College athletics are by far one of the purest forms of competition in the world today. These unpaid athletes vie for titles and championships to represent their respective schools and most go unnoticed by the general public. Even though these accolades are great, many players will agree that nothing compares to the thrill of defeating a long-time conference rival and earning bragging rights for the next year. This same school pride is also apparent in the fans of each of these schools. However, this article is not necessarily about winning these rivalries, but it is about what happens after those rivalry games have been played and the stadium has been cleared of all the raging students. So let’s answer the big question. As a loyal fan, do you cheer for your rivals?
Before I get in too deep, let me say that I am referencing the Auburn/Alabama and Texas/OU type of rivalries as opposed to smaller conference rivalries. These out for blood style of epic rivalries are what colleges absolutely thrive on year after year. It doesn’t matter if your team loses every other game if your team can beat its biggest rival, but what do you do as a fan when that rival makes the national championship game or is fighting for some other type of championship? You root for whoever is playing against them.
I hear people suggest that it is proper etiquette to root for a major conference rival that makes it further than your team. Let me stand up and say that statement (in regards to sports) needs to always be false for the die-hard fan. Your loyalty should remain with your favorite team and nobody else. You shouldn’t ever want your significant rival to win, much less win a big time game. That is simply the way that it needs to be, but it should stay on the courts and playing fields.
Without a doubt there is a fine line that shouldn’t be crossed in regards to rivalries. You should despise a team on the field, but not off of it.
Take a look at the OBU/Henderson rivalry for example. Granted the stage isn’t as big as Auburn/Alabama, but it is certainly one of the biggest small college rivalries. The two schools often engage in vandalism of each school’s property and exchange some pretty heated words from time to time. I don’t agree with or condone that. You should come to the games and support your favorite team, but leave it in the stadium. Hating a school outside of the sports world is, at least in my opinion, very childish.
There will surely always be tension between rival schools in the NCAA. I love the idea of having a hated opponent and going out of your way to be obnoxious inside the stadium or taking one or two verbal stabs in their general direction before the big game. You shouldn’t ever want them to be successful in sports, but that strong emotion should be limited to sports and not towards its faculty, students or academics.
Picture courtesy of Brocken Inaglory.
