I would like to know what makes some of you still passionate about the Mid-American Conference and your respective school even though many of you like me have relocated to another part of the country. Personally I have always favored the MAC for the following reasons:
1 As an Ohioan, I can identify with many of the Ohio schools that represent a major part of the MAC.
2. My total disdain for Ohio State and the overrated Big 10.
3. The Mid-American Conference is arguably the best mid-major conference in the country and my preference is to support collegiate athletics at the mid-major level.
4. MAC athletes are more likely to represent the true student-athlete more so than most other conferences.
5. As an alumnus of Kent State, I retain a strong loyalty to my school and am proud of its accomplishments in intercollegiate athletics.
6. I still retain an affection for Ohio University ever since I first visited the school back in the 60s when my oldest brother was a student at OU.
7. Miami University has always had the reputation as being the best public school in Ohio and it is one of the original members of the MAC.
I'm not very far removed from attending Ball State, 2 years to be exact. Growing up in Indiana I didn't even realize there were other choices besides ND, PU, and IU until I was in the 6th grade. I didn't really develop into a MAC fan until late in my high school career when I decided to attend BSU and started looking into their sports. Here are my reasons that have kept me a MAC fan.
1. the sheer arrogance of most IU and PU fans, it's pretty much the same through the entire big ten, and BCS fans unfortunatly. People who assume they should be treated like royalty just beucase they are the default program for most people who like me don't realize there are other options out there. With the MAC's recent success this is going to change, and change quick.
2. college sports is supposed to be about the game and the pureness of it all. Not about money, fame etc... we can leave that to the Pros. Money corrupts and this is very evident in major college football. Because of a biased system designed to sustain the outrageous budgets of BCS schools and deny opportunities for the "have-nots" I cannot in good faith support teams who are a member of a BCS conference. there are some schools who's football recruiting budget is more than BSU's entire 10 million dollar athletic budget. It's a disgrace.
3. Some of the best fundamentally sound game is played wuithin the MAC, where it's a focus more on team with several key players rather than a constant campaign to the pro sports, which doesn't work. All you have to do is look back at this years NFL draft where BSU had 3 players drafted, all made the cut and are on current rosters, and this was the most players from any school in Indiana to be drafted this year.
4. The MAC can produce awesome talent, for example in football look at all the former MAC QB's not leading NFL teams. I attribute that to the MAC QB's having to be able to actually read defenses and know what's going. I feel the MAC plays a more NFL oriented game, and this is why these young guys can step right in.
5. the way the MAC schools conduct themselves, aside from Marshall, who I'm glad to be rid of, the rest of the MAc has always been relativly clean, with only minor infractions to rules that are reported in a very timely manor and are dealt with appropriatly. There are no cover ups, no stalling, and no pulling favors to help a school slide by.
6. the focus on student athletes. the fact remains that most college athletes aren't going to play professionally. the MAC does an excellent job of making sure that these students will be ready for the working world when they get out there. With certain schools offering classes where there are test questions such as "How many points is a 3 pointer worth in basketball?" you have to wonder how many times these schools aren't caught. How many academic scandals do we have to sit through before the NCAA does something. If the NCAA ever does anything about this, and I doubt they will, the MAC will be the conference in the best position becuase they already have policies and structures in place to help the athletes succed not just use them for money and toss them aside.
7. I've always loved underdogs. I will however be glad to accept the role of favorites when that time comes however.
8. The MAC is the fastest moving conference out there. I see the MAC in 10 years being on level with the BCS conferences. The BCS conferences are getting arrogant, and really have nowhere to move. the MAC has been closing the gap quickly in the past 5 years, and with the current situation of being thrust into the public eye, popularity will only increase.
9. the MAC as a whole makes it easy to cheer for each other. sure we have our rivalries, but I fell that very little fans despise an entire program. I will gladly cheer for any MAC school now that marshall and UCF are gone. I look forward to rivalry games. I hope I'm not the only one who does this, and I'm pretty sure I'm not. I'll be tuning into the NIU games on the new AM station if it doesn't conflict with BSU or any team for the matter, and will try to catch or record as many MAC games on tv as possible.
Well I hope this novel is worth reading. I could really go on for a long time why it's so much more fun to cheer for a mid-major but this is getting quite long.
i selested NIU over some very large programs (U of I and UCLA among others) because I likes the smaller school, more personal atmosphere of the campus...academics as well as athletics. Although by numbers it is a big school, the FEEL of the university was more personal, smaller, and the education I received was much more hands-on and one-on-one than I am certain I would have received at the larger schools.
