@samoth said:

Thats the same reason I root for the Buckeyes. I live about 2 hrs. north of Columbus, my entire family are buckeye fans, Jim Tressel is a hometown guy, countless number of buckeye players from my highschool. My highschool football coach played for Tressel at YSU. Its whats around me its what I relate to same with the Browns.

nmills said:

I'll say this, every team in the country plays these kind of games early in the year and only a very few schedule meaningful out of conference games. Ohio state schedules USC, Texas, Miami, Florida, etc. who else does that?

I don't follow college now. I'll watch OSU or OU on tv or maybe go to a game a year, but I don't discuss it like I do with the pro game. It's like a different world, and to me I don't see the attraction to watching a bunch of college kids play a game where 90% of the teams have no shot of ever winning anything meaningful. Like I said, more power to you if you love college ball, but I prefer the pros.

Why do I like the Browns? Well, I'm from athens which is probably 50% Browns and 25% Steelers/Bengals. My dad was a browns fan, so I am too. If I'm being called a bangwagoner for rooting for one of the worst teams in the NFL for the last decade, so be it. I didn't start caring about football until college, so around 2000. If i was a real bandwagoner I'd be on a Patriots forum right now.

@mudratdetector said:

I agree with some of what Samoth said, my Wow was mainly at FearTheRoo's last post and Samoth telling me why he likes the Pro's vs college instead of why he follows the Browns. I'd say if you didn't follow college football before you went to college then why follow it after you do? Thats sounds alot more bandwaggon than me rooting for a team my whole life. Get of your high horse is see that this is about the game of FOOTBALL and not the academics of attending college.

I'll say this, every team in the country plays these kind of games early in the year and only a very few schedule meaningful out of conference games. Ohio state schedules USC, Texas, Miami, Florida, etc. who else does that?

@mudratdetector said:

It called spreading the wealth to the smaller school and gives the big guy a chance to play some 5th year seniors so they actually make the record books.

As for why people root for who they do....it isn't for anyone to understand...why do some like hockey and others don't?? Why do some like NASCAR and others don't??

Shoot....Stan had a horseracing forum in here.

When you get right down to it, everybody is a bandwagon fan. We all made a decision to follow who we follow. Nobody as an example was born a Browns fan...we jumped on at one point, so to me it doesn't matter when a person decides to start following a team.

It's the jumping on and jumping off that bothers me.

nmills said:

Browns are professional team. I root for the Indians instead of the Columbus Clippers even though I live in Columbus. The level of play is better (well, maybe not this year).

Nothing wrong with liking college ball. Like I said, I don't see why its so popular since the rosters turn over ever 3-4 years, your ability to get into a championship game is based entirely on arbitrary preseason rankings by "experts", and realistically about 15 out of 120 teams have a shot of ever being the national champion. Any team in the NFL has a shot at winning the Superbowl from year to year. That's called competitive balance.

I grew up in Athens where OU is. I bet I went to 5 OU games in my life before college. It wasn't imporant. I can't ever remember anyone talking about OSU football on Sundays other than my grandma and uncles. I do however remember being raised watching Browns and Bengals games on TV.

You want 5 reasons I prefer the pro game?

1. Level of competition is generally better. No scheduling the MAC and the worst teams in the Big 10 every year.

2. Offenses and defenses are more complex.

3. The NCAA is corrupt

4. Unless you like one of the traditional college powers, youve got no hope of seeing a championship.

5. I prefer watching professionals play a game instead of college kids. There are, what, 8000~ college football players? 250 per year are considered good enough to get a tryout in the NFL.

i will say this. i'm a Mount Union fan. i didn't go to school at Mount Union or had any really close friends that went to Mount Union. i became a fan years ago because they were (and are) the best football team in the nation, and they are only a 75 minute drive away. What kind of fan does that make me?

BTW, i'm also a huge St Ignatius fan. That is not because they are the best team in the region (even though they are). It is because my son went there. What kind of fan does that make me?

Anyone want to go see a Purple Raiders game this season? Great football and no need to tailgate. They have a great brunch open to any and all fans in the student cafeteria. It is top notch.

@feartheroo said:

this is too repetitive and your argument is flawed on so many levels I'm not going to get into it...just let it go.

@samoth said:

I want to know how you become a fan of ANY team without being a bandwaggoner by your standards.

Because at some point in your life, you have to choose a team to root for. How do you do it?

Well there are many ways. For example, when I was about 12, I started rooting for the Yankees. Some might consider me a bandwagon fan, because the Yankees have been great for quite a long time.

