McCoy Signed

[slowburn]

Let's face it also. The Big Ten is a much higher profile conference than the MAC. The MAC does not get an automatic BCS berth, the Big Ten does. Plus, overall, the size of the schools in the Big Ten are generally bigger than the MAC (but not as much larger as I originally believed before I did the following research:

 

Big Ten Student populations:

 

Illinois: 31,000

Indiana: 31,000

Iowa: 21,000

Michigan: 26,000

Mich. St.: 36,000

Minnesota: 38,000

Northwestern: 8200

Ohio St.: 40,000

Penn St.: 38,000

Purdue: 31,000

Wisconsin: 29,000

Nebraska: 18,000

 

MAC Student populations:

 

Akron: 28,000

Bowling Green: 19,000

Buffalo: 28,000

Kent State: 25,500

Miami: 20,000 (though when my son applied there they said there were only 14K...so who knows about these numbers)

Ohio U: 20,500

Ball St: 20,000

Cent. Mich: 27,000

East. Mich: 23,000

West. Mich: 25,000

No. Ill. : 25,000

Toledo: 21,500

 

The oddity here is Northwestern. A smaller private school with a much higher academic profile in amongst the larger state schools. It seems to me that NW would be better off in a conference that would be made up of similar schools. Private with high academic profiles including the likes of Notre Dame, Duke, Vanderbilt, Boston College, Rice, Wake Forest, and maybe Georgetown and Stanford. Call it the "Big Brain" Conference.

I am suprised at the student population of Nebraska.........always perceived Big Red as one of the largest

[The Gipper]

No I'm from PA, so Ohio is not my state...

 

You go to Akron U now. The stench of PA is gradually being melted away.

[The Gipper]

[/color] I am suprised at the student population of Nebraska.........always perceived Big Red as one of the largest

 

 

Yea, I thought so too, but now giving it some thought, Nebraska really is fairly sparsely populated, unlike most of the rest of the Big Ten State. Iowa is a little smaller than I thought as well. Also a less sparsely populated state.

[samoth]

You are saying things like this just to be a dick aren't you?

 

If you’ve followed them your whole life, you are not a bandwaggoner.

 

The reason most Ohioans who follow college football, follow the Buckeyes for their life, is because the Buckeyes are the premier college program in Ohio. Its what is on TV every Saturday.

fyi i grew up in ohio and never watched a buckeye game until i was in college.

[CLEVELandMILIDH]

fyi i grew up in ohio and never watched a buckeye game until i was in college.

 

who'd you root for before college?

 

[samoth]

who'd you root for before college?

 

The cleveland browns

[CLEVELandMILIDH]

The cleveland browns

 

Why can you root for the Browns but you cant root for a college team? Whats the difference? Name 5 reasons you root for the browns then put them in context of me rooting for the Buckeyes...maybe that will help, I dont understand your angle at all.

[Thaak]

So you are admitting to being a bandwagonner? Cool.

 

I want to know how you become a fan of ANY team without being a bandwaggoner by your standards.

 

Because at some point in your life, you have to choose a team to root for. How do you do it?

 

Well there are many ways. For example, when I was about 12, I started rooting for the Yankees. Some might consider me a bandwagon fan, because the Yankees have been great for quite a long time.

 

However, I knew almost nothing about Baseball, let alone who had the best team perennially. We had just come back from a long morning of canoeing, and I sat down to watch some TV. Baseball was on. I don't remember who the Yankees were playing. But in like the 3rd inning, they were down 9 to 1. I was tired, so fell asleep. I woke up in the 10th inning, and the Yankees had not only come back, but won the game. To me, they were the underdog (even though they really weren't.) I love rooting for the underdog. So I chose them as my team. In the last 10 years, I've chosen not to root for them out of principle.

 

I chose the Buckeyes, because I was actually into college ball, and that was the game that showed every Saturday in Northeast Ohio. I grew up watching Carter, Byers, and Tomzak (sp?). I chose the Browns because they were my home team (45 miles from Cleveland) and Bernie Kosar was the gangly, unathletic, smart QB. The kind of athlete I tried to be, since I was gangly and unathletic at the time, while also being fairly smart.

 

But was I a bandwagon fan because that's how I chose to root? No.

 

If the Golden Flashes or the Zipps were on TV every Saturday, I probably would have watched them, since both Kent and Akron were closer to me than Columbus. But I got to actually WATCH the Buckeyes, so I became enamored with them. Enough so, that when I went to college, I applied at only one place. The Ohio State University.

