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Post by loveyouso on Apr 7, 2014 16:31:29 GMT -6
You really don't get the concept of rivalry, do you? Sent from my SCH-R970 using proboards YES I DO! I do not expect you, living in WI, to understand how big a rivalry Duquesne and Pitt WERE in Basketball, AND Pitt and Penn State WERE in Football. But they were HUGE rivals in Pittsburgh. But, when those teams were not playing each other we (My Dad and I) rooted for each of them. I have nothing more to say.
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Post by PantherU on Apr 8, 2014 9:09:22 GMT -6
It comes down to this. I am all Milwaukee. My program comes first through last. There's nobody else for me.
I know that our program is not served by our people dividing their loyalties to Madison as well. They can afford their fans to politely cheer for us. We can't, not if we plan to be anything more than what we are.
Sent from my SCH-R970 using proboards
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Post by BBFran on Apr 8, 2014 9:46:34 GMT -6
You know I love the enthusiasm Jimmy, but I have to believe you understand you are talking about an impossible ideal. I guarantee you that there were students at Florida Gulf Coast this March wearing Gators shirts; students at Central Connecticut wearing Huskies shirts; students at Eastern Kentucky wearing Wildcats shirts. It's the nature of it.
As I said earlier, what we need to do is show our students that there is a great, fun college basketball fan experience available to them right here. Once they realize that and attend accordingly you won't need to care whose shirt they are wearing after our season ends.
Let me also say again that I can bring some historical perspective, having attended UWM in the early 70s and given that I am a frequent visitor even now. Judging by clothing alone there is no comparison in the amount of school pride from then to now. Every time I walk on campus now I am pleasantly stunned by how many students are wearing Milwaukee logo clothing. You never saw that in the 70s. Never. And by the way -- we had football then.
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Apr 8, 2014 13:23:30 GMT -6
I think many understand that if someone wants to cheer for some team, fine. The problem people get surprised, when someone is not cheering for the Badgers.
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Post by BBFran on Apr 8, 2014 14:30:10 GMT -6
If someone got "mad" at you because you weren't cheering for the Badgers your only logical reaction would be to laugh about it. But for the vast majority of people in Wisconsin, pulling for the Badgers is exactly like pulling for the Packers or the Brewers. If you don't understand that it's simply a matter of state pride for those folks, irrespective of their school affinity, you are really kind of detached from reality.
Fandom is not a zero sum game for most people. If you think our program can never be successful if we don't get our fans collectively to renounce their fandom in the Badgers or Marquette (a much more logical "rival" -- and it's not much of one), then I have news for you: we will never be successful. A strategy premised on that notion is doomed.
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Post by GoPanthers33 on Apr 8, 2014 17:21:36 GMT -6
I don't tend to run into people who get mad if I'm not cheering for the Badgers. I tend to run into those who don't understand how I could root for the Panthers and only the Panthers.
People give me this dumbfounded look when they see me decked out in Panther gear at a sports bar. They all seem to think people should root for the Badgers first and when Milwaukee is doing well it's "nice to see and root for".
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Apr 8, 2014 18:07:57 GMT -6
Maybe a better word is surprised. I know how the food chain works, thank you very much! That line of thinking doesn't work in many other states, signed the Iron Bowl.
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Post by PantherU on Apr 8, 2014 18:10:14 GMT -6
No Marquette fan ever said to me, "Well at least you still have the Golden Eagles." I think I've heard "Well, at least you still have the Badgers" about 6,000 times, followed by "What do you mean you don't root for Wisconsin?" followed by an argument in which I'm told that I should still root for the Badgers because they're "the home team," or "the state school," or "Wisconsin's team," or 15 variations thereof.
I'm not telling everybody to not be Badger fans. I'm stating that unless Milwaukee can own its own people, then we'll never reach our potential as an institution - in athletics or academics.
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Apr 8, 2014 18:17:17 GMT -6
Own people, you means alumni and students? I would agree.
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