(07-07-2022 10:35 AM)Herdfan1 Wrote:  *waits for the voices to shake the dust off the memory banks*

Growing up, I followed WVU because all my college-going members went to some form of WVU and my aunt worked for the hospital for decades. *Splashes face with holy water* I was always up for just watching any ol' college football game cuz quite frankly it's the best sport....Somewhere in the 90s I started watching O State when Eddie George was running over people, and then came "The Kick" for Marshall! When we heard MU was going to the Championship game I remember calling friends of ours in Huntington to see if anyone had extra tickets. When it came time for college, I applied to MU and WVU, not knowing that my folks wanted me at MU 45 mins away and not 3 hours away at WVU even though my brother and my aunt would be there to help me out as needed. Well, when I got accepted to MU all the conversations ended.

The more games I started going to, I got to know a lot of the players and it wasn't just "wow that guy's really good," it was "Hey, Chad's in class with me on Tues/Thurs and he's killin' it out there!" And then as we got out of the SoCon and into the MAC where we steamrolled everyone, we started becoming the story in the state and I figure that's when the hilljacks started with their Big Brother Syndrome. Personally, it didn't really hit me until 97 when we played them the first time...I tell people I was a fan of both until that game, then I saw the shirts that "Pitt sucks, but Marshall swallows" and that was all I needed to write them off wholesale and giving the term "Mountaintop Removal" a new meaning.. Everyone knows if it's WVU, you don't put anyone below Pitt, so now I tell folks, for me it's Marshall, O State and anyone that plays WVU! (When I go on vacations, we have to stop and get a shirt for the D1's for whenever they play Mo'town. PS: Screw you Mike Vanderjagt, we had that game! :)

Out of rep for today but great post.

I went to ODU, cause it was only 2 miles from my house. I put myself thru college, first semester was only $275 and you could take as many classes as you wanted. But I really fell in love with the men's and women's basketball teams. Both were very good. Even better than the two DI schools in state, during that time. Still a fan and will always be a Monarch fan.

Think we are all here for the long haul and let's make the best of it. You can't do anything about the rich getting richer, except hate them a little more. The rest of us represent 3/4 of the DI colleges playing sports. I don't know what college sports will be like, but we'll have something. Just like DII and DIII play sports and will continue to, we'll play at a level above that.

I do cheer on conference mates playing out of conference and love the underdog stories during March.

I'm originally from Vienna, WV but moved to Huntington when I was 5 in 1978. My mother graduated from Marshall in 1968. She has a lot of stories about going to the field house for basketball games and to NYC for the NIT semis. Her cousin, Barbara (Bobbi) was the only (to my knowledge) quad letterman in MU history (Basketball, tennis, volleyball, and field hockey). She played on the WBB team with Beverly Duckweiler). Not long ago, she came into town and went to Dot Hicks' house and spent the afternoon with her. Dot remembered her right off the bat.

My mother's best friend, Gail McDowell (nee Morehouse), lost her father in the crash as did many of the residents of Enslow Park (where I grew up). I know a lot of the families who lost parents/relatives in the crash and who have become prominent members of the Huntington community. I can't think of a story or history better than Marshall's. Sure, it it tragic to be sure, but I wonder how proud the 75 are of what Marshall has become today.

My dad went to LSU and I grew up an LSU fan. Attending their sporting events my whole life. Ended up at UL due to better scholarship opportunities and became a diehard. I can't fathom how someone can attend a university and root for another, which I'm sure a lot of us witness. I still enjoy LSU games with my family and friends, but I don't wear their colors. I don't send them money. I don't watch their games instead of UL when they overlap, even if they're playing against Bama and we're playing against Nichols.

I struggle as a UL fan because our football gameday atmosphere sucks, and our community doesn't support the Cajuns as much as they should. NIL and the new transfer portal rules have me struggling even more.

I've read all the responses so far and see a lot of common themes. We are not the Walmart fans riding bandwagons. We aspired to be around and at these universities and many of us are legacies even if we didn't step a foot on campus. Someone influential in our lives introduced us to the schools we root for. I encourage building fans that are just riding the wave. We all need what we can get. They will never be the core fans sitting in a monsoon with a 40 point lead or deficit, but they will support the schools while the gettin is good.

