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I'm actually big into football and had never heard of that rivalry before. I'm sure it's big down south, but who else really cares? College football normally just draws people who are from that immediate region or conference. Otherwise people just watch because it's a top 25 team playing. They normally don't really care who the team is, or who they have rivalries against. I would have listed off some northern teams for what I thought would be the biggest rivalry, but it's probably just because I hear the names more.
You can't be that big into football if you've never heard of that rivalry.
You sure? It's one of the biggest college rivalries if not the biggest. That's like saying no one cares about the Packers/Bears or Jets/Giants.
Let me preface this by saying I am huge PSU fan, like College Football very much and appreciate the traditions. I am also a huge Big East hoops (will see what happens to the conferance with Cuse and Pitt leaving) growing up a very big Nova fan. But there is nothing in College to me that competes with Pro - While i very much appreciate the traditions in college and understand the rivalry I would likely watch a random pro football game (Tampa/Carolina) before I would watch the AL/Auborn game. Also on a busy weekend having to prioritize between PSU and the Eagles, well not even a thought, Go Birds
College always feels like the minor league to me, the real game is on Sundays
Let me preface this by saying I am huge PSU fan, like College Football very much and appreciate the traditions. I am also a huge Big East hoops (will see what happens to the conferance with Cuse and Pitt leaving) growing up a very big Nova fan. But there is nothing in College to me that competes with Pro - While i very much appreciate the traditions in college and understand the rivalry I would likely watch a random pro football game (Tampa/Carolina) before I would watch the AL/Auborn game. Also on a busy weekend having to prioritize between PSU and the Eagles, well not even a thought, Go Birds
College always feels like the minor league to me, the real game is on Sundays
College football is the sport here. College basketball is the college sport up there. I was here for the Final Four and saw all the UCONN I could see.
As far as Tampa/Carolina and a AL/Aurburn game the only reason to watch Carolina is because of Cam Newton. The AL/Auburn game would have twice the excitement and intensity even without star players. That's how I feel about every SEC game. Plus it's a very important game for LSU to see how the upcoming game will be.
Of course it is. You took the one comment in this thread that agreed the most with what you already believed, and ignored the majority opinion in this thread, which stated that college sports are either bigger than pro sports or evenly split with pro sports in those posters' home cities. Atlanta, Cincinnati, Raleigh, Detroit, Baton Rouge, Austin, Lansing, Omaha, Chicago, and Syracuse were all named in this thread by residents of those cities as either being evenly split between college and pro or being more college than pro. And then a number of other people just stated that college sports in general is better than pro.
Really, Austin is a college town? You don't say!!!
Of course it's a college town. It's a gigantic college town.
Baton Rouge, Lansing, Syracuse? Really? With all the pro teams in those places how could that be?
Chicago is not college. I know a lot of people in Chicago and worked there for a year and that city follows the pros, you barely hear or see any college stuff there unless it's the Iowa or (kansas) people that have moved there or are visiting . Yes, I know there are some college fans in Chicago, but they are dwarfed by pro fans.
The entire urban northeast is mostly pro. I LIVE HERE, I see it. Just as philies2011 mentioned, there are a lot of schools and lots of history and tradition, but when you look at the big picture, college sports are way down below pros in all the cities out here (DC, Baltimore, Philly, NYC, Boston).
In my opinion, it's similar in Seattle, Denver, St Louis, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland and even LA where there is no NFL team.
Even Kansas City has a lot of pro fans that have no interest in college and this is especially true with people born and raised in kcmo vs those that have migrated to the metro from states around KC. Go figure...
It starts to change when you get into the big cities of Texas and Florida.
My point is that in many or even most big cities, college sports are not near as popular as pro sports. Not even close. Here in DC, it's not even close, but when you have 6-8 million people in the region, you will find many exceptions and plenty of people to fill the NCAA stadiums and arenas.
You sure? It's one of the biggest college rivalries if not the biggest. That's like saying no one cares about the Packers/Bears or Jets/Giants.
