A Hollow Victory?
by MemphisTide on Jan 11, 2011 2:34 PM EST
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PrintI will admit that I can usually be described as an SEC "homer". I like the fact that SEC fans tend to band together when playing out of conference games and I do the same unless it is a rival who is playing. And in college athletics, where perception is so important, I believe that rooting for the conference to perform well on the national stage is necessary to help elevate the perceived strength of our individual programs.
Most of the casual college football fans I know followed this line of thinking and were rooting for Auburn last night. As an Alabama fan, I could never do this. But, I could not fault those with no particular disdain for the Auburn program to choose to root for the SEC team over the Pac-10. This is what I expected of them.
What I did not expect was for so many of the hardcore football fans of SEC programs that I know, even lacking a rivalry with Auburn, to join me in hoping for an Oregon victory.
We all expected the tigers to be victorious and the streak to be pushed to five. Thought, well, even if Auburn wins, at least its an SEC team and that will make it ok. But after it was over, no one felt all that good about it. Was this exclusive to my group? Had I infected them with my anti-Auburn sentiment? Or was this feeling reflected in other areas???
***I tip my hat to AU and congratulate them on their victory. I will not belittle them or their accomplishment. They are the BCS champions. Do not think I am trying to take anything away from you. I am just trying to understand why an SEC victory feels . . . wrong.
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It seemed to infect most of the hardcore football fans I know as well, for whatever reason.
My only concern is Florida. Auburn winning the championship game only helps Florida in the long run, and so I want Auburn to win. Some might confuse this with rooting for the conference – it isn’t. I root for FSU when they’re not playing Florida simply to increase our SOS (but in a year when our SOS doesn’t matter, like this past season, I relish any and all FSU misery).
"Evacuate in our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances." - Mack Brown, Pasadena, circa early 2010.
haha great point
If we need SOS help, Im pissed when FSU sucks. Last season just sucked.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
I didnt really care if Auburn won.
It is nice though when in a hot debate with a non sec fan to throw that in their face. Shuts them up pretty fast. Although the way Auburn won the game with that weird no whistle call because technically his knee was never down, did kind of ruin the end of the game for me. Not saying it was wrong, or a bad call… Just rather watch a game ending with a little more eye skillful popping plays instead of a lucky bad tackle.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
I didn't mind it after Oregon blatantly used an official to pick a defender for a 29 yard gain to set up the tie.
I figure it was even.
stuff 'bout stuff.
by silver82blade on Jan 12, 2011 2:43 AM EST up reply actions
Yea good point
Kind of reminds me of those BWW commercials if you have ever seen them before.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
They beat my team in the regular season, and annihilated them in the post season ...
… and I still rooted for them. Anything another SEC team accomplishes reflects well on the rest of us. The East needs to get their act together, and I imagine they will.
stuff 'bout stuff.
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