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Old 03-05-2012, 12:35 PM
 
13,721 posts, read 19,131,659 times
Reputation: 16970

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Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo View Post
I never said that, I just said it's popular and difficult to avoid because it's so popular. Some people go overboard with UA too, it doesn't bother me.

They are observations. I was only thinking of reasons why college sports apparel is not popular here and that came to mind.

This whole thing is funny actually. I just mention what I notice and you guys are the ones getting super defensive about it. That just tells me that you are in the crowd that boards a plane at KCI looking like you just left Allen Field House.
In one post you did say you like it; you said it looks nice (Under Armour).

You didn't just happen to mention what you notice, you have been perseverating on it now for years. Again, you are projecting. You don't like it, so you pretend others agree with you and that it's only the hick middle of the country people who wear college apparel. Sorry, I don't buy it. You're not the only one who has traveled outside of Kansas and Missouri.

And damn those hick California people wearing Raiders apparel all over the United States!

Last edited by luzianne; 03-05-2012 at 12:55 PM..

 
Old 03-05-2012, 12:36 PM
 
1,291 posts, read 2,883,986 times
Reputation: 1264
Here's a great example of a kU fan proudly flying their colors!
Attached Thumbnails
What is with KU not wanting to play MU anymore?  Kinda stupid...-1.jpg  
 
Old 03-05-2012, 12:59 PM
 
Location: Kansas City, MO
5,765 posts, read 10,955,653 times
Reputation: 2830
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo View Post
Dude, I'm just telling you it's completely different here. People don't care about college sports compared to places like Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Florida etc. Yea, I've said that lots of times, because you keep trying to prove that it's not true. I even started a thread about this a while back asking others and people from DC, Philly, Chicago, Boston etc all said the same thing even though they have more well known and respected colleges in their areas than places like KC. That's why KU and OK and NE fans do tend to stick out in this area.

You can believe or think whatever you want.
Because I know college sports is huge in the United States and that is the whole country. It isnt just KC or the midwest, it is big time everywhere. Why do you think there are about a dozen national cable networks that show college basketball games every single night from November to April and college football plays all day Friday night and Saturday on several networks? If the very large TV markets you mention were not into college sports, they wouldnt get as much airtime.

College apparell is also a multi-billion dollar business. If only people in KC were wearing college stuff like crazy, it wouldnt be billions sold annually.

You can think it's isolated to Kansas City but it's not. In fact, professional sports are bigger her than college. If you think Kansas City is bad, go spend some time in SEC territory where the college teams are bigger than the professional teams. Why do you think there are a limited number of professional teams in the southern states and the ones that are there (TB Bucs, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Miami Marlins, Atlanta Falcons, etc) struggle with attendance and are often attached to relocation rumors? It's because they all play second to college teams.

You have a thing about KU and that is why people wearing KU stuff sticks out to YOU. Most people probably dont think anything about it. You do because you have this thing against it so you will notice it everywhere. You probably dont notice when people are wearing Georgetown stuff, Maryland stuff, Virginia stuff, etc.
 
Old 03-05-2012, 01:33 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC area
11,108 posts, read 23,709,235 times
Reputation: 6417
^ do you understand what this stand for? %
 
Old 03-05-2012, 01:52 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC area
11,108 posts, read 23,709,235 times
Reputation: 6417
Well, let me help you.

Percent.

There is like 9 million people in the DC/Balt area. There is like 15 million in VA/MD/DC

There is 2 million people in the KC area. There is around 9 million in MO and KS

So while there will be a LOT of people in the DC area that are into college sports, probably more than the KC area, the percentage of the metro is probably quite a bit lower. This would be obvious if you lived here because of the way sports is covered in the Post or local news channels and sports talk shows to "what people wear!).

Now that we have established that the population is MUCH greater, lets look at sales.

Top 50 Selling Universities | College Merchandise Direct

That link above shows that MU and KU are rank considerably higher than MD and VA.