We only watch it in KY to know how bad we're going to lose to them. On that note, I hate US football. There's a big MLS/English Prem. following in Lexington as well as a lot of NHL fans. Aside from that, you've got some baseball nerds... One thing rules this state though and that is:
We only watch it in KY to know how bad we're going to lose to them. On that note, I hate US football. There's a big MLS/English Prem. following in Lexington as well as a lot of NHL fans. Aside from that, you've got some baseball nerds... One thing rules this state though and that is:
I will never forget this game for as long as I live:
College football is the sport here. College basketball is the college sport up there. I was here for the Final Four and saw all the UCONN I could see.
As far as Tampa/Carolina and a AL/Aurburn game the only reason to watch Carolina is because of Cam Newton. The AL/Auburn game would have twice the excitement and intensity even without star players. That's how I feel about every SEC game. Plus it's a very important game for LSU to see how the upcoming game will be.
I appreciate your perspective and most definately appreciate a passionate sports fan (my parts seem to get dinged for their passion at times) but also believe that the majority of the US is more interested in pro than any single college rivalry. This obviously will vary from place to place but on the whole larger cities are more pro focused, smaller cities may be split without a major college team and those places with a college team and no pro team, well it makes sense they are more loyal to their team etc. That being said the dollars associated are likely a better sense for the national fervor. Pound for pound the pro game destoys college in terms of revenue produced and TV ratings
BTW I loved being able to play LSU (vs PSU) in a bowl game a few years back, respect the SEC and LSU very much
I'll never understand college sports, apart from taking in an individual game now and then. I personally find it very odd that people cheer so loud for schools they did not attend, especially if they applied and were rejected. That's such a superfluous dynamic in the realm of sports fandom. I've been a student and a sports fan, but why should the two concepts be intertwined? Not everything is peanut butter and chocolate.
Basketball doesn't reign here. It's football, and if you know anything about SEC football, its far from untalented. No it's not the NFL, but it's not supposed to be. It's the tradition, the fight song, the colors, and the history of the schools. Without college sports, professional sports would be as interesting as high school games. Are you much better than the college players? Why be so critical?
I was pretty good at basketball and baseball (and mostly stunk at football) in high school, got offered scholarships to a few div. III schools, mostly for basketball. I tried to walk onto temple's basketball team as a freshman, and man was that ever a wake up call. Anyone who is playing division one basketball, is a far more superior basketball player than I've ever been or will ever be. More than most I understand the level of talent these kids have. They are clearly better than me.
That said with only a finite amount of time to watch sports I prefer watching pro games because the quality is FAR superior. Just because these people are better at basketball than me doesn't me I can't watch them play and say the quality is way lower than in the pros. Most high school football players are better than I ever was at football, but that doesn't mean I can't watch a college football game and think the quality is bad.
There is nothing about criticizing that requires you to be superior than the person who you are critiquing. You can go to a restaurant and say the food is bad, even if you can't cook at all. I criticize not as a fellow athlete, but as a consumer, watching a product that does not measure up. And honestly even as a basketball player I often feel entitled to criticize these players anyway. I may not be as talented as them, but i damn sure knew how to play the game better, knew where I was supposed to be, knew the rules, had good techniques, when and when not to foul, and could shoot better than half of these clowns.
I mean honestly why do I want to watch a game with players taking bad fouls, making poor decisions, and in general demonstrating a lack of understanding as to HOW TO PLAY THE GAME.
College football is the same thing. A yellow flag ridden mess, where bad plays and mistakes often lose games instead of superior skill winning them.
fight songs? colors? Really? colors? do you really care about colors? All the different intangibles that people who prefer college sports point to as to why college sports are better are simply a bunch of BS spouted in an attempt to make of for the simple fact that the games are not of the same quality of pro games.
Tradition, history and rivalries exist in the pros as well, so to include those as reasons to prefer college sports is silly. You call alabama auburn as one of the greatest rivalries in sports? please. get a grip and step outside of your cocoon, meet the rest of the world. outside of your little corner of the world, no one gives a crap about alabama-auburn. they could never play each other again and 90 percent of america wouldn't even realize, much less care.
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. Yes, I know there are some college fans in Chicago, but they are dwarfed by pro fans.
