..
by MicoMcSwain'sCrotchRocket on Jan 5, 2010 11:05 PM EST reply actions
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