So if you do the math, chances are far more likely that you will see a lot more college stuff in MO and KS than MD and VA.

It's really quite simple. And I still think that even though people buy more in the midwest, they also wear it more often which would skew what you see and how often even more.

Again, I'm only trying to defend my point here.
 
Old 03-05-2012, 02:19 PM
 
13,721 posts, read 19,131,659 times
Reputation: 16970
Still projecting. There are 19 schools higher on the list than Kansas, including Missouri, and yet you have a need to put down KU/Kansas so you "see" Kansas stuff everywhere. Not #1 through #19, but #20. Why? Because you have already made up your mind that it BOTHERS you to see Kansas people wearing Kansas apparel. So silly. And I will say it again. You're projecting.

1.) The University of Texas at Austin
(2.) The University of Alabama
(3.) University of Florida
(4.) The University of Michigan
(5.) University of Georgia
(6.) University of North Carolina
(7.) University of Notre Dame
(8.) Louisiana State University
(9.) The Pennsylvania State University
(10.) University of Tennessee
(11.) University of Nebraska
(12.) University of Kentucky
(13.) The University of Oklahoma
(14.) Auburn University
(15.) West Virginia University
(16.) University of Wisconsin
(17.) University of South Carolina
(18.) University of Arkansas
(19.) University of Missouri
(20.) The University of Kansas
 
Old 03-05-2012, 02:29 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC area
11,108 posts, read 23,709,235 times
Reputation: 6417
Quote:
Originally Posted by luzianne View Post
Still projecting. There are 19 schools higher on the list than Kansas, including Missouri, and yet you have a need to put down KU/Kansas so you "see" Kansas stuff everywhere. Not #1 through #19, but #20. Why? Because you have already made up your mind that it BOTHERS you to see Kansas people wearing Kansas apparel. So silly. And I will say it again. You're projecting.

1.) The University of Texas at Austin
(2.) The University of Alabama
(3.) University of Florida
(4.) The University of Michigan
(5.) University of Georgia
(6.) University of North Carolina
(7.) University of Notre Dame
(8.) Louisiana State University
(9.) The Pennsylvania State University
(10.) University of Tennessee
(11.) University of Nebraska
(12.) University of Kentucky
(13.) The University of Oklahoma
(14.) Auburn University
(15.) West Virginia University
(16.) University of Wisconsin
(17.) University of South Carolina
(18.) University of Arkansas
(19.) University of Missouri
(20.) The University of Kansas
I have seen one or two MIZZOU shirts out here, I then proceed to high five them and we have a beer and make fun of Kansas the rest of the night!
 
Old 03-05-2012, 02:44 PM
 
13,721 posts, read 19,131,659 times
Reputation: 16970
See, you admit you have a bias against Kansas! That is what this whole thing is really about.
 
Old 03-06-2012, 09:19 AM
 
2,233 posts, read 3,135,331 times
Reputation: 2066
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo View Post
I have seen one or two MIZZOU shirts out here, I then proceed to high five them and we have a beer and make fun of Kansas the rest of the night!
That's because KU has a much broader fanbase than MU. Not bigger, mind you, but broader -- as in, there are more KU fans with no connection to the area or school than there are MU fans. You see more KU shirts in DC, because KU basketball has a bigger, better national reputation than any MU sport.

Missouri sells more gear than KU because the state is a lot bigger and people like to wear shirts with the name of their state on it. KU sells a lot of stuff because it's a marquee basketball program and pretty much the only show in town for Kansas athletics. You think that's embarrassing, most people don't. What sports you like to watch doesn't really define you, in my mind. Being a fanatic is pretty distasteful, whether it's a whiny Cards fan dressed head-to-toe in redbirds gear, a bellowing M@ssh0le in his beat-up old Garciaparra jersey, or one of those gross middle-aged men you see everywhere in bicycle racing team get-ups.