But your power teams are 85-90% Walmart fans. There aren't enough alumni to make up the 5 million Alabama fans. There aren't enough people in Alabama. They are fans because Alabama won the championship. People like a winner. This is part of why it's so interesting that we are so loyal, in the face of human nature, to teams that often suck balls and break your heart. But the prospect of "next year" is powerful. It's like making that perfect golf shot. Sure you shot a 105, but that one swing was beautiful and if you could just repeat that the next time you play...

(07-07-2022 10:42 AM)DaBigBlue Wrote:  I put myself thru college, first semester was only $275 and you could take as many classes as you wanted.

Can't recall anything close to that in my lifetime, even at community colleges.

(07-07-2022 10:54 AM)Complacent Cajun Wrote:  My dad went to LSU and I grew up an LSU fan. Attending their sporting events my whole life. Ended up at UL due to better scholarship opportunities and became a diehard. I can't fathom how someone can attend a university and root for another, which I'm sure a lot of us witness. I still enjoy LSU games with my family and friends, but I don't wear their colors. I don't send them money. I don't watch their games instead of UL when they overlap, even if they're playing against Bama and we're playing against Nichols.

I struggle as a UL fan because our football gameday atmosphere sucks, and our community doesn't support the Cajuns as much as they should. NIL and the new transfer portal rules have me struggling even more.

I feel ya brother. I'm torn every time I see someone at a Marshall game in blue and yeller. On the one hand I'm thinking "they couldn't wear a green t-shirt for just today?" on the other I'm thinking "Sure am glad we got 25k in the stands today." We take what we can get when we aren't guaranteed an 80k sellout all season long.

I want to know why you are a fan of the school you're a fan of? What made you choose your school?

I grew up in southern WV; a small, forgettable little town with less than 1000 citizens with the primary industries being coal miners, loggers or crackheads. After deciding I wanted to break the cycle and actually do something with my life it came time to start looking at colleges, I toured several: Marshall, WVU, UK, Ohio U, Concord (small college in WV), Fairmont and Charleston. I am proud to say I was accepted at all of them, but Marshall just had a charm to the campus, along with the cheap in-state tuition. I was also a child in the 90's and remember seeing quite a bit of Herd gear to challenge all the WVU Walmart fans during the glory days. At Marshall I got my degree and found my wife, so I will always be a fan of the school! Even though I live in Ohio, surrounded by Ohio State, Cincy and Miami (Criami) fans I still get comments on my Herd gear!

Will we all be together in the coming years?

Yes, the Sunbelt seems to be a solid group of schools that are aligned with views, money and size. We know we aren't Alabama or Ohio State, and that's okay! The posters here all seem largely content with our lineups and fanbases.

Is there still going to be a market for us and our peer institutions?

I truly think so! The media will continue to hype BIG vs SEC, but how many fans are going to tune in for Purdue vs USC? Losing regional rivalries in the name of having Big Name vs Big Name with no history or culture is going to make for bad TV, in my opinion, it will be no different than say Seahawks vs Browns, or Texans vs Jets. The fans are too different, too far apart for the games to mean anything more than Win or Loss. The Sunbelt can really shine with the regional rivalries and close fanbases. Plus, the original spirit of CFB can live on, instead of whatever NFL-Lite semi pro league that the BIG/SEC will become.

Growing up I spent a few years flip flopping between rooting for the Longhorns and Aggies, but once I got to high school I started becoming a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. I was definitely homo for Romo. Dude is my all time favorite QB. I got really disillusioned with college football though when Utah went undefeated and didn't get a chance at the natty and smoked Bama. After that I kind of stopped paying attention to CFB.

Most of yall are way better fans than me. I was not a fan of TXST football when I started school because we were FCS. I remember me and a friend making jokes after seeing a football schedule poster and only recognizing like 3 logos of our opponents. I followed our other sports since they were "real D1" and played "real D1" teams OOC but I never cared about our football team outside of the FBS games until we announced our move up my sophomore year. Seems like a silly train of thought in hindsight.

Since then I've been a diehard and I'd say my TXST fandom has definitely overtaken my Cowboys fandom.

