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Commodore Notebook – September 26 9/26/2006 Commodore Notebook Because people care deeply about collegiate athletics, guys like me have jobs. I’ve been able to pay my rent and send kids to college because millions of Americans thrive on March Madness, the B.C.S., Script Ohio, the Rose Parade, Omaha, tailgates and the balconies that Clyde built. With my vested interest, I pay attention to crowds and fan bases. Lately, our trip to Michigan’s legendary “Big House” has found me trying to fine tune my definition of great fans. In the Southeastern Conference football is King. The SEC leads the nation annually in attendance and plays to the highest percentage of stadium capacity in the NCAA. On game days, quaint college towns swell like a python devouring a rabbit. Michigan Stadium is the biggest of the big. The Wolverines had over 109,000 for our game and two thousand more than that for their Wisconsin game Saturday. Chances are most Commodores in Ann Arbor would describe their experience as a good one, yet somewhat underwhelming. If it is possible for 109,000 to feel like, say 60,000, then you get the idea of the atmosphere. An hour before kickoff the grand stadium was largely empty, prompting theories that Labor Day weekend had taken some of the less faithful out of town. By kickoff, however, the place was packed. Game day conditions included clouds and temperatures in the low 60’s — good football weather. The next week we were in Bryant-Denny Stadium, capacity 92,000. Two hours before kickoff, the jammed-packed student section sweltered in a broiling sun. There was electricity with crimson everywhere and parties on every patch of turf within earshot of the stadium. When those faithful roared, chances are the tremors were picked up on seismic meters. Michigan Stadium must get louder when the Wolves play the Buckeyes and chances are Tide fans are more laid back for a non-conference foe. Well, maybe?of course they aren’t. They are nuts — the same as fanatics are around this conference. So the question I’ve been mulling over is “who has the best fans, Michigan or any one of these SEC hotbeds?” Do you need crazies to make your fan base a great one? Or is simply caring enough? Michigan’s crowd resembled ours, only bigger. It was mostly polite — fans in maize and blue wished Commodore fans good luck before the game and spent more time cheering the home team than rooting against the ‘Dores. If you’ve traveled in our league, chances are you’ve seen some garish examples of fanaticism. Garbage has been hurled at team busses. Chants you would not want your grandma to hear resound at an official’s questionable call. Being a visitor in this conference is not for sissies. There is a lunatic fringe in everyone’s fan base that paints, in my estimation, an unfavorable impression. If there are 80,000 at a game, a few hundred yahoos can leave a bad taste. These are the same types as the English soccer hooligans, semi-legal thugs or drunks who often are cloaking their own life’s under-achievement in the glory of their adopted team’s success. Which brings me back to my musing about “good” fans. I love the passion that college athletics brings to our lives and admire the fans who sit in rain to watch us play Tennessee State. I am turned off by the idiotic actions of the few who seem to forget they are attending a competitive game and not a pronouncement of good versus evil. I’m all for the great rivalries. Go ahead and paint your faces gold and yell till your hoarse, stand in line for your favorite player’s autograph and don’t take any guff at the office water cooler. That is part of the fun that comes with supporting a team. However, to the loonies who confuse sport with warfare I suggest they get a life — something most sensible fans already have. |