This translates to my athletic loyalties. I see the MAC filled with schools that are much more designed towards the students and not the "program". As an educator, I feel this is how it should be. So when the MAC comes up against the BCS schools and their athletic budgets, their 100,000 person capacity stadiums and their shere arrogance of how since they are bigger they are obviously better, I will never route against the MAC. (expecially now that MU is gone). Notice how many of the MAC schools were on top of the graduation rate statistic in an earlier thread and you might see where I am coming from)
I dont neccessarily route for the underdog....just the (in this case) school (or conference) that seems to have its head screwed on right.
---I've always rooted for the underdogs and consider the non bcs school underdogs
---I am a Big Ten fan also, but I follow the MAC just as closely in college football
---being from mid michigan , I've had plenty of family and friends attend MAC schools, mainly CMU and WMU, so naturally I went to homecomings, big brother weekends etc....Chips were once a powerhouse here in Michigan....Ive had plenty of girlfriends that went to CMU so MT. Pleasant became a regular place to hang on weekends in my teen/early 20's.....
---Growing up in Michigan, you either were a Sparty or a Wolverine and like my father always disliked the snobby UMich fans and their attitude, well what better way irk Mich fans than being a Buckeyes fan, at an early age I just started liking them to spite others lol....now in my mid 30's, its like I've never known anything but OHio st....but I consider myself a MAC fan in general with preference to the Mich. teams plus BGSU, because we always stopped there on the way down south...one day for the heck of it , my nephew and I were getting gas and there was a game about to start, so we went across the street , got tickets and ever since we liked BG, plus my wife likes their colors, lol....
---I have t-shirts of almost every MAC team (-Toledo and Buffalo) that I pick up when out of town, they make good conversation pieces and you almost always run into someone that knows someone from that school....
The MAC was pretty much off my radar until I made my first visit to Kent. I got into the MAC as a whole via message boards going all the way back to the old Rivals boards. It's a confrence that's well defined acdemically and geographically, it overachieves if you compare it with the budgets of the football factorys, and I love to pull for the underdog. When KSU made it's run when I was a freshman it fullfilled a dream to be at a mid-major during a tourney run after watching teams like Valpo and Gonzaga.
nashvillegoldenflash Wrote:I would like to know what makes some of you still passionate about the Mid-American Conference
1. West Virginia is not in it.
2. West Virginia is not in it.
3. West Virginia is not in it.
4. West Virginia is not in it.
5. West Virginia is not in it.
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Quote:Steven Wright Quote of the day - If olive oil comes from olives, where does baby oil come from?
I'm in the minority because I do not share the disdain for OSU and other Big 10 programs like most MAC fans.
The biggest reason I like the MAC is because of my four years at Kent. I root for other MAC schools when they are on TV and in bowl games. Having said that, I still enjoy the history and pagentry of being at an OSU game. One thing that bothers me about most MAC fans, and most BIg 10 fans, is the perception that you cannot like both. Going to the games in both confrences have their merits.
MAC football reminds me of John Feinstein's book 'The Last Amateurs' - players that come to MAC schools generally aren't sitting there going and saying NFL is coming for me... its only a matter of time.
I appreciate the fact that MAC fans are fans of the schools they attended not the closest university down the street. Allegiance to the great OSU makes me
imradioboy Wrote:I'm in the minority because I do not share the disdain for OSU and other Big 10 programs like most MAC fans.
The biggest reason I like the MAC is because of my four years at Kent. I root for other MAC schools when they are on TV and in bowl games. Having said that, I still enjoy the history and pagentry of being at an OSU game. One thing that bothers me about most MAC fans, and most BIg 10 fans, is the perception that you cannot like both. Going to the games in both confrences have their merits.
Here in Chicago you are either a Sox fan or a Cubs fan. Or a public or a Catholic ( grade school, at least in the city proper). Can't be both. Same with MAC/Big 10. We hate the Big 10 here. Sorry.
I'm with imradioboy. You can be both. You can talk about the arrogance of Big 10 fans. Go to any other message board, and you will see it. But don't think it doesn't exist here too. IMO, the biggest problem for Ohio MAC schools and their football programs (can't speak for others because I don't know enough about them) is that too many of the so called MAC fans have the opinion of many on this board that you can't like both. My choice to go to Kent State had nothing to do with athletics. It was for academics. The success of programs such as basketball and being able to meet and become friends with many student-athletes made me as big a Kent State athletic supporter as there is. But just because I went to school somewhere, I should throw away the years of watching OSU football with my parents and my brother. Nevermind, I was born overlooking the Shoe. No thank you. If you made me choose, I would have said OSU in a heartbeat, just as many MAC students do. But lucky for KSU, the last two years, I have ignored OSU football to follow KSU. I even traveled to Florida last year to watch them play UCF even though OSU/Michigan was on during my plane ride. :eek:
I really do not care who likes who as most have just as deep rooted personal feelings as mine. But do not make it an either/or. That will draw one of these from me every time. :rolleyes:
A great topic might be who attends sporting events beyond football and basketball (and hockey for BG and Miami) at their MAC school. I bet I have 75% of you beat on that one.
nashvillegoldenflash Wrote:My total disdain for Ohio State and the overrated Big 10.