I don’t struggle, but I also don’t consider myself a fan of Appalachian State. I am a Mountaineer. I can switch fandoms, but I am a Mountaineer for life. There is no other. It’s only a struggle in that I spend too much time on these boards, spend too much money on App State related items (tickets, apparel, travel, you name it), and watch too many old games to the point I can quote the announcers like I’m watching Caddyshack. If you know me for longer than five minutes, you know where I went to school, and where all other schools stand in my view. If App is playing at home, I’m at KBS, except for the occasional weeknight game. If they’re on the road, I’m not going to some other game to watch two teams about which I couldn’t care less. App is on one of the ESPN platforms, and I’m watching (you name the sport). Oh, and don’t have a wedding during football season. I’m not going if it interferes with the game. Think twice about that funeral, too. I wear black on Saturday, because every Saturday is Black Saturday — even last Saturday, though it was July 2. Speaking of, I always have something that says Appalachian State on my person. It’s often a shirt, sometimes a tie or hat, and if I can’t wear those things, it’s boxers. Boone is sacred country, and I’ll drive five hours up there on a whim just to visit Come Back Shack and ride along the Parkway. It’s my happy place. It’s where I go when I need a reset.

So, when you say struggle, I guess I do. But it’s my struggle.

One more…mispronounce Appalachian, and you’ll quickly find out you done effed up.

Proximity got me in the door.

The GREAT fan atmosphere and essentially "only game in town" status kept me coming back.

Guess I didn’t answer the “why I chose Coastal” question.

3 reasons:

1. There is no better business college in that state of SC, and I specifically wanted to get into the Wall Fellows Program. The Wall College of Business is unrivaled in the state, and I wanted in state tuition.

2. The beach. Both because I absolutely love the beach and because it was 4 hours away from my hometown (I wanted to get as far away as possible while staying in the state of SC so I could pay in state tuition.)

3. The campus. It’s gorgeous and just felt like “home” when I visited.

(07-07-2022 11:55 AM)herdtrumpet Wrote:  I want to know why you are a fan of the school you're a fan of? What made you choose your school?

I grew up in southern WV; a small, forgettable little town with less than 1000 citizens with the primary industries being coal miners, loggers or crackheads. After deciding I wanted to break the cycle and actually do something with my life it came time to start looking at colleges, I toured several: Marshall, WVU, UK, Ohio U, Concord (small college in WV), Fairmont and Charleston. I am proud to say I was accepted at all of them, but Marshall just had a charm to the campus, along with the cheap in-state tuition. I was also a child in the 90's and remember seeing quite a bit of Herd gear to challenge all the WVU Walmart fans during the glory days. At Marshall I got my degree and found my wife, so I will always be a fan of the school! Even though I live in Ohio, surrounded by Ohio State, Cincy and Miami (Criami) fans I still get comments on my Herd gear!

Will we all be together in the coming years?

Yes, the Sunbelt seems to be a solid group of schools that are aligned with views, money and size. We know we aren't Alabama or Ohio State, and that's okay! The posters here all seem largely content with our lineups and fanbases.

Is there still going to be a market for us and our peer institutions?

I truly think so! The media will continue to hype BIG vs SEC, but how many fans are going to tune in for Purdue vs USC? Losing regional rivalries in the name of having Big Name vs Big Name with no history or culture is going to make for bad TV, in my opinion, it will be no different than say Seahawks vs Browns, or Texans vs Jets. The fans are too different, too far apart for the games to mean anything more than Win or Loss. The Sunbelt can really shine with the regional rivalries and close fanbases. Plus, the original spirit of CFB can live on, instead of whatever NFL-Lite semi pro league that the BIG/SEC will become.

Yea I don't see how this P2 model works over time that excludes the G5. Fewer winning seasons much less championships will not be received well by fans supporting these programs financially.

Begin taking away alum skin in the game because you don't need their money relying more and more on media revenue and your the snake eating it's own tail.

This thread clearly points out why this thing will fail. Sadly consolidation keeps happening despite the obvious.

I want to know why you are a fan of the school you're a fan of? What made you choose your school?