Your broader point is correct, though, and the list confirms it. People wear more college sports gear in places with fewer, less successful, or less established pro sports franchises, and the east coast and most other big metropolitan areas have big, established pro-sports franchises. I don't think the percentages are much different in terms of how many people casually wear sports gear. But, yes, there are areas where college sports are more predominant than pro sports. Just like there are probably cities where baseball gear is more predominant than football gear, and vice versa. But to assign a value-judgement to that difference is petty and simplistic.
 
Old 03-06-2012, 09:55 AM
 
Location: Washington, DC area
11,108 posts, read 23,709,235 times
Reputation: 6417
Quote:
Originally Posted by s.davis View Post
That's because KU has a much broader fanbase than MU. Not bigger, mind you, but broader -- as in, there are more KU fans with no connection to the area or school than there are MU fans. You see more KU shirts in DC, because KU basketball has a bigger, better national reputation than any MU sport.

Missouri sells more gear than KU because the state is a lot bigger and people like to wear shirts with the name of their state on it. KU sells a lot of stuff because it's a marquee basketball program and pretty much the only show in town for Kansas athletics. You think that's embarrassing, most people don't. What sports you like to watch doesn't really define you, in my mind. Being a fanatic is pretty distasteful, whether it's a whiny Cards fan dressed head-to-toe in redbirds gear, a bellowing M@ssh0le in his beat-up old Garciaparra jersey, or one of those gross middle-aged men you see everywhere in bicycle racing team get-ups.

Your broader point is correct, though, and the list confirms it. People wear more college sports gear in places with fewer, less successful, or less established pro sports franchises, and the east coast and most other big metropolitan areas have big, established pro-sports franchises. I don't think the percentages are much different in terms of how many people casually wear sports gear. But, yes, there are areas where college sports are more predominant than pro sports. Just like there are probably cities where baseball gear is more predominant than football gear, and vice versa. But to assign a value-judgement to that difference is petty and simplistic.
Good post and I pretty much agree with everything you said (simply because it summarized what I have been saying). And to take it one step further, another reason you don't see it as often is because most people don't care what college you are fan in this area and it does make you look somewhat "dorky" to constantly walk around like a billboard of some midwestern university that nobody cares about unless others from the same university spot you. You can call that judging if you want I guess.

While I don't disagree with you that KU has a more "marquee" basketball program (It does seem like MU has a more well known football team, they played NAVY, a local team, recently in a bowl game). Most people out here seem to know little about KU (or MU) and from my experience are more likely to think KU means Kentucky and MU means Michigan. I have reached out and talked to some KU fans out here. There are some in our area. Again, you can't miss them. Everybody I have ever met that is into KU (or MU or OSU or whatever) has ties to the area. The KU fans in our neighborhood which are parents of kids in our kid's schools are from Overland Park and Grain Valley. They are nice enough, but you would not know they are from KC at all. The OP couple (and their kids) are from "Kansas", they never mention KC. The Grain Valley couple are from Missouri, they seem to claim KC as a place near them, but don't care about the pro teams there or seem to have much pride in the metro itself. So most people would guess they are from the rural midwest, which is probably fine with them. I'm from KC, so I'm different and want to be affiliated with a major city, not the states. Also, the KU fan I work with here? He's from NY, but he went to KU, but he's not that into ku sports, just sort of pulls for them but never knows if they play or won etc. So not your typical fan, but still tied to the school. We are both pretty clueless about KU and MU, but enjoy messing with each other etc. It's a nice conversational piece in the office.

Having said that, I'm sure there are also lots of people that just like KU and have never been west of St Louis. I just have never met any. But you really do see more people in this area that visibly display that they are fans OK, NE, KS, TX etc than any of the universities out here, even though they are probably outnumbered by those fans by quite a bit. Now, I KNOW that in places like College Park, Georgetown etc, you will see more local stuff, so don't go there

I find it all interesting myself. It's all part of my interest in cities, demographics etc in general, so I notice it more than most would.

Last edited by kcmo; 03-06-2012 at 10:15 AM..
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