MAC athletes are more likely to represent the true student-athlete more so than most other conferences.
I loved it when Stanford defeated Ohio State 27- 17 in the 1971 Rose Bowl. Imagine, true student-athletes taking it to a bunch of thugs like Jack Tatum who probably didn't spend more than 20 hours in a classroom during the entire time he was at Ohio State.
1) I am a CMU alumnus.
2) Growing up just 1/2 hour from Ann Arbor, I got to see B10 arrogance first-hand. MSU seems to have lost some of theirs. I wonder why that could be...? :D
3) For the most part, the MAC is and has been about student athletes. You won't see too many players in the MAC who are only looking for an NFL audition.
I guess I agree with the minority. I grew up following Ohio State. I still follow them. Fans will be fans. That doesn't change the fact that I like Ohio state.
Why I like the MAC:
I went to Kent State. I go to the football and basketball games. One of the best experiences I had was going to greenville and lexington for the NCAA tourney. It is great to see MAC schools taking it to the "bigger" schools. I also root for other MAC schools when they play the bigger schools.
It's nice not having to pay a million dollars for tickets. It is also nice to be able to sit close at these games. Something you can't usually do at BCS schools. And you usually don't have to worry about good players leaving school early for the draft.
I became a Bowling Green fan through a series of things that clicked.
One of my first games was the 1988 Bowling Green-Miami game. It was a beatiful October day, and 20,000-plus had some out to see it. Pennants for all the other teams in the league were whipping in the wind, and the announcer was reading off scores from around the country. It felt big time -- yet intimate, and I liked it. The MAC felt good.
That was the Moe Ankney era, and it wasn't a good one for football.
Obviously, things started to click when Gary Blackney arrived for my senior year. The Bowling Green-Toledo game was just packed that year -- 27,000 at least. It felt even bigger time.
Seeing Bowling Green go toe-to-toe with Ohio State on ABC the following season further drew me in. The Falcons lost the game, but they were warriors that day. I think Central Michigan beat Michigan State again that same day.
The 1994 season locked me in for good, though. The Falcons were just crushing teams most of that season. I ended up driving out to just about every home game from Northeast Ohio.
The next season, I put down money for season tickets.
Part of the reason I like the MAC is just self interest. Intellectually, I know what's good for the MAC is good for Bowling Green.
But some of it goes back to that 1988 Bowling Green-Miami game: Big time, but right-sized. I like the feel of it at its best.
Tough to explain really.
Quote:Here in Chicago you are either a Sox fan or a Cubs fan. Or a public or a Catholic ( grade school, at least in the city proper). Can't be both. Same with MAC/Big 10. We hate the Big 10 here. Sorry.
I'm on the North Shore and enjoy both the Sox and the Cubs, if it's possible to enjoy the Cubs. :D
I lean to the perspectives of Kstud and radioboy. First, I don't dislike entire conferences, but have a great distain for some teams. As a native Buckeye, sadly OSU is one of them. It's not just a matter of arrogance, it's their practice of standing for everything that's wrong with college sports. On the other side, I pull for Northwestern. Because I live in the same town, I'm aware of the community involvement of the athletes, the high standards they hold, and the delight of the announcer talking about the fifth year player starting lsome professional graduate school, such as law. ( No, it's not many, but one or two each year.) It was a great day when the mighty Buckeyes lost at NU last year.
Net, I don't put all the BCS schools or their fans in the same camp. But given a choice, I'm a Flash Fan first.
I did most of my undergraduate work at a small liberal arts college, one that was supposed to provide a superior education. To save money I spent 3 terms at BG. The comparison was unbeleivable, the professors at BG were far better teachers and the opportunities were much better. Sure the BG administration has its head up its ******, but that's universal.
So, I became a BG fan b/c I comparitavely shopped around.
I don't hate Ohio St, but I get sick of the attitude and actions that say the MAC is far below Ohio St. This comes from most media sources in Ohio and consequently most residents. Even worse, undergraduate programs at tOAMU are atrocious; a huge majority of students skate by learning nothing but how to score beer and weed. That steams me b/c BG, Miami, KSU etc are providing opportunities for Ohio kids and the media aren't promoting them. Ergo, I do.