 

If my mom or dad (who both went to Kent State) were football fans, I probably would have followed them into being a fan of the Golden Flashes. But neither were into any kind of football, let alone college, so I got to make my own choice.

[FearTheRoo]

Okay the two main arguments for being Ohio State fans. You say being from Ohio, you have to root for Ohio State. Okay like said why don't you root for Ohio U instead? You say Ohio State is the premier team in the state. Well last time I checked Cincinnati was ranked higher than OSU towards the end of last year and ended up with a better record so couldn't they be considered the premier team in Ohio? Either way it still doesnt make sense. Believe it or not the OSU is NOT a pro team, it is a school. So any analogies to the Browns are wrong. Even if you have been a fan for life, you are still not a part of the school and yeah you can root for them, but a diehard? really. Being from PA I don't have to root for Ohio State, I don't even have to root for Penn State. They are both equally annoying in my book. I've never heard of this school Akron U you people are mentioning. I am a fan of The University of Akron, and I'm damn proud of it. Being a student there, I have a connection most of you will never feel. This is why you just don't understand. I am a part of something and just don't walk around being obnoxious and running my mouth about some school just because I feel like it. We'll never be a big time school in football, but we have pride and we're proud of OUR school, not just A school.

[blowe]

Okay the two main arguments for being Ohio State fans. You say being from Ohio, you have to root for Ohio State. Okay like said why don't you root for Ohio U instead? You say Ohio State is the premier team in the state. Well last time I checked Cincinnati was ranked higher than OSU towards the end of last year and ended up with a better record so couldn't they be considered the premier team in Ohio? Either way it still doesnt make sense. Believe it or not the OSU is NOT a pro team, it is a school. So any analogies to the Browns are wrong. Even if you have been a fan for life, you are still not a part of the school and yeah you can root for them, but a diehard? really. Being from PA I don't have to root for Ohio State, I don't even have to root for Penn State. They are both equally annoying in my book. I've never heard of this school Akron U you people are mentioning. I am a fan of The University of Akron, and I'm damn proud of it. Being a student there, I have a connection most of you will never feel. This is why you just don't understand. I am a part of something and just don't walk around being obnoxious and running my mouth about some school just because I feel like it. We'll never be a big time school in football, but we have pride and we're proud of OUR school, not just A school.

 

this is too repetitive and your argument is flawed on so many levels I'm not going to get into it...just let it go.

[roach]

Wow. i just checked into this thread (the last two pages) and it is giving me a headache.

 

i will say this. i'm a Mount Union fan. i didn't go to school at Mount Union or had any really close friends that went to Mount Union. i became a fan years ago because they were (and are) the best football team in the nation, and they are only a 75 minute drive away. What kind of fan does that make me?

 

BTW, i'm also a huge St Ignatius fan. That is not because they are the best team in the region (even though they are). It is because my son went there. What kind of fan does that make me?

 

Anyone want to go see a Purple Raiders game this season? Great football and no need to tailgate. They have a great brunch open to any and all fans in the student cafeteria. It is top notch.

[samoth]

Why can you root for the Browns but you cant root for a college team? Whats the difference? Name 5 reasons you root for the browns then put them in context of me rooting for the Buckeyes...maybe that will help, I dont understand your angle at all.

 

Browns are professional team. I root for the Indians instead of the Columbus Clippers even though I live in Columbus. The level of play is better (well, maybe not this year).

 

Nothing wrong with liking college ball. Like I said, I don't see why its so popular since the rosters turn over ever 3-4 years, your ability to get into a championship game is based entirely on arbitrary preseason rankings by "experts", and realistically about 15 out of 120 teams have a shot of ever being the national champion. Any team in the NFL has a shot at winning the Superbowl from year to year. That's called competitive balance.

 

I grew up in Athens where OU is. I bet I went to 5 OU games in my life before college. It wasn't imporant. I can't ever remember anyone talking about OSU football on Sundays other than my grandma and uncles. I do however remember being raised watching Browns and Bengals games on TV.

 

You want 5 reasons I prefer the pro game?

1. Level of competition is generally better. No scheduling the MAC and the worst teams in the Big 10 every year.

2. Offenses and defenses are more complex.

3. The NCAA is corrupt

4. Unless you like one of the traditional college powers, youve got no hope of seeing a championship.

5. I prefer watching professionals play a game instead of college kids. There are, what, 8000~ college football players? 250 per year are considered good enough to get a tryout in the NFL.

