Is it OK to be a fan of teams from different schools?

[jlb1705]

Those numbers have plenty to do with this discussion because people arguing against TheRob have characterized it as an all-or-nothing proposition. Those numbers don't bear that out though. There are a bunch of people who are just in this thing for football, or just football and men's basketball, etc. You can probably count on one hand the number of people who can speak with authority on what's going on with any of the non-revenue sports right now.

People keep saying they're a fan of the whole thing, but are you really? Are you looking up results on the internet? Are you attending competitions or watching them on TV? I can say one thing for sure - people here aren't posting about them nearly as much. There's a difference between being a fan and a mere well-wisher.

 

[Diego-Bucks]

I think it largely depends on if you are an alum of Ohio State or not. If you are, then you go for Ohio State no matter what, you are more culturally in tune with what the Buckeyes have been and followed more than just the sports.

I am not, I grew up in Columbus but no longer live there and graduated from San Diego State. I am a big fan of Buckeye football and basketball and would root for their baseball program if it were carried this far west of the Mississippi, but its not. I will support all Aztec sports and if/when SDSU plays OSU I am going to be a winner and loser either way and just pray for a close contest. In general, I think I would root for the school with more to lose so typically I am glad if SDSU is playing for a bowl game, but OSU is often playing for a title so I would root for the Buckeyes. In basketball, OSU can more afford a loss than my Aztecs in terms of tournament hopes, but if they meet in the tournament then my head might explode.

If you are only geographically tied, or another weaker connection to Ohio State than being an alum or having a close relative being an alum, then I think those types of fans can be more free-agents with their loyalties in the non-football sports.

One thing I've noticed in this particular topic is a wide discrepancy in defining "Bandwagon." To me this is a person who shallowly follows a sport and picks the winning team to root for. This is different than a person who has picked a team and stuck with it for their life but may have picked that team because of their relative winning tendencies. I think in general, we pick our teams to root for at a young age and pick the most competitive and geographically close team to our homes and we pick the 1st one that comes to us. They don't have to be winning the championships, just at least winning or competing at a high level. Its why the Cubs still have fans and the Pirates don't. The Cubs compete for a pennant about once or twice a decade, and the Pirates... not so much.

 

[Mr_Burns]

Those numbers have plenty to do with this discussion because people arguing against TheRob have characterized it as an all-or-nothing proposition. Those numbers don't bear that out though. There are a bunch of people who are just in this thing for football, or just football and men's basketball, etc. You can probably count on one hand the number of people who can speak with authority on what's going on with any of the non-revenue sports right now.

People keep saying they're a fan of the whole thing, but are you really? Are you looking up results on the internet? Are you attending competitions or watching them on TV? I can say one thing for sure - people here aren't posting about them nearly as much. There's a difference between being a fan and a mere well-wisher.

"Is it okay to be a fan of teams from different schools?" and "Do you root the same for tOSU field hockey as tOSU football?" are two very different questions.

 

[BB73]

Those numbers have plenty to do with this discussion because people arguing against TheRob have characterized it as an all-or-nothing proposition. Those numbers don't bear that out though. There are a bunch of people who are just in this thing for football, or just football and men's basketball, etc. You can probably count on one hand the number of people who can speak with authority on what's going on with any of the non-revenue sports right now.

People keep saying they're a fan of the whole thing, but are you really? Are you looking up results on the internet? Are you attending competitions or watching them on TV? I can say one thing for sure - people here aren't posting about them nearly as much. There's a difference between being a fan and a mere well-wisher.

I watched the Big Ten Wrestling on the BTN without posting in that thread about it.

Some may be shocked by that. The mere idea that I could not post in a thread for a couple of days.

 

[Buckeye Maniac]

Those numbers have plenty to do with this discussion because people arguing against TheRob have characterized it as an all-or-nothing proposition. Those numbers don't bear that out though. There are a bunch of people who are just in this thing for football, or just football and men's basketball, etc. You can probably count on one hand the number of people who can speak with authority on what's going on with any of the non-revenue sports right now.

People keep saying they're a fan of the whole thing, but are you really? Are you looking up results on the internet? Are you attending competitions or watching them on TV? I can say one thing for sure - people here aren't posting about them nearly as much. There's a difference between being a fan and a mere well-wisher.

Again, just because someone doesn't follow OSU synchronized swimming or fencing like they do football or basketball, doesn't mean that it's not all or nothing. These people aren't following another synchronized swimming team. They're not rooting for another fencing team. They are Buckeyes through and through whether or not they follow all of the sports closely.


The issue here is the people who follow other teams depending on sport, not those who always root for OSU, just not as hard for OSU's rifle team.



EDIT: Seems like this is my 1,000 post too. yay...

 

[Tonyank]

I am OSU fan all the way, Soccer, ping pong etc. I want OSU to win everything against everyone. Now with that being sad. I do have a "2nd" fav school in sparty. My wife went their, I've spent many nights partying up their and currently live 30 mins south. I root for MSU against everyone except for OSU. I thinks its cool cause im now fans of the 2 teams the scUM fans hate.

am i a sell-out ??