Grew up in Troy, and was an Auburn fan as a kid growing up... until I went to my second Troy game (2004 Missouri at Troy). Troy beat them on national TV in front of a then-record crowd. I became a forever fan. Chose to go to college there. Enjoyed pulling for a school trying to forge it's way through big-time football, instead of a P5 that has fewer challenges.

Will we all be together in the coming years?

Yes.... unless a new East Coast and/or Gulf Coast league start.

Is there still going to be a market for us and our peer institutions?

There will always be a market for the G5, even if the P5 or SEC/Big 10 break away. I don't forsee them breaking away soon though. The new structure, rights, legal hurdles and amount of lawsuits will be immense.

I grew up with a Dad who was/is a big time Alabama fan and growing up I loved the Tide. I remember how happy I was when they won their first National Championship under Saban in 2009 and breaking the 6 loss streak to Auburn. I was in high school during that time. My parents didn't go to college and brother just did 2 years at a local Technical College and so I didn't really know a lot of how to choose a university. So when it came time for me to choose where to go once I finished my 2 years at junior college I chose Troy over South Alabama. I lived almost in between the 2 and had some cousins at both so it was a tough decision but I loved Troy's campus and preferred that Troy was in a smaller city/college town than South being in Mobile.

I didn't take me long to fall in love with Troy. Especially since my first game was a comeback win vs UAB in 2013. That place was magical that night. It's a shame my ex-gf's sister ruined the night by making us leave early but the 3 quarters I did watch had me hooked. I also made some of the best friends of my life in Troy so it just holds a tight grip over my emotional heart haha.

I still watch Alabama some with my Dad and I'll cheer for them over Auburn, LSU, Georgia, etc. but I am Troy first 100%. He and my brother also keep up with Troy and pulls for them as their 2nd team/G5 team. My wife got her masters degree at Alabama so I'm still somewhat connected but she did her undergrad at Mississippi College so I keep up with them in D-II.

I'm not worried what happens to the G5 because I'll watch Troy and keep up with them no matter what.

(07-07-2022 10:50 AM)THUNDERStruck73 Wrote:  I'm originally from Vienna, WV but moved to Huntington when I was 5 in 1978. My mother graduated from Marshall in 1968. She has a lot of stories about going to the field house for basketball games and to NYC for the NIT semis. Her cousin, Barbara (Bobbi) was the only (to my knowledge) quad letterman in MU history (Basketball, tennis, volleyball, and field hockey). She played on the WBB team with Beverly Duckweiler). Not long ago, she came into town and went to Dot Hicks' house and spent the afternoon with her. Dot remembered her right off the bat.

My mother's best friend, Gail McDowell (nee Morehouse), lost her father in the crash as did many of the residents of Enslow Park (where I grew up). I know a lot of the families who lost parents/relatives in the crash and who have become prominent members of the Huntington community. I can't think of a story or history better than Marshall's. Sure, it it tragic to be sure, but I wonder how proud the 75 are of what Marshall has become today.

*grabs a tissue box* yeah, even the casual fans of other school hear about "the 75"...but another thing that people don't think about that was brought up to me during one of the fountain ceremonies, you have a town as small as Huntington was in 1970 and you lose doctors, teachers, etc. There were kids who lost a parent..there were a few kids who lost BOTH parents...total devastation to the community... That's why the first thing I do when I come up on a visiting fan, after making sure they're finding everything around town, is to say "have you seen the movie yet?"

When I was discharged from the service in '59, I enrolled in the University of Alabama-Mobile Center because there was no such thing as the University of South Alabama. Working fulltime, raising a family and going to night school wasn't easy so I eventually dropped out of UA-M. In 1966, I enrolled at USA which had just recently replaced UA-M. While continuing my education, I finally earned a degree at South and we only had a basketball, baseball, a "few minor" sports, including women's sports. Forty-four years later, USA started a varsity football team and I instantly became a Jaguar football fan. That's my story and I'm darned well sticking to it. Go Jags!

(07-07-2022 10:56 AM)MUther Wrote:  I've read all the responses so far and see a lot of common themes. We are not the Walmart fans riding bandwagons. We aspired to be around and at these universities and many of us are legacies even if we didn't step a foot on campus. Someone influential in our lives introduced us to the schools we root for. I encourage building fans that are just riding the wave. We all need what we can get. They will never be the core fans sitting in a monsoon with a 40 point lead or deficit, but they will support the schools while the gettin is good.

