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Indiana. They never stop thinking about basketball, and have little time for football. Or North Carolina or Kentucky.
AGREED.
I grew up in an Indiana town that had about 150 or so fans in the stands for a HOMECOMING HS football game, but a few THOUSAND for every plain old regular season HS basketball game. I'm not kidding.
With a few exceptions, that's Indiana. It gets my vote for this topic for sure.
AGREED.
I grew up in an Indiana town that had about 150 or so fans in the stands for a HOMECOMING HS football game, but a few THOUSAND for every plain old regular season HS basketball game. I'm not kidding.
With a few exceptions, that's Indiana. It gets my vote for this topic for sure.
That's the Indiana of old. The sports culture has changed remarkably in the last 15 years or so with high school football growing in popularity. Basketball is still big, but it is not near the behemoth it was under single-class basketball. Indy is much more a Colts town than it is a Pacers town.
I'm assuming you live in the Midwest, which makes me think you're not paying attention to what's going on around you. And while soccer has grown in popularity in the U.S., it is nowhere near American football in terms of public interest.
College football is huge in the Midwest, that guy was clueless, Ohio St and Michigan fan bases are as rabid as they come, Big 10 football is a way of life in the Midwest, not sure what he was getting at.
AGREED.
I grew up in an Indiana town that had about 150 or so fans in the stands for a HOMECOMING HS football game, but a few THOUSAND for every plain old regular season HS basketball game. I'm not kidding.
With a few exceptions, that's Indiana. It gets my vote for this topic for sure.
Notre Dame is in Indiana and has a national and a huge following all over Indiana. I agree Indiana used to be a basketball state but its more football now with the Colts and ND.
College football is huge in the Midwest, that guy was clueless, Ohio St and Michigan fan bases are as rabid as they come, Big 10 football is a way of life in the Midwest, not sure what he was getting at.
Clearly I'm clueless.
I'm just looking at statistics.
In Ohio there are even suburban high schools where you now have more kids going out for the soccer team than football. At least in SW Ohio this is the case.
This does not happen in the South, however, as football is still a monolith.
While the OSU and UM fanbases are still "rabid" many of the fans sitting down and watching them play on Saturdays would rather sit down and watch their kids play that other sport for the sake of safety. At least statistically speaking.
From Forbes:
"MLS’ avid fan base is the fastest growing of any sport, outpacing all others in the ten-year periods from 2001 to 2011 as well as 2002 to 2012. And the gains come from nearly all ages of both genders."
I can tell you right now, in response to the original thread, you can live in most of the Midwest and live outside of American football except in rural areas. It does not have the absolute dominance it once had in the Midwest. Is it still a big deal, yes, but the number of people participating in American football is plummeting. It's no longer the only ticket in town. Plenty of Midwesterners would rather tune in early Saturday and Sunday morning for BPL rather than NFL or NCAA. So if you want to find a community that exists completely outside of American football you certainly can. I think that's considerably more difficult in the South outside of maybe Atlanta.
I was going to say this. Here in east TN its HUGE. GO VOLS!!
Ill add this too, better avoid the Big Ten country as well, almost as die hard up there. Avoid serious football devotion and still be in USA??? Maybe Hawaii or Alaska? still gonna find it there but maybe not as fanatical. Parts of New England possibly but then there is the Patriots. Why on earth would anyone hate football??? Sounds almost like hating America and small children.
I don't hate football, I just can't stand that rabid fans that sham you if you don't watch it at all yet also sham you if you don't cheer for the same team as them.
Well, sure. Every major metro has an NFL franchise. Twin Citians are, quite frankly, fair-weather Vikings fans. Maybe I run with a different crowd, but I never, ever hear anything about the Vikings unless one or more of them is embroiled in some outrageous scandal or abused their child or something.
It's a bold contrast a few miles over to the Wisconsin border, where upon crossing you see Packers green-and-gold paraphernalia ubiquitously like it's a religion or something. We must look like NFL atheists to the Sconnies.
Well, sure. Every major metro has an NFL franchise. Twin Citians are, quite frankly, fair-weather Vikings fans. Maybe I run with a different crowd, but I never, ever hear anything about the Vikings unless one or more of them is embroiled in some outrageous scandal or abused their child or something.
It's a bold contrast a few miles over to the Wisconsin border, where upon crossing you see Packers green-and-gold paraphernalia ubiquitously like it's a religion or something. We must look like NFL atheists to the Sconnies.
This is all true. Being the poster team that went but could never win a Super Bowl, along with the Bills, probably doesn't help. Nor amateur/pro hockey, which is enormous there. Even the big college (go Goofers!) can't muster a good football (or basketball) team. Support is good for the Twins (great park, too). NFL just doesn't connect the same way it does in most other cities. Part of this is certainly the history of futility (despite some classic squads), but it's weird to me that an early American football state like Minnesota isn't on board like WI, MI (even with the Lions!), IL, and so on.
Most places will have football fans and coverage. My husband and I couldnt care less and do not watch or follow games. We live in Ohio, 40 min north of Dayton and do not hear that much about football. Our town is about 30k pop. Ohio state football is talked about some and advertised but it isnt overwhelming. Its going to be hard finding a place that doesnt care about sports, professional or local. I dont think our town is all about it though.
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