• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

Sports Fan Polygamy

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes

OH10

*
I didn't know where to put this, and I thought of it while reading the Duke Hate thread. This idea was brought by Bill Simmons once in relation to pro sports, but I wondering how it translated to college sports.

I grew up an Ohio State basketball fan before football. But I always did love the football team, and quite frankly, who doesn't? I went to Ohio State for four years, and yes, I did graduate. So it's easy for me to say I'm an Ohio State basketball and football fan and screw all others.

But I went to college (Ohio State) with guys who were Ohio State football fans and Cincinnati basketball fans. My best friend is (shhh..) a Michigan football fan and a Kentucky basketball fan. I've seen posters here at BN proudly admit to loving Ohio State football and some other school in basketball.

My question is: What prompts someone to choose one university for football and another for basketball?

Grew up in Ohio and went to another school? Grew up a fan of Buckeye football and a fan of another basketball team and couldn't let go of the allegiance?

Another question: What do you do when your basketball school plays your football school in either sport?

Final Question: Is college sports fan polygamy ok? Does anyone have a problem with this?
 
For me it was because my family didn't really follow college basketball. So when I became a fan of the game, I wasn't around lots of fans that would nudge me to root for one school or another. I grew up on Buckeye football, but not any kind of basketball. My dad actually grew up a UCLA fan in basketball, but then really never followed anybody (except Dayton a little). So I (for one reason or another) identified with Duke growing up (mid-80's). I then attended Dayton and became involved with Dayton basketball. Those are the reasons that I root for them. I like tOSU basketball, but have always identified with Duke and Dayton before them.
I have no problem with sports fan polygamy, as I know many people that have similar stories to mine (parents rooted for one sport and didn't follow the other). I also don't feel like it is a must to root for in-state teams in pro-sports either. I think that's what's great about being a fan of sports. If you don't identify with one team, then there is always another one. :)
 
Upvote 0
StadiumDorm said:
Sorry BN, didn't know there were threads on this topic. If you just want to merge or delete this thread, that's fine.
Click to expand...
No, I can't blame you for posting it again as it's probably hard to search for. I'm just sick of explaining why I like Ohio State football and Syracuse basketball to people who will never admit that there is nothing wrong with liking 2 teams in 2 different sports.
 
Upvote 0
BuckeyeNation27 said:
No, I can't blame you for posting it again as it's probably hard to search for. I'm just sick of explaining why I like Ohio State football and Syracuse basketball to people who will never admit that there is nothing wrong with liking 2 teams in 2 different sports.
Click to expand...
Like the Miami Hurricane football fans who also like Kentucky Basketball, Wichita State Baseball, North Dakota Hockey, New York Yankees, Indianapolis Colts, San Antonio Spurs, Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam, Andy Roddick, Serena Williams, Tony Stewart.....

Not that those exist...
 
Upvote 0
My mom's from Kentucky and both parents went to college in KY so they are UK fans so I root for UK over anyone they play. I'll root for OSU in bball as well, but as I said in the Dials thread I don't pay much attention until March Madness.
 
Upvote 0
BuckeyeNation27 said:
No, I can't blame you for posting it again as it's probably hard to search for. I'm just sick of explaining why I like Ohio State football and Syracuse basketball to people who will never admit that there is nothing wrong with liking 2 teams in 2 different sports.
Click to expand...

That's why I'm asking the question and not chastising anyone..... yet. :wink2:


I've always loved Ohio State basketball, so it's hard for me to look at the issue with an open mind. It's always been upsetting to me that Buckeye roundball has been, at times, the ugly stepsister to Buckeye football. With Thad Matta, I have a feeling it's going to get an upgrade to little brother, which is as high as it's ever going to get - and great by the way.

But, still some fans of the football program never identify with the basketball team, and choose instead to cheer for another program. Some situations are unique, like OSUBucks22. So I guess I just wondered what prompted some fans to cheer for different universities.
 
Upvote 0
Well when I was growing up my family didnt really pay attention to sports so I kind of was on my own.

Of course buckeye football was one of them, but I had a couple friends in school who were UK bball fans so I became one as well. As time went on and my ties to tOSU became stronger, my interest started to dwindle and now I am all buckeye. I mean I will root for UK to win, but if UK played tOSU, you know damn well who I would be rooting for.
 
Upvote 0
For me, it's always been about where I lived. I was born and lived my first 23 years in Memphis Tennessee. Naturally I would be Memphis State/Memphis Tigers fan my whole life (only basketball, it was always the only game in town -- to me anyway). In 1999 I moved to Columbus and just blended in with Buckeye nation after awhile. Since about a year after moving here I'm a loyal Buckeye fan (basketball and football, both very strong). I still pay attention to the Tigers though..can't lie.

Ohio State Buckeyes, first & always for me, though -- no matter the sport.

:oh: :io:
 
Upvote 0
Nothing wrong with it at all in my book. It's basically a geographic thing, being from say Dayton, Cincy, Toledo, you may have obvious favorites other than Ohio State in BB. I'm a Kent State grad, and was creaming in my jeans one helluva lot more about their game against Indiana in the Elite-8 a few years back than I was about the Buckeyes vs. UConn in the final four game.

Thing is, this is all going to be moot in a few years. Thad Matta will take care of that. If you live in Ohio, he WILL force you to be a Buckeye fan.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top