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2012 Parity

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
What I'd like to know, is if parity is one of the reasons for the success of the NFL, then why is college football so popular when there is practically no parity.
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
What I'd like to know, is if parity is one of the reasons for the success of the NFL, then why is college football so popular when there is practically no parity.
More identification with the fan base.

I'm a fan of the Coogs because... I went to UH. I'm going to pull for them no matter what. I spent a couple of semesters at ASU and I pull for the Sun Devils, too. If I were a college football fan (which I'm not), those would be my main schools.

I have a friend whose daughters went to UConn. He and his wife became HUGE UConn women's basketball fans because of that. They still follow the team, go to all the home games, travel to some of the road games, paint their faces up even though their kids graduated years ago.

When you're actually IN school, it's that much more intense.
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
What I'd like to know, is if parity is one of the reasons for the success of the NFL, then why is college football so popular when there is practically no parity.
Because of peer pressure. A student that does not bleed college sports is riff raff. Built in fan base.
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
I've got friends who never went to college, but they wear burnt orange 365.
That's not a counter-argument.

I wasn't saying that everyone who's a fan of a college team went to that college. I'm saying that colleges pick up fans as a natural side effect of having people "associate" with the school. I would never have been a fan of ASU if I hadn't decided to go there. I doubt my friends would have been UConn fans if their daughter hadn't gone there.

But people become fans of teams for a lot of other reasons.

For pro teams, everything's the same EXCEPT they don't have that "attendance" factor that college teams have. Pro teams draw fans mostly by having people live in their area. I'm a Texan fan because I grew up in Houston. For a while, I was a fan of the Cardinals because I lived in Phoenix. Then I followed the Eagles for awhile because I lived near Philly. (I'm in Dallas now. Not gonna be a Cowboy fan, though.) College teams pick up a lot of fans that way, too.

And then there's just liking a particular player or coach. Or even the mascot.
 

Showtime100

Got JJ?
That's not a counter-argument.

I wasn't saying that everyone who's a fan of a college team went to that college. I'm saying that colleges pick up fans as a natural side effect of having people "associate" with the school. I would never have been a fan of ASU if I hadn't decided to go there. I doubt my friends would have been UConn fans if their daughter hadn't gone there.

But people become fans of teams for a lot of other reasons.

For pro teams, everything's the same EXCEPT they don't have that "attendance" factor that college teams have. Pro teams draw fans mostly by having people live in their area. I'm a Texan fan because I grew up in Houston. For a while, I was a fan of the Cardinals because I lived in Phoenix. Then I followed the Eagles for awhile because I lived near Philly. (I'm in Dallas now. Not gonna be a Cowboy fan, though.) College teams pick up a lot of fans that way, too.

And then there's just liking a particular player or coach. Or even the mascot.
I'll vouch for that. My father went to UH and as a result I got to go to all of the football games, 3 Cotton Bowls included, and Phi Slamma Jamma + SWC tourneys and I could not help but bleed Cougar red from the time I was a sentient sports fan.
 

TexanSam

Hall of Fame
I'll vouch for that. My father went to UH and as a result I got to go to all of the football games, 3 Cotton Bowls included, and Phi Slamma Jamma + SWC tourneys and I could not help but bleed Cougar red from the time I was a sentient sports fan.
Same for me, except with UTEP. I lived in El Paso until I was 10 and my dad and I used to go to all the UTEP football and basketball games. UTEP football was (and still is) terrible, but I went to games when Don Haskins was still coaching basketball and I became a huge fan. I never went to UTEP but they're still my favorite college team.
 

AnthonyE

Lurker
Same for me, except with UTEP. I lived in El Paso until I was 10 and my dad and I used to go to all the UTEP football and basketball games. UTEP football was (and still is) terrible, but I went to games when Don Haskins was still coaching basketball and I became a huge fan. I never went to UTEP but they're still my favorite college team.
Obvious SHSU Bearkat here. I doubt I'd ever be a Katfan if I didn't go to school here. They just don't get the media coverage that some of the bigger schools get. Prior to enrolling I only knew the school color was orange. Now I know players names in the major men's sports along with their number and major in some cases. I bleed orange and will until I die. Even if I end up not graduating from here.
 

Showtime100

Got JJ?
All I can say is wear your colors proudly, with goodwill, and no apologies.

Somebody said there was a drunk thread here somwhere. :D
 

Cerberus

Hall of Fame
More identification with the fan base.

I'm a fan of the Coogs because... I went to UH. I'm going to pull for them no matter what. I spent a couple of semesters at ASU and I pull for the Sun Devils, too. If I were a college football fan (which I'm not), those would be my main schools.

I have a friend whose daughters went to UConn. He and his wife became HUGE UConn women's basketball fans because of that. They still follow the team, go to all the home games, travel to some of the road games, paint their faces up even though their kids graduated years ago.

When you're actually IN school, it's that much more intense.
Absolutely. Back in my school days I used to like Alabama; Bear Bryant. In fact I was accepted at both Alabama and Tennessee, but was steered toward UT by my parents. Obviously UT and UofA are SEC rivals, so I learned to hate 'Bama (Bryant had died anyway) and love Big Orange. To this day I follow UT women's basketball and men's football. I root on the men's basketball team as well, but don't really care for basketball to begin with, I just got interested in the women's team because of how dominant they were.

I also grew up in NoVa, near D.C., so I like my Virginia teams and Georgetown.
 

Playoffs

Hall of Fame
Seems like we hear about all this parity when the New York teams and New England don't have the best records in football. :ahhaha:
 
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