[CLEVELandMILIDH]

Wow, thats all I gotta say... Wow...Im done

[MudratDetector]

i agree with a lot of what samoth said about the ncaa. i'm not really a fan of it, esp the championship part of it. even though the schedules get tougher as the year rolls along, the fact that a powerhouse like ohio state can play mac teams and marshall university is a joke. the lions have a better shot at beating the saints than akron ever has at beating ohio state.

[ballpeen]

i agree with a lot of what samoth said about the ncaa. i'm not really a fan of it, esp the championship part of it. even though the schedules get tougher as the year rolls along, the fact that a powerhouse like ohio state can play mac teams and marshall university is a joke. the lions have a better shot at beating the saints than akron ever has at beating ohio state.

 

 

 

It called spreading the wealth to the smaller school and gives the big guy a chance to play some 5th year seniors so they actually make the record books.

 

 

As for why people root for who they do....it isn't for anyone to understand...why do some like hockey and others don't?? Why do some like NASCAR and others don't??

 

 

Shoot....Stan had a horseracing forum in here.

 

When you get right down to it, everybody is a bandwagon fan. We all made a decision to follow who we follow. Nobody as an example was born a Browns fan...we jumped on at one point, so to me it doesn't matter when a person decides to start following a team.

 

It's the jumping on and jumping off that bothers me.

 

 

[CLEVELandMILIDH]

i agree with a lot of what samoth said about the ncaa. i'm not really a fan of it, esp the championship part of it. even though the schedules get tougher as the year rolls along, the fact that a powerhouse like ohio state can play mac teams and marshall university is a joke. the lions have a better shot at beating the saints than akron ever has at beating ohio state.

 

I agree with some of what Samoth said, my Wow was mainly at FearTheRoo's last post and Samoth telling me why he likes the Pro's vs college instead of why he follows the Browns. I'd say if you didn't follow college football before you went to college then why follow it after you do? Thats sounds alot more bandwaggon than me rooting for a team my whole life. Get of your high horse is see that this is about the game of FOOTBALL and not the academics of attending college.

 

I'll say this, every team in the country plays these kind of games early in the year and only a very few schedule meaningful out of conference games. Ohio state schedules USC, Texas, Miami, Florida, etc. who else does that?

 

 

[samoth]

I agree with some of what Samoth said, my Wow was mainly at FearTheRoo's last post and Samoth telling me why he likes the Pro's vs college instead of why he follows the Browns. I'd say if you didn't follow college football before you went to college then why follow it after you do? Thats sounds alot more bandwaggon than me rooting for a team my whole life. Get of your high horse is see that this is about the game of FOOTBALL and not the academics of attending college.

 

I'll say this, every team in the country plays these kind of games early in the year and only a very few schedule meaningful out of conference games. Ohio state schedules USC, Texas, Miami, Florida, etc. who else does that?

 

I don't follow college now. I'll watch OSU or OU on tv or maybe go to a game a year, but I don't discuss it like I do with the pro game. It's like a different world, and to me I don't see the attraction to watching a bunch of college kids play a game where 90% of the teams have no shot of ever winning anything meaningful. Like I said, more power to you if you love college ball, but I prefer the pros.

 

Why do I like the Browns? Well, I'm from athens which is probably 50% Browns and 25% Steelers/Bengals. My dad was a browns fan, so I am too. If I'm being called a bangwagoner for rooting for one of the worst teams in the NFL for the last decade, so be it. I didn't start caring about football until college, so around 2000. If i was a real bandwagoner I'd be on a Patriots forum right now.

[CLEVELandMILIDH]

Why do I like the Browns? Well, I'm from athens which is probably 50% Browns and 25% Steelers/Bengals. My dad was a browns fan, so I am too. If I'm being called a bangwagoner for rooting for one of the worst teams in the NFL for the last decade, so be it. I didn't start caring about football until college, so around 2000. If i was a real bandwagoner I'd be on a Patriots forum right now.

 

Thats the same reason I root for the Buckeyes. I live about 2 hrs. north of Columbus, my entire family are buckeye fans, Jim Tressel is a hometown guy, countless number of buckeye players from my highschool. My highschool football coach played for Tressel at YSU. Its whats around me its what I relate to same with the Browns.