As a sports writer during my time at BG, I got locked into the MAC. After school, I covered bigger universities and pro sports, but it never felt as comfortable.
I understand some folks can root for schools/conferences other than their own, but that's just not in me. My father and brother rooted for Ohio State when I was a kid, but it just didn't sink in. I understood rooting for the Cleveland teams, I mean, we were near Cleveland. But Ohio State (and the rest of the ten-Big 10/now Big Tenleven) seemed a world away.
Schade makes a good point, too, in that the MAC feels big time, yet intimate. I wonder if Noah would have enjoyed his first college football experience(s) as much if they were at Beaver Stadium or Ohio Stadium. There's something intimidating about that type of venue.
Alot of you guys could not have stated it any better in regards to having major college football without all the advertisement of the Big ten, Big xii SEC types...it is the highest level of football point blank...here is why I am a fan a little different perspective not being from Ohio but Western PA...
As I really got into college ball and recruiting (about the sixth grade) I was intrigued by the whole recruiting aspect...how some kids went to Penn State and others would get small mention going to some school in Ohio or Michigan I was fairly unaware of...I normally would make it to the first Pitt game of the year and sadly as bad as Pitt was they normally would make Gumbo out of some team called Ohio U, Kent State, Ball state etc...I would research these teams and found out they were the highest level of football, but when your inundated with PSU (Pitt was and still is in many ways by the press still a stepchild of PSU even though it is getting equal again)...I also noticed in the WPIAL (Western PA's/Greater Pitsburgh High School ball) kids that I saw rush for 200+ yards (Olando Dulin, Pete Habib) or multi-position athletes (Berkely Claggett, Jarius Acie) Quick Recievers (Lew Lawhorn , Eugene Baker) Quarterbacks (Charlie Batch) that excelled and others I thought were the best players in the world would get inked by these little MAC schools...I even knew some of these kids personally...I found myself trying my hardest to follow these teams(b4 i had the net) ...This is the time you would get one page for the whole conference while other teams had two pages...as the other conferences were slammed in my face I grew to love the MAC more and more....the bittersweet memories of seeing MAC games...I have seen Kent more than any of them, I have seen them down old Pitt stadium, Mountaineer field and at dix from Miami of Ohio...I remember at the Pitt games being conflicted whom to root for, I remember in like '92 the second play of the game Kent breaking a 65+ run on kent but the RB (James, I forget the last name) was caught from behind..they had to settle for the FG...I jumped out of my seat screaming "Go! Go!" when he burst through the line...I was actually rooting against the panthers in some way...I knew Kent and the MAC had a fan....it was Division 1-A without the fanfare... kids on full rides not exactly looking for the NFL contract...It has been fun in many ways watching in '91 watching the flashes Marcus Heyward running for his life at the 1 yard line against a WVU D that was in the backfield before he got the handoff to competitive games by the flashes...I knew the MAC had turned the corner (turning the corner was Marshall) when I saw the Rockets ,not eeck out a miracle but field a more athletic team than the nittany lions, dismantle PSU...Now I consider the Top MAC teams BCS capable...Another reason I love the MAC is my Alma mater...even though gets a questionable rap on Education it is not as far down on the food chain as many think and academics are on par with some MAC schools... IUP in many ways fits the blueprint and how I would love if we were D-1 infootball and basketball...A former Normal School with research programs and about 14,000 students...in the middle of nowhere
...But great college atmosphere...The one thing I will say, I still love the MAC and am proud of them, but the MAC always had a Humility even when beating or playing tough against the "big" boys...I believe in pride but thier is a thin line between that and ,C*ckiness...many of my MAC Bretheren IMHO are crossing that line...The victories are funner when quite resovle is displayed...getting big headed you are no better than the ND's, Michigan's And Oh State's of the world.
As many of you know from my endless repetition, the Old Bobcat (obviously) and most of my extended family went to Ohio U. My uncle played for Doyt Perry at BG. Heck, the first college football game I attended was UT @ BG. It sure seemed like a big deal for a kid from a town the size of mine, but it was still small enough that we got to go down onto the Toledo sidelines to talk to the coaches after the game. (The Old Bobcat went to high school with Chuck Stobart.) So, I was pretty well hooked even before I got to Miami.
And Miami is, plain and simple, MY school.
DevilGrad Wrote:And Miami is, plain and simple, MY school.
Says the guy w/ the "DevilGrad" moniker.