Are You a True College Fan?

Something that has always amazed me about college sports fans is that many of them tend to have no direct relation to the college and thus have no real reason to be a fan. Being a fan of college sports is much different than being one of professional sports because presumably these are still kids. They don’t have shoe deals, they don’t get paid (unless your name is Maurice Clarett or Reggie Bush), and they have to go to class (unless you are University of Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon and your only class is billiards).

One of my favorite examples can be seen right in Northeast Ohio where almost everyone is obsessed with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

I understand this if:

A: You go to Ohio State.

B: You live in Columbus.

C: One of your close relatives went to OSU and you were raised a Buckeyes fan.

Or

D: You have some other close association to the school, such as one of your parent's teaches there.

Something I do not understand is when people say, “I live in Ohio.”

There are so many colleges in Ohio. Why not root for the Akron Zips, Kent State Flashes, or Ohio Bobcats? Oh, that’s right. They don’t get national attention.

They are Division I-A schools though and chances are most fans sporting the scarlet and gray live a lot closer to a MAC school than they do the Big Ten power house in the capitol.

Now a Buckeye fan cannot even have the excuse of claiming that they are on television all of the time because unless you have the Big Ten Network, you have a better chance catching the Miami (of Ohio) Redhawks take on the Cincinnati Bearcats.

That game may not have national title implications, but a team that plays Youngstown State, Kent State and Akron rarely makes it to the National Championship.

An even larger example of this is Notre Dame fans who seem to exist all around the country for no good reason except that up until recently, they were a force fighting for a great bowl game every year.

They are even given preference by the national media. To be honest, I would not be surprised if this year’s team made it to a BCS bowl just to pull ratings.

Think about it. Shouldn’t you be out their pledging your allegiance to the school you actually attend, or the one that has actual close ties to you? Perhaps the one in your backyard.

This is not denouncing being a fan of a BCS power house like Ohio State, it is just saying that you can see some pretty good football without supporting programs that care more about the score than the kids.

Does Ohio State really need another fan from Northwest Ohio who should be rooting for Toledo?

Does Michigan really need another fan from Ohio who roots for them because everyone else roots for Ohio State?

Does Notre Dame need another fan at all?

The answer to all of these questions is no.

There is great football being played all around the country and the state of Ohio.

I promise that you will not be taking out a second mortgage or forgoing your child’s education payments to attend a game at the Rubber Bowl.

Yes, the Horse Shoe is supposedly one of the best stadiums in college football, but is it really worth a three hour drive to see them pummel Northwestern?

Maybe your team has the longest losing streak in the nation, and maybe Division-III football is not for you. But even if that is true, you only have to drive a half an hour down the road to see the Golden Flashes take one a formidable opponent.

When basketball season rolls around, instead of buying an extra cable package for the Big Ten Network, why not watch regional action of the Bowling Green State University Falcons or the Xavier University Musketeers?

Who knows, maybe you will get to see the next Joshua Cribbs, Ben Roethlisberger, Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich, Randy Moss or Jason Taylor.

This writer can be reached by e-mail at [e-mail].