Grandpa went to Illinois (helped raise the money for the stadium back in the early 20's
Dad went to Illinois
I went to Illinois

I graduated from Northern Arizona

I started really getting into sports in the early 70's and started rooting for the teams that I saw on TV and who were winning so I became a Cincinnati Reds fan (Big Red Machine), Dallas Cowboys (Roger Staubach and Doomsday), and NC State (David Thompson, Monte Towe, Tommy Burleson). I still root for the Reds but most of the time it is a complete disappointment and the Cowboys but I now have no emotional attachment because of getting my heartbroken year after year (especially recently), and no longer root for NC State. I went to ECU and I've had Pirate blood coursing through my veins ever since.

(09-18-2015 11:11 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(09-18-2015 10:52 AM)Gray Avenger Wrote:  I am a 5th-generation Mississippian son of a rambling construction worker and lived in 21 different towns all over Mississippi, Alabama and finally Tennessee by the time I finished high school. UT-Knoxville didn't appeal to me so I attended Memphis. Except for two years in North Carolina I have lived in the Memphis area ever since graduating. Since I would be stupid not to support my alma mater and the most important institution in my community (along with FedEx), I am a Tiger from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head.

Every Memphis grad I have ever met is from Mississippi.

I guess it is true what they say about Memphis being the biggest city in Mississippi.

Oops. You missed me. I was born and raised in Memphis, and am also an alum. But my mom was from Mississippi. Does that count?

Oh, and Memphis is also the biggest city in Tennessee. And the biggest one in Arkansas.

(09-18-2015 04:26 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(09-18-2015 11:11 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(09-18-2015 10:52 AM)Gray Avenger Wrote:  I am a 5th-generation Mississippian son of a rambling construction worker and lived in 21 different towns all over Mississippi, Alabama and finally Tennessee by the time I finished high school. UT-Knoxville didn't appeal to me so I attended Memphis. Except for two years in North Carolina I have lived in the Memphis area ever since graduating. Since I would be stupid not to support my alma mater and the most important institution in my community (along with FedEx), I am a Tiger from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head.

Every Memphis grad I have ever met is from Mississippi.

I guess it is true what they say about Memphis being the biggest city in Mississippi.

Oops. You missed me. I was born and raised in Memphis, and am also an alum. But my mom was from Mississippi. Does that count?

LOL!

I'll take it.

I like history. I am a patriot. I love the option. That explains Army.

My aunt works at St. Francis (PA).

I currently attend LVC.

I have a Master's degree from SMU (in History, and did half of a PhD there), and am now working on another Masters from Georgia Tech (in Computer Science this time #YOLO).

Other teams I passively root for:
Virginia Tech - my dad is an alum, I've followed them since the 90s
Arizona State - my younger brother goes there and is involved in a ton of their sports journalism/broadcasting so I support him by supporting them

I have 3 degrees, only one of which is from the University of Pittsburgh. However, they have always been my favorite team because I grew up in Pittsburgh. They were an excellent program turning out some of the greatest players in the history of the sport whenever I was in my formative years and they hooked me early.

Also, I have always found them very easy to root for because I have a soft spot for underdogs and I think the hardest thing to do in college football is to compete in an urban market with an NFL team.

When you live in a market like this you are often on your own. Most people who live here don't care about college football/sports at all. For those people it is strange for anyone to really care about college football. That's what they have on in the background while they mow their lawns or run their chores. They use Saturdays to get their honey-do lists completed so that they have their Sundays free for "real football."

That is just the pro sports mentality that exists throughout the Northeast and in many parts of the Midwest. I obviously do not agree with that mentality but it is undeniably true and prevalent.

The ones who do you live here and who do care about college football often root for other teams – like Penn State, West Virginia, Notre Dame and Ohio State.

That means that you are often surrounded by fans of teams who have it much easier and who can be very quick to deride your team and your interest in them. For some people that ridicule dissuades them - especially when the local team has struggled as much as Pitt has for a long time now.

For others, people like me, it makes you that much more passionate and loyal to your team precisely because it isn't easy and it will be so sweet when you climb the mountain top again.

Incidentally, that dynamic is also why I laugh at teams that have been left out of the P5, or who have ended up in a P5 league not of their choosing, through the realignment process, and who then turn around and complain that it is all about television markets.

You're goddamm right it's about television markets! It's about time one of these dynamics played in our favor instead of always having the deck stacked against us while all these lesser universities that happen to be located in these rural outposts with no competition whatsoever for attention get every advantage in the world including full stadia, friendly media, kid glove care, etc.

That is why I will always be a fan of the Pitt Panthers and why I will always have a soft spot for teams that are forced to compete with NFL teams for attention. It is significantly harder for them than it is for others so that is who I tend to cheer for.