However, I knew almost nothing about Baseball, let alone who had the best team perennially. We had just come back from a long morning of canoeing, and I sat down to watch some TV. Baseball was on. I don't remember who the Yankees were playing. But in like the 3rd inning, they were down 9 to 1. I was tired, so fell asleep. I woke up in the 10th inning, and the Yankees had not only come back, but won the game. To me, they were the underdog (even though they really weren't.) I love rooting for the underdog. So I chose them as my team. In the last 10 years, I've chosen not to root for them out of principle.

I chose the Buckeyes, because I was actually into college ball, and that was the game that showed every Saturday in Northeast Ohio. I grew up watching Carter, Byers, and Tomzak (sp?). I chose the Browns because they were my home team (45 miles from Cleveland) and Bernie Kosar was the gangly, unathletic, smart QB. The kind of athlete I tried to be, since I was gangly and unathletic at the time, while also being fairly smart.

But was I a bandwagon fan because that's how I chose to root? No.

If the Golden Flashes or the Zipps were on TV every Saturday, I probably would have watched them, since both Kent and Akron were closer to me than Columbus. But I got to actually WATCH the Buckeyes, so I became enamored with them. Enough so, that when I went to college, I applied at only one place. The Ohio State University.

If my mom or dad (who both went to Kent State) were football fans, I probably would have followed them into being a fan of the Golden Flashes. But neither were into any kind of football, let alone college, so I got to make my own choice.

@samoth said:

Why can you root for the Browns but you cant root for a college team? Whats the difference? Name 5 reasons you root for the browns then put them in context of me rooting for the Buckeyes...maybe that will help, I dont understand your angle at all.

nmills said:

The cleveland browns

@samoth said:

who'd you root for before college?

@thaak said:

If you’ve followed them your whole life, you are not a bandwaggoner.

The reason most Ohioans who follow college football, follow the Buckeyes for their life, is because the Buckeyes are the premier college program in Ohio. Its what is on TV every Saturday.

fyi i grew up in ohio and never watched a buckeye game until i was in college.

@slowburn said:

Yea, I thought so too, but now giving it some thought, Nebraska really is fairly sparsely populated, unlike most of the rest of the Big Ten State. Iowa is a little smaller than I thought as well. Also a less sparsely populated state.

@feartheroo said:

You go to Akron U now. The stench of PA is gradually being melted away.

@the-gipper said:

Big Ten Student populations:

Illinois: 31,000

Indiana: 31,000

Iowa: 21,000

Michigan: 26,000

Mich. St.: 36,000

Minnesota: 38,000

Northwestern: 8200

Ohio St.: 40,000

Penn St.: 38,000

Purdue: 31,000

Wisconsin: 29,000

Nebraska: 18,000

MAC Student populations:

Akron: 28,000

Bowling Green: 19,000

Buffalo: 28,000

Kent State: 25,500

Miami: 20,000 (though when my son applied there they said there were only 14K...so who knows about these numbers)

Ohio U: 20,500

Ball St: 20,000

Cent. Mich: 27,000

East. Mich: 23,000

West. Mich: 25,000

No. Ill. : 25,000

Toledo: 21,500

The oddity here is Northwestern. A smaller private school with a much higher academic profile in amongst the larger state schools. It seems to me that NW would be better off in a conference that would be made up of similar schools. Private with high academic profiles including the likes of Notre Dame, Duke, Vanderbilt, Boston College, Rice, Wake Forest, and maybe Georgetown and Stanford. Call it the "Big Brain" Conference.

I am suprised at the student population of Nebraska.........always perceived Big Red as one of the largest

@samoth said:

I wore buckeye onesies, I'm a bandwagonner for the best dam band in the land

@samoth said:

You are saying things like this just to be a dick aren't you?

If you’ve followed them your whole life, you are not a bandwaggoner.

The reason most Ohioans who follow college football, follow the Buckeyes for their life, is because the Buckeyes are the premier college program in Ohio. Its what is on TV every Saturday.

nmills said:

So you are admitting to being a bandwagonner? Cool.

@samoth said:

Florida State and Miami are elite football schools that play at a high level. Hows the following for Central Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida International probably not very good. We have but one elite college football div.1 program in Ohio and thats why everyone follows the Buckeyes.

@the-gipper said:

And, FYI, if and when Ohio U. is in some kind of a big game, I do root for them. I believe just earlier this year they made some noise in the NCAA tournament, didn't they. Beat Georgetown if I recall.

I may not "root" for them if they are playing a MAC game against Akron or KSU, but vs. an outside team, absolutely I am in their corner. And sure, it would be fine if Ohio U. got a little more run, but OSU just has a much higher profile

No I'm from PA, so Ohio is not my state...

@hoorta said:

BTW, I don't root for OSU's Basketball with anywhere near the same intensity.

Then why do people in Florida not all root for Florida? There are a lot of Flordia State and Miami fans out there.