 

[matcar]

Those numbers have plenty to do with this discussion because people arguing against TheRob have characterized it as an all-or-nothing proposition. Those numbers don't bear that out though. There are a bunch of people who are just in this thing for football, or just football and men's basketball, etc. You can probably count on one hand the number of people who can speak with authority on what's going on with any of the non-revenue sports right now.

People keep saying they're a fan of the whole thing, but are you really? Are you looking up results on the internet? Are you attending competitions or watching them on TV? I can say one thing for sure - people here aren't posting about them nearly as much. There's a difference between being a fan and a mere well-wisher.

Just because someone doesn't post in a forum or even watch a particular sport doesn't mean that they wouldn't root for tOSU should they be faced with watching it.

I haven't watched tOSU in a swim meet in years, but I was glad when it was posted here that tOSU won the B10 swimming/diving championship. If there's a sport where tOSU is involved, that needs to be where my allegiance is if I'm a Buckeye.

Again, that doesn't mean I'm not interested in other things, but I'm a Buckeye first and foremost.

 

[jlb1705]

"Is it okay to be a fan of teams from different schools?" and "Do you root the same for tOSU field hockey as tOSU football?" are two very different questions.

Again, just because someone doesn't follow OSU synchronized swimming or fencing like they do football or basketball, doesn't mean that it's not all or nothing. These people aren't following another synchronized swimming team. They're not rooting for another fencing team. They are Buckeyes through and through whether or not they follow all of the sports closely.

The issue here is the people who follow other teams depending on sport, not those who always root for OSU, just not as much for OSU's rifle team.

I know. But I'm not the one who brought that second question up, really. People keep bringing up examples of how they root for the whole athletic department right down to to field hockey or synchronized swimming, answering the second question to assert their superiority in an argument over the first.

People are arguing this as if they are actually rooting for the rifle team. Rooting for a team requires some sort of participation, not just stumbling into it and finding out it turned out the way you would've liked if you'd cared enough to find it on purpose.

. I've been around Buckeye fans all my life and this is the first time I can recall that the rifle team has even come up. That tells me that the vast majority of people experience the Buckeyes a la carte, including people using this very message board who are generally not posting or reading about it. Argue that TheRob has it backwards all you want, but don't bring these other sports into it to try to drive your point home. I don't think that's valid.

I watched the Big Ten Wrestling on the BTN without posting in that thread about it.

Some may be shocked by that. The mere idea that I could not post in a thread for a couple of days.

I've read enough of your posts to figure as much. I think I've been careful to argue that most people are full of it, not everybody. I may have slipped here or there though, I don't know.

 

[jlb1705]

Just because someone doesn't post in a forum or even watch a particular sport doesn't mean that they wouldn't root for tOSU should they be faced with watching it.

I haven't watched tOSU in a swim meet in years, but I was glad when it was posted here that tOSU won the B10 swimming/diving championship. If there's a sport where tOSU is involved, that needs to be where my allegiance is if I'm a Buckeye.

Again, that doesn't mean I'm not interested in other things, but I'm a Buckeye first and foremost.

Perhaps a more succinct version of what I'm trying to say:

I think what matcar just said is fine. I'm that way myself. I just don't think it's a valid argument against TheRob.

 

[BayBuck]

People are arguing this as if they are actually rooting for the rifle team. Rooting for a team requires some sort of participation, not just stumbling into it and finding out it turned out the way you would've liked if you'd cared enough to find it on purpose.

. I've been around Buckeye fans all my life and this is the first time I can recall that the rifle team has even come up. That tells me that the vast majority of people experience the Buckeyes a la carte, including people using this very message board who are generally not posting or reading about it. Argue that TheRob has it backwards all you want, but don't bring these other sports into it to try to drive your point home. I don't think that's valid.

I think this is going completely off-track here: Buckeye fans don't have to love or follow all sports equally to root for OSU first and foremost in every sport they field a team or squad in. I don't root for any rifle team, because it's not a sport I follow or have even the slightest interest in -- but if I somehow find out there's a rifle competition including OSU, I instinctively want OSU to win that competition. That's the nature of rooting for tOSU as a whole: if the Buckeyes are involved, that's my team, every time.

"Is it okay to be a fan of teams from different schools?" and "Do you root the same for tOSU field hockey as tOSU football?" are two very different questions.

True, but a discussion of the first question ultimately leads directly to the second question. A Buckeye fan can also be a fan of other teams, but with qualification. :)

 

[BB73]

I've read enough of your posts to figure as much. I think I've been careful to argue that most people are full of it, not everybody. I may have slipped here or there though, I don't know.

No problem with anything you've posted, I just used your 'not post about it" comment to set up a stupid joke.

I usually try not to be too serious in threads like this, since it's very easy for somebody's feathers to get ruffled if they think their fanhood is being questioned.

Although some of them deserve it. But, by definition, they don't know who they are.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

"Is it okay to be a fan of teams from different schools?" and "Do you root the same for tOSU field hockey as tOSU football?" are two very different questions.

An Ohio State NC in men's hockey would mean as much to me as a football NC and probably more than a basketball NC.

 

[Tonyank]

An Ohio State NC in men's hockey would mean as much to me as a football NC and probably more than a basketball NC.

Couldn't agree more with this post.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Can we all just agree that rooting for Tim Tebow transcends all other allegiances.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Ohio State has a rifle team?

Who has the best rifle team? That's my favorite.