What is a fan?

[Boonan 0]

Ask CFN

What do you think the rules for being a fan are?  A discussion recently came up with some friends about “bandwagonners”.  I am from Oklahoma, and I went to OU, but I did not get a degree from OU.  I’ve heard all kinds of people’s criteria.  Some say that you have to at least have gone to the school.  Others say you have to have earned a degree from the school.  Having grown up fairly close to Norman, all of my friends and I were big OU fans as kids.  We went to games (some of us still do), and we have always bought the merchandise, etc.  Since only one of the guys I grew up with actually got his degree there, does that mean the rest of us are lesser fans?  - Keith, Arlington, TX

A: Why not just settle this with the old “We got spirit” cheer and see who comes out on top? If graduating from the school was the main rule for being able to be a fan, many of the college football players couldn’t root for their teams. Buying stuff doesn’t make you a fan; it makes you a customer. Personally, I believe that a fan is only a true fan if he’s there through thick and thin. Anyone can be a fan of Ohio State, Texas or Oklahoma, but give me the guy who claims to be a lifelong Temple supporter.  I don’t have a problem with the bandwagon types if they jump on because they like the way a team plays or enjoys an individual player. However, I have no tolerance for bandwagon jumpers who are along for the ride to boost their own personal self-worth and then rubs your face in it when “we” beat your team.

I like this one.

Not that I'm naming any names, but who can think of the school with the most bandwagon fans that never set foot on campus, unless it was to get to the stadium?

I know all schools have them (heck, last year I hopped on the Vandy wagon for a few weeks), and so does AU, but really, what do you think of when you think bandwagon fan?

Oh yeah, and just for fun, I was a 3rd gen student and graduate of AU, but I'm not saying that that is what makes a fan. My criteria I think more or less is just support for the school no matter what.

[aubie57 119]

I hope you don't have to be a graduate from to be a TRUE fan. I didn't even go to school there. My granddad did though. I've been Orange and Blue all my life. To me a bandwagon fan is one that is only there during the good times, then when things head south they bolt to the next best thing at the time.....

[sogaaufan 27]

I agree that attendance isn't a requirement for being a fan. My brother went to school at Troy State and he is the biggest Auburn fan I know. He is now an assistant coach in the Atlanta area and he is in Auburn now working their summer camp. He knows all the coaches personally and is my real link to the inside of the program. To say he isn't a fan would be ridiculous. I also agree that a fan is someone who will stand with his back to the wall and call himself a fan even during bad times for the program. If you are old enough to remember, were you an Auburn fan during the Barfield years? How about the last couple of years of Bowden? If you were a fan of someone else during those times, and have just converted after they went undefeated in 2004, ther is a good chance you are of the "fair weather" variety.

BTW, I knew some students when I was at AU that were as "fair weather" as you could be.

[CircleDrill 178]

You are a fan if you meet the following criteria:

*You are thinking about football on June 3, 2006.

*You go to see your team when you can.

*You do not leave early from games (especially if you are losing).

*You know something about the team.

*You know something about the players.

*You know something about the cheers, fight song, and alma mater.

No flames please. This is just what I think.

[one 2]

So the little poor kid who can't afford to get in the games but worships everything about his team is not a fan?

As for me, I never miss a game on TV, but I live in NC and could not efford to drive to a game very often. (Only been to about 8 live games) I grew up in a family where football was a non-event...except for me. I watched every game or listened to them atleast (actually most of my AU football memories come while working on the farm with my dad listening to the radio).

I didn't go to school at AU because they didn't offer what I wanted to study (nothing even close) and, hopefully this doesn't sound trite, God led me elsewhere.

Yet, I am can tell you almost every AU player from 83 on (when I was 6). I know more about AU football than anyone else I know.

Am I not an Auburn Fan???

[CircleDrill 178]

So the little poor kid who can't afford to get in the games but worships everything about his team is not a fan?

As for me, I never miss a game on TV, but I live in NC and could not efford to drive to a game very often. (Only been to about 8 live games) I grew up in a family where football was a non-event...except for me. I watched every game or listened to them atleast (actually most of my AU football memories come while working on the farm with my dad listening to the radio).

I didn't go to school at AU because they didn't offer what I wanted to study (nothing even close) and, hopefully this doesn't sound trite, God led me elsewhere.

Yet, I am can tell you almost every AU player from 83 on (when I was 6).  I know more about AU football than anyone else I know.

Am I not an Auburn Fan???

238327[/snapback]

You definitely sound like a fan to me. Notice the "when you can" part of my list. If you turn the TV off when your team is losing, then your fan-ness is questionable IMHO.