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| No, she was not just told her grandma is dead. It's about football. |
“College football.”
What do you think of when you hear those words? The names of those heroes that changed their university forever, like Barry Sanders, Doug Flutie, Reggie Bush, John Elway, and Herschel Walker ring in your ear. You reflect on those crisp, sunny Saturday afternoons you spent tailgating on campus, temporarily forgetting the worries of midterms and essays. You think about the dizzying jump to your feet when your school’s star quarterback completes a 40-yard pass to the walk-on 5’9” wide receiver. It is simply one of the most beautiful sports in the world.
Here in the Southeast, we deeply appreciate this beauty. We love it so much, in fact, that it makes us crazy. I mean this very literally. Someone who you think is relatively polite or soft spoken will prove you wrong during football season. I’m an Auburn student, and have followed the school’s football program my entire life. But I will try my best not to only talk about the stupidity that is thrown at me.
I live in Auburn now, so everyone around me is pretty much on the same page. But back home in central Alabama, people can’t keep their mouths shut. I’ve been told on countless occasions that my school is a “cow college,” and often by my own blood relatives. The local Auburn fans, meanwhile, claim to be “classier” shortly before throwing around insulting words like “white trash” and “rednecks” to describe the Crimson Tide’s fan base.* Guess how many of these vocal individuals have an affiliation with the university that they support? For some reason, the most obnoxious fans are the ones that have no reason to be obnoxious.Take this gentleman for example. He’s the sort of guy that would talk smack to you from a few pews back after a Sunday service.
Dare I say it? People in the Southeast care way too much about college football. The crude behavior stems from a deep-rooted love of their team, which is typically partnered with an equally deep-rooted hatred for their team’s rival. From birth, everyone is brainwashed into rooting for one of the universities in their state, and this is why people behave like this guy.
The emergence of social networking in recent years has only worsened the behavior of obnoxious Southern football fans. I now make it a point to avoid my Facebook page every Saturday. My newsfeed becomes a circus of football stupidity. People would rather spend time bashing their team’s rival than praising their own team.
“ALABAMA 48 KENT ST 7 BEAT DOWN CURDOSY OF THE CRIMSON TIDE!!! AND AUBURN, IF YALL PLAY LIKE YALL DID AGAINST US, YALL WILL GET ELEPHANT STOMPED AT JORDON HARE.. THAT GAME MADE ME LAUGH!!! ROLL DAMN TIDE!!” –A Facebook user
“C-L-A-S-S. The one thing Bama fans lack.”- Another Facebook user. This status was “liked” by 27 people.
The Internet has a way of encouraging people to say things that should just remain in their brains.
I’m complaining about the way Southern football fans behave. If I had grown up anywhere else, I would have something else to complain about. If I lived in North Carolina, I would be writing about the conversations between fans of Duke and North Carolina. If I lived in Spain, I would be writing about the interactions between fans of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. If I lived Alberta, I would be complaining about the stupid things that Flames and Oilers fans say to each other at Tim Horton’s.
The rivalry between Auburn and Alabama is a part of the corner of the world that raised me. Maybe that’s why I’m beginning to think that it’s really stupid.
*Anyone who uses the word “classy” to describe themselves might as well be snorting cocaine off of their grandmother’s wedding china, if you ask me.
Michael Allen is a writer for Students of the Game.
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