But your power teams are 85-90% Walmart fans. There aren't enough alumni to make up the 5 million Alabama fans. There aren't enough people in Alabama. They are fans because Alabama won the championship. People like a winner. This is part of why it's so interesting that we are so loyal, in the face of human nature, to teams that often suck balls and break your heart. But the prospect of "next year" is powerful. It's like making that perfect golf shot. Sure you shot a 105, but that one swing was beautiful and if you could just repeat that the next time you play...

OOH! OOOH! A couple of thoughts from this...

1) The two differences of MU and WVU... First, MU enlists students on their ACTs and SATs...WVU lets them in on account of their BAC. And of course, when the shirt says "The Herd," they went to Marshall...when it says "WVU" (made sure not to leave it at mountaineers) they went to walmart!

2) When I was at Marshall, FCA brought in Dr. Ed Carter, one of the 3 players who missed the plane. He was talking about how bad we were in 69..."people were playing checkers in the stands..a guy reported someone broke into his car...the officer asks how he knows, he said that he had two MU tickets on the dash, he came back and there were three more.."

(07-07-2022 11:03 AM)MUther Wrote:  

(07-07-2022 10:54 AM)Complacent Cajun Wrote:  My dad went to LSU and I grew up an LSU fan. Attending their sporting events my whole life. Ended up at UL due to better scholarship opportunities and became a diehard. I can't fathom how someone can attend a university and root for another, which I'm sure a lot of us witness. I still enjoy LSU games with my family and friends, but I don't wear their colors. I don't send them money. I don't watch their games instead of UL when they overlap, even if they're playing against Bama and we're playing against Nichols.

I struggle as a UL fan because our football gameday atmosphere sucks, and our community doesn't support the Cajuns as much as they should. NIL and the new transfer portal rules have me struggling even more.

I feel ya brother. I'm torn every time I see someone at a Marshall game in blue and yeller. On the one hand I'm thinking "they couldn't wear a green t-shirt for just today?" on the other I'm thinking "Sure am glad we got 25k in the stands today." We take what we can get when we aren't guaranteed an 80k sellout all season long.

Funny, when I see em in blue and yeller, I remind myself I look terrible in orange..
0 : )

(07-07-2022 12:11 PM)AppinVA Wrote:  I don’t struggle, but I also don’t consider myself a fan of Appalachian State. I am a Mountaineer. I can switch fandoms, but I am a Mountaineer for life. There is no other. It’s only a struggle in that I spend too much time on these boards, spend too much money on App State related items (tickets, apparel, travel, you name it), and watch too many old games to the point I can quote the announcers like I’m watching Caddyshack. If you know me for longer than five minutes, you know where I went to school, and where all other schools stand in my view. If App is playing at home, I’m at KBS, except for the occasional weeknight game. If they’re on the road, I’m not going to some other game to watch two teams about which I couldn’t care less. App is on one of the ESPN platforms, and I’m watching (you name the sport). Oh, and don’t have a wedding during football season. I’m not going if it interferes with the game. Think twice about that funeral, too. I wear black on Saturday, because every Saturday is Black Saturday — even last Saturday, though it was July 2. Speaking of, I always have something that says Appalachian State on my person. It’s often a shirt, sometimes a tie or hat, and if I can’t wear those things, it’s boxers. Boone is sacred country, and I’ll drive five hours up there on a whim just to visit Come Back Shack and ride along the Parkway. It’s my happy place. It’s where I go when I need a reset.

So, when you say struggle, I guess I do. But it’s my struggle.

One more…mispronounce Appalachian, and you’ll quickly find out you done effed up.

Quick thought about fall weddings (WTF people)... A friend of mine was getting married the day we (later) upset #6 K State, I remember driving from the church to the reception and got in the car and turned on the radio. Also, I remember a friend of mine's anniversary since he told the story that they got back from the church and had the radio on and it was the day that poor kid from Clemson crossed Woody Hayes..hehe Also, I have my 'everyday M hat,"and my "dress M hate" which is a lot